Data connectivity:

Leading enhancement of connection creation experience through a new creation flow, browsing UI pattern, and content system for searchable and filterable metadata.

Information architecture:

Consulted teams on page placement and labeling. Developed guidelines for organizing platform administration and developed navigation enhancements based on insights from a tree test research study.

Platform administration:

I am leading experience design for shared and access limited objects and assets in a sub-tenancy model for Cloud Pak for Data software. Concurrently, I am supporting experience design for remote data planes registration and management and for user management in a sub-tenancy model.

Design system and quality:

I am a Design & UX (DUX) Review Committee member for the Data and AI organization, specifically tasked with content quality and getting help experience dimension. I critique, review, and grade design quality of Data and AI products prior to scheduled shipping. I am also conducting an audit of content guidance offered in our design system (Carbon) and pattern asset library with other content designers across IBM Software.

Design Foundations - Content Design team

Design & UX (DUX) Review committee member — Content & Get help dimension

Reviewed and wrote reports for: Watson Assistant (2020); IBM Satellite (2021); IBM Cloud App Config (2021); IBM Planning Analytics (2021); Watson Query (2021)

Embedded in Cloud Pak for Data platform design team

Designed new role-based access control experience through a new role flow, browsing pattern, and content system for conveying permissions.

Conducted a tree-test research study to improve the IA of administrative features/tasks. Led the synthesis of insights from the study and presented a playback of conclusions and proposed enhancements.

Improved content guidelines for complex connection forms.

Contributing designer for cross-Cloud Pak initiatives

Northwestern’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) department hired me to help them improve the student and faculty support sites hosted on the university’s learning management system, Canvas. The IMC department’s goal was to make the student support sites more visually appealing so that it might encourage students to use it. The sites were created as a means for students to not only find the resources and information they need but to relieve faculty and staff of common questions and requests.

Core Work:

The scope of expectations of the initial ask was relatively narrow–mainly creating graphics and fiddling with HTML to make pages feel more accessible and readable. In addition to my own perspective as a student user, I conducted a few simple interviews of other students to gauge criticisms of the site and Canvas experience. Based on these insights and UX principles, I proposed not only a fresh system of graphics but a complete restructuring of the site organization.

My idea would spread the information across more pages and limit the number of clickable choices while using communicative graphics and categories to create an easy way to navigate. This would prevent overwhelming users (especially on mobile) while encouraging them to explore without feeling stuck at dead-ends. I essentially rebuilt the site for students in time for the Class of 2019.

Outcomes:

Canvas offers very limited data on usage of the site but the goal was achieved in increasing student use and decrease in requests. This led to the Associate Dean commissioning for the new design and structure to be adapted for student sites for 2020, the Part-Time students site, and the online students site. Currently, I am conducting a similar renovation of the faculty support site with elements adapted for faculty needs.

So What:

I demonstrated that I can create simple yet elegant solutions for user experience, especially with regards to moderating and controlling the flow of information.