The way an engineer or architect frames a design for a structure, likewise the researcher picks the design from various approaches in order to check which type of research to be carried out
Information architecture is a discipline that focuses on the organization of information within digital products. For example, when designers create apps and websites, they lay out each individual screen so that the user can easily find the information they need.
Prototyping is an experimental process where design teams implement ideas into tangible forms from paper to digital. Teams build prototypes of varying degrees of fidelity to capture design concepts and test on users.
Interaction designers focus on the way users interact with products and they use principles of good communication to create desired user experiences.
Visual design focuses on the aesthetics of a site and its related materials by strategically implementing images, colors, fonts, and other elements. A successful visual design does not take away from the content on the page or function
Enrolled in foundational design and fine art courses. Drawing, Painting, Screen Printing, Ceramics, and Illustration formed a foundation of my fine art background. 2D Illustration, Typography, Logo Design, Branding, and Digital Illustration were the basis of my design background. In my capstone year, I decided to pursue website creation and animation courses instead of more traditional graphic design courses. I learned basic Javascript and animation principles. For our final portfolio review, I elected to showcase my portfolio completely online instead of having a physical specimen.
Attended local community college after high school while working part time to complete basic courses before going to university.
Aquent is a multinational staffing and recruiting agency focused on finding talent for companies that need people with quality software skill-sets and experience. In my first and only role with Aquent, I have been assigned to Paypal’s Customer Success group. This team works to develop products and services for every touchpoint where a customer has a question or complaint. I specifically have been mostly staffed with the Teammate Tools product delivery group. This group is building software for PayPal CS employees as they are assisting customers on live phone calls, or asynchronously through chats, emails and/or text messages. Since January, I have focused on building enhancements to existing software and helped in the creation of new tools to increase the quality of service while also decreasing overall teammate/customer handle time. My function is more that of a hybrid designer than a dedicated UX only role. I work through the entire product lifecycle, starting with ideas and finishing with features that are being developed by or have already launched to our colleagues.
TerraDepth is an Austin based startup specializing in underwater bathymetric data capture and processing. Being one of the first in the industry to use the cloud as a vehicle for content delivery. They also manufacture and retrofit mini submersibles with their own technology in an effort to map the entire sea floor for the betterment of our connected world. I was an individual contributor for all product delivery and marketing design initiatives. Primarily focused on extending and evolving conceptual design deliverables for the cloud based portal into detailed feature flows & a companion component library.
Individual contributor focused on visual design and art direction for client billable projects. Agency work is under strict NDA, and is not available for portfolio review or detailed discussion.
While a VD2, I worked to create design solutions for a multitude of world class companies like Optus, AIA, Ernst & Young, Merck, Warner Bros, Drilling Info, and many more. My primary responsibilities were helping craft concepts and designs for digital applications. I was also illustrating ideas and building presentation decks for design research programs. Another big part of my role included storyboarding and animation to help create sizzle reels for our client’s presentations.
As a VD1, my list of clients included Disney, Samsung, Honeywell, AT&T, S&P, Bridgewater, and a few others. During this time, I built a solid base understanding design language systems, developing client relationships, adopting best practices into my workflows, and honing my skill set with the industry standards in design, and animation software.
My primary role as an intern was to help ensure consistency and cohesion across multiple tracks of work on Disney. We were in the process of redesigning the entire park website experience, including mobile and tablet apps. To help ensure harmony across features, I built and maintained extensive component libraries for our internal teams. When our client learned how organized and consistent our process had become, they requested a completely separate track of work to help propagate this type of system thinking within their team. We sold them a 6 month engagement to help transfer the knowledge and best practices over to the client as our overall contract with them began to wind down.
DISCO strives to make legal technology accessible and efficient for all, helping to reduce costs and bring justice to a conclusion faster. In my 2 years at DISCO, I had a variety of responsibilities functioning as a feature team lead within the product delivery organization. My roles and responsibilities spanned the full end to end process of software development. These included conducting design workshops and research with domain experts and clients to better understand and ideate in the problem space. Taking and synthesising those ideas from rough concepts and sketches into wireframes. After multiple iterations, prototypes, and user testing, I then refined and polished that synthesis into pixel perfect page archetypes and component libraries our developers can use to write stories and bring our designs to life. This process also included a regular QA cadence, while also gathering customer feedback before launch. Post launch we then measured quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback for the next round of implementation and improvement. I also occasionally assisted with marketing materials and internal presentations requiring motion graphics and illustration. Successful software development at DISCO required knowledge experts in the legal field, as well as tight collaboration with PM’s, and engineering. As I am no lawyer, this vertical provided lots of interesting challenges which overall have helped me become more keen to deliver ethical design solutions that satisfy all areas of the organization.
Joining Earbuds provided me with an opportunity to work with a small startup and have a more direct impact on every aspect of the digital product. Earbuds is a social music app that allows music fans to discover and share music with anyone in the world. This app empowers users to create connections with people who have similar music tastes and build deeper connections with people they already know or follow. As a Senior UI Designer, my primary responsibility was to help translate rough interaction design and strategy concepts into pixel perfect, development ready page archetypes. This meant applying a cohesive visual design to all screens, adding new components and iconography when necessary, and then exploring opportunities for microinteractions, illustration, and animation. As the lead visual designer, I also was the primary caretaker of a master Sketch file with all current page archetypes and symbols, to ensure effective and consistent collaboration with other designers and developers. Along with my daily UI responsibilities, I also wore a few other hats to help the growth of our small company including: Conducted design research to understand our users better Assisted our marketing department with assets for various campaigns and product launch Created page templates and assets for investor presentations Worked with our key stakeholder, strategy, and engineering teams to help define feature requirements Conducted user validation during the design process and post release to ensure our research findings and intuitions aligns with user expectations and needs The app is currently live in the Apple app store here on iOS: Earbuds Music App
At Blackboard, my role was to help students succeed. This means empowering students and their educational community with tools that help them ease straight into learning or teaching while removing roadblocks and anxiety. I collaborated with a team of talented individuals to help create experiences that were comfortably intuitive, attractive, and functionally efficient. As a Senior Designer, my role spanned a multitude of disciplines to help bring our products to life. My role included: Conducting design research to understand our users better Working with our Product Owners and Engineering teams to help define requirements Building user flows that tell a complete story and capture the essence of every feature Creating compelling, pixel perfect page archetypes and component libraries to ensure development can build to the right specifications Doing user validation during the design process and post release to ensure our intuition aligns with user expectations and needs Performing any other tasks that are needed to help make our products a success My most recent accomplishment was the release of the Blackboard Instructor app, which provides educators a dedicated tool to help them connect with students and accomplish administrative tasks while on the go from their phone or tablet device. These app are currently live in the Apple app store and the google play store here: iOS Blackboard Learn App | Blackboard Instructor App Android Blackboard Learn App | Blackboard Instructor App
As a Senior Visual Designer at frog, I was primarily responsible for leading my team to produce visualizations that best spoke to the narrative we were defining for our clients and their users. On the Optus program, my primary role was to help ensure my team delivered design solutions that were aligned with the interaction design strategy and fit into a larger design language system to ensure a cohesive look and feel across a set of features and products. After my time in Sydney, I was tasked with helping create page templates for the current frog.com website. I helped deliver a style guide for the Fizzics Waytap beer dispenser system, and participated in qualitative design research for the pharmaceutical company Teva, researching and concepting non medicinal solutions for patients with Huntington’s disease.
I am available for work. Connect with me via and call in to my account.
Phone: +1.512.944.6620 Email: troyawhittington@gmail.com.com
