My design process
My process starts with understanding the real problem through interviews, ride alongs, field studies, analytics and market research. I study competitors, define personas and map journeys to shape a clear narrative that guides decisions. Once the problem is grounded, I design with intention through wireframes, sketches and prototypes, testing early to validate direction and refine details. I work closely with engineering to ensure quality in execution, then measure performance after launch to confirm impact and inform future improvements. My goal is always the same: understand deeply, design simply and deliver solutions that work for real people in real moments.
1. Understand the Problem
Identify the root cause, friction user needs, values, and expectations.
Get out in the field fast or in front of users to understand how they use, think and feel about your product or service.
Application
I took a few rides to understand the challenges of a Lyft driver and found out most drivers start out driving at night then switch to day driving. Night drivers encounter drunk and contentious passengers. I'd switch too.
2. Gather Data
Once I have a clear understanding of the problem, I dive into the available data. Collect both qualitative and quantitative data, identify patterns and themes to extract meaningful user and business insights.
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If there's no data, I go and get it. I need some intelligence to better understand the problem. Surveys, online testing, guerilla studies, team workshops, or hallway studies are ways to get data all to make informed decisions.
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Application
I built a research lab to test kiosks, desktops, and portable devices to get a feel for the experiences. We even used paper prototypes to mimic flows of early ideas. I led over 200+ studies on a dedicated kiosk in my lab, running weekly research sessions that included A/B tests, concept evaluations, final design reviews, and production screens. Designers and product managers benefited from these feedback loops.
3. Learn from Competitors
A competitor analysis helps spot patterns and experience gaps to exploit. I love leveraging other product best practices as it speeds up the entire design process.
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Application
While visiting a Masonite facility, the lobby had a framed before and after photo. Surprisingly, this idea never made it to the website. I borrowed the Tru-Stile idea and made it a reusable component for Masonite.com's redesign.
See live (scroll down)
4. Define Personas
Personas anchor all decisions to a project and keep it on course to delivering a product that solves user pain points. Without established personas, risks run high in delivering wrong solutions. Empathy maps are a great way to develop personas when you some kind of data to start from.
Application
When I'm comfortable with the amount of data, conducting an empathy map workshop or exercise turns paint points into opportunities. This empathy map was done for the Masonite.com redesign.
5. Journey Mapping
Included in the persona development process is the popular journey map identifying the ups and lows a user's experience across key activities of service or product. The work is in turning the low moments into highs.
Application
My research team at Redbox put together this journey map after interviewing 45 customers in 3 specific demographic segments. The results were so well received, the CEO placed a copy in her office.
6. Wireframes
Wireframes connect business strategy to real use. They act as the blueprint that shapes structure, flow and function, giving teams a clear foundation to iterate and evolve the product.
Application
After completing the competitive analysis I used the lean UX method for continuous discovery to make the climate control accessible to people with hand disorders and vision impairments. I partnered with a visually impaired customer giving regular feedback. In this case, I'm using high-fidelity designs to gain feedback quickly with my feedback team.
7. Prototyping
Once the initial flows and wireframes are complete, I create prototypes for testing. These range from simple click-through models to highly dynamic prototypes. When appropriate, I use the SUS quantitative scoring model to evaluate design quality.
Application
Users disliked star ratings overlaying box art, as it obscured the artwork they wanted to see. To address this, the star ratings were relocated to the movie title details page. "Content nevers obscures artwork" is a principle born from this study.
8. Test & Learn
Without users validating ideas to uncover the truth, most designers and PMs rely on hypothesis, opinions and gut feelings. The purpose of these studies sharpen product-market-fit increasing user acceptance.
Application
Allan, one of our usability testing participants is completing the assessment form after his usability session. The post-its on the wall are groupings of common issues discovered during the study. The issues were prioritized with the PMs and added to their roadmaps. After each session, me and the designer reflected on what we learned.
9. Develop & QA
Tweaks are made after the studies and comps are moved ready for Dev handoff. Demos are made as part of the design process to ensure designs match the design file.
To note, developers are kept in the loop throughout the project by Slack messages or quick informal reviews on the my latest thinking and experiments. This keeps developers involved and contributors to the design process and mitigates surprises in engineering review meetings.
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Application
In this Walgreens design, I'm using inspect to check the demo's precision to the Figma design.
10. Measuring UX
Measuring UX starts by identifying the key behaviors a design should support, then tracking task success, clarity signals and sentiment. I pair analytics with usability feedback to see what works, why it works and where friction remains.
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Application
I created this UX strategy to prioritize design requirements and capture KPIs for the Masonite.com redesign.
Common UX KPIs include:
Behavior - e.g. Abandonment Rate
Attitude - e.g. Ease of use
Revenue - e.g. Conversion rate
Loyalty - NPS rating (NPS)
Satisfaction - Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
Usability - e.g. Super-Q or SUS​
11. Monitor performance
Improving the customer experience is never done, and there's a ton of tools that track design performance.
Measurement Tools
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Amplitude (analytics)
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Fullstory (user videos)
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Hotjar (heatmaps)
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SMErush (SEO/keyword tracking)
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JotForm (Customer Feedback)
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UserTesting.com (UX Experience feedback)
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NPS (Sharability)
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Application
The Paraphraser retains the highest number of clicks in an dashboard A/B experiment. ​