There is no doubt 2020 was a rough year for a lot of people and because I was stuck at home, I suddenly had more time to play games (yay!). Here’s my love letter to the games that got me through the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2020; they will forever have a special place in my heart.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

A social simulation game for the Nintendo Switch

I had never been a fan of the Animal Crossing franchise, I’ve always been more of a “Sims” type of player. However, two of my friends hyped it up and convinced me…

Sketching is one of the many important skills UX designers should refine. UX Sketching has various meanings, but for the sake of this article, it’s meant to show how we can illustrate ideas, concepts, journeys, maps, personas, and flows used in our design process. It’s not limited to just only how an interface could look like — it’s covering every piece of the user experience.

I should emphasize that sketching is not drawing, illustrating, nor creating high-fidelity or fully-polished renderings. …

Let it be known that I love sticky notes. Probably cliché for a UX designer to say that, but hey, stereotypes exist for a reason.

I use sticky notes every day, I use them at work and at home. They’re my go-to tool for taking notes or sketching out quick ideas as they come to me.

One of the greatest things about sticky notes is that I can easily break different thoughts and ideas — 1 per note. Which allows me to sort them however I need. Once I’m done with a sticky, I can easily crumple it up and…

I’ve been asking myself this question since last year and finally decided to write about it. I thank Pablo Stanley’s post — it was the last nail on this coffin, his doodles are freaking hilarious.

In my search for answers — I didn’t find any particular reasoning as to why this happens…but every so often, there we have it, either a new icon or component named after some sort of food or food-related object. Well, here’s that list that no one asked for 😉.

THE LIST

Name:
Bento Box (aka Grid items, aka Apps, aka Gallery, aka Waffles, aka Pepperonis, aka Box…

Create a database to keep documents, examples, and overviews of the different aspects of running an REU site.

Active Website

MY ROLE

User Researcher, UX Designer, Co-Organizer

CLIENT

NSF Grant — HCI Department

TASKS

User Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Wireframing
Journey Map
Task Analysis
Information Architecture
Website creation and design
Create downloadable resources
Content creation

OUTCOMES

A website dedicated to orient and direct any new or ongoing professionals involved in running a CISE REU site. The guide provides information about the different components of running an effective site. Each available topic contains helpful tips, advice, and resources for users to use according to their needs.

Successful MVP

Tests…

WHY

After much hype — I decided to try out the Daily UI challenge. I wanted to treat this as my journey into flexing, learning, and understanding more about visual design. I also wanted to bring my own interests and approach — which is why I decided to center my challenge around the New Wave / Cyberpunk / 1980s feel.

THE CHALLENGE

Design 100 days worth of UI to continue to learn and grow as a designer.

If you want to join the fun — sign up at https://www.dailyui.co/

MY APPROACH

Identify design trends and existing UI

Quickly mockup or sketch ideas based on the…

During my time at Iowa State, I was approached with an opportunity to build and foster a UX event. I helped co-found ISU’s USABILATHON, the first hackathon-style event focused on usability, with my dear colleagues Alex Lim, Melynda Hoover, and Kaitlyn Ouverson.

My role:

Co-Founder, Co-Organizer, Event Host, UX Researcher, Designer, Project Manager

My tasks:

Event planning and strategy, competitive analysis, journey mapping, set and ensure brand, help recruit industry sponsors, create event materials and templates, website creation and design, host main event, mentor participants

Timeline:

6 Months (Sep — Apr)

Links:

Main website, Twitter, Featured article, 3rd yr anniversary article

THE OUTCOME

An event dedicated to usability…

Disclaimer: I’m currently looking at commonalities between some of these games or apps that have been developed. This is just a personal exploration as well as an opportunity to create discussions and keep learning from this wonderful field.

Before diving into these questions, it’s good to establish some background.

HTC Vive (over Oculus ?) -what’s different

While we still wait for Oculus to catch up, HTC Vive provided us with the ability to create and experience more (moving,action-based) immersive VR. Yes, we will need a bigger space to accommodate and experience the Vive’s true potential, but that’s a small price to pay for immersion (for now). Vive’s…