Designing Digital Experiences Across Government and Commercial Products

Product Design

2015 - 2019

UX/Product Designer & Front End Dev During the early part of my career, I partnered with government agencies and commercial clients to improve digital products through user-centered design, rapid prototyping, front-end development, and usability testing. Working across multiple projects exposed me to different industries, user groups, and technical environments, strengthening my ability to quickly understand complex domains and translate requirements into intuitive user experiences.

Each project presented a unique set of constraints—from modernizing legacy government systems to designing multilingual mobile applications and improving internal business tools. Despite the variety of products, the common challenge remained the same: How do we make complex systems easier for people to understand and use? Projects ranged from: * Justice Department case management * USDA program modernization * Mobile customer experience * Internal enterprise applications * Government portals This variety required quickly learning new business domains while balancing stakeholder expectations, accessibility, and technical limitations.

My Responsibilities * UX Design * Product Design * Wireframing * Interactive Prototyping * Front-end Development * User Research * Usability Testing * Design Systems * Stakeholder Collaboration Design Tools * Sketch * InVision * Bootstrap Material Design * Lookback * HTML * CSS * JavaScript * PhoneGap Products Included Office of Victims of Crime (ITVERP Portal) * Portal redesign * Front-end implementation * Wireframes and prototypes Department of Justice Common Platform * Responsive web and mobile redesign * Material Design implementation * Navigation usability testing Europcar Customer Satisfaction Survey * Cross-platform mobile survey application * Multilingual experience * Mobile development AMA Application Migration Assistant * UI modernization * Information hierarchy improvements * Visual redesign SMS800 * Data validation * Product quality support USDA Rural Development * User interface redesign * Feedback-driven iteration

Across projects, discovery activities included: * Stakeholder interviews * Requirements gathering * User feedback sessions * Usability testing * Reviewing existing workflows * Competitive and design pattern research For larger government initiatives, I collaborated with stakeholders to understand operational needs before translating them into prototypes. For commercial applications, I focused on simplifying workflows and improving usability across multiple devices.

Working across many products taught me that successful UX isn't driven by visuals alone. The biggest improvements came from: * simplifying navigation * reducing cognitive load * improving consistency * validating ideas with users before development * designing around real workflows instead of assumptions It also reinforced the importance of balancing user needs with technical constraints and project timelines.

Although each engagement differed, my process remained consistent. Research Understand users, business goals, and existing pain points. Prototype Create low- and high-fidelity wireframes to communicate ideas early. Test Conduct usability testing using Lookback and InVision to validate navigation and interaction patterns. Iterate Incorporate stakeholder and user feedback into refined designs. Build Where appropriate, implement front-end experiences using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Bootstrap Material Design. This end-to-end involvement helped bridge communication between design and development teams.

Throughout these engagements, I partnered closely with: * Product Owners * Developers * Government stakeholders * Business analysts * End users * Project managers Because many projects involved federal agencies, collaboration and documentation were critical to aligning diverse stakeholder groups while meeting accessibility and compliance requirements.

Across multiple engagements, my work contributed to: Modernized User Experiences Updated interfaces for legacy government and enterprise applications using modern UX patterns. User-Validated Design Decisions Conducted usability testing that informed navigation improvements and interaction design. Cross-Platform Experiences Designed and developed responsive experiences across desktop, web, and mobile platforms. Design-to-Development Collaboration Bridged design and implementation by creating prototypes and contributing front-end code. Foundation in Enterprise UX Developed experience designing within highly regulated environments while balancing usability, accessibility, and stakeholder needs.

Looking back, these projects established the foundation for how I approach product design today. Working across diverse industries taught me how to quickly learn unfamiliar domains, communicate effectively with cross-functional teams, and adapt my design process to different products and constraints. Most importantly, these experiences shaped my belief that successful product design isn't about producing polished screens. It's about understanding people, collaborating with teams, and creating solutions that make complex work feel simpler.