Jared has been a maker in the digital space since he first was introduced to the field of interaction design over a decade ago. Currently, his offering centers around helping marketers, technologists, and business owners solve problems through user research and usability testing of digital products and websites.
“My objective is to provide intention and understanding behind all that complexity. What most would consider subjective decisions regarding product direction, I turn into an actionable design based on product goals and user insight.”
Using a classical design skill set, new research on user patterns, debunking myths, and challenging client assumptions, Jared is able to concisely prepare a clearer path forward.
Contact Jared for portfolio information and references.
Projects
- This Week in TechThe TWiT.tv Netcast Network with Leo Laporte features the #1 ranked technology podcast This Week in Tech, along with over 20 other top-ranked online shows. In preparation for visual design, I lead a Style Tile exercise, a unique activity designed to cull adjectives and visual preferences from folks not used to discussing subjective terms. I love it! It is strong at pushing clients away from comparing their brand to others, "Apple" or "Google", and filters out common go tos like, "clean" and "mo
- Oakland Fence ProjectThe Oakland Fence Project is a citywide outdoor photography installation and online exhibit designed to connect artists and communities in a whole new way. I worked closely with the projects creator, Wendy Levy to plan the overall experience of the project. The designs included: the experience of the physical exhibition, artist call for entries (entry and selection process), the online gallery, how a user would discover the fence, and how users would continue to grow the project in the community.
- World Pulse Social NetworkWorld Pulse was a special project for me. It was held in high esteem by my colleagues who built the MVP. I was tasked with owning a Version 2 of improvements to the website. Acting as Product Owner, with emphasis on my skills as a user experience designer, I designed a system dashboard, a new user welcoming and training experience to help onboard new users, and notification system improvements on the community website. I worked alongside Kathy Grantz, Technology Manager, to ideate and plan during our initial phase and worth with engineering on execution and finally testing of the new features with users.
- Wood MagazineWOOD Magazine, a brand under the Meredith media umbrella, required new interaction design and a fresh new visual design to satisfy its growing online customer base. WOOD Magazine also underwent a recent print redesign, so this was a chance to integrate some of the recent additions from that process. Jared worked alongside, Karl Ehlers, art director, to present new designs for the website.
- ForcepointForcepoint™ was formed in 2015 through the merger of Raytheon Cyber Products and Websense. The combination of the two organizations created an opportunity to rename, rebrand and rebuild their marketing strategy. Mobile menu design It was crucial for the mobile experience to dive deep into the bottom levels of the information architecture and mirror the desktop drop-down interaction. “I had the pleasure of working with Jared as a client of Four Kitchens on a replatform and redesign project of the forcepoint.com (formerly websense.com) website. He went well above and beyond to help successfully execute an incredibly complicated project. He single-handedly wireframed the entire website, developed a visual style guide and defined the imagery style in about 6 weeks. This was a monumental task that he took on without batting an eye and he somehow managed to remain one of the most positive, upbeat people I’ve ever met throughout. He has a practical, user-centric design aesthetic and solves problems as quickly as they arise. He was truly an extension of the team throughout the project and I can’t thank him enough.” - Mary Fad, Director, Creative + Digital Marketing at Forcepoint
Work history
User Researcher
Freelance
As a UX Researcher, I conducted usability tests and qualitative user research for clients with digital products and websites. Working with clients in higher education and enterprise software, I was responsible for initiating, performing and delivering UX research to project teams. From this data, I refined audiences, crafted personas, created storyboard concepts, and user journey maps. Other design research methods included: tree-testing for information architecture, first-click testing of prototypes. Tasks included:
• Consult with C-level executives, marketing managers and project teams on UX research services
• Gather data from analytics and trend reports to plan for research solutions, elicit requirements from stakeholders
• Educate project team on outcomes and set expectations of research
• Perform usability tests: write moderator guides, usability test tasks, recruit and scheduled participants, run pilot study, and moderate tests
• Analyze data and write findings reports
• Hire and manage user assistant writers
• Propose recommendations for each finding, consult team for further research needs
Lead User Experience Designer
- Full Time
From discovery to prototype, I created and tested interaction designs for education, nonprofit, and media clients to turn their goals into actionable tasks and measurable outcomes. I led design discussions at on-site workshops, performed content audits, reviewed interaction patterns and studied existing user behavior. Ultimately, I was responsible for interaction design and all communication regarding execution of IxD and visual design solutions to our engineering teams. I wrote, moderated and analyzed my own usability studies on prototypes, including creating custom interactive designs to validate my recommendations to clients and project teams. Tasks included:
• Consulting clients on overarching business and project objectives
• Leading design related on-site workshop activities
• Crafting personas based on user research and client input
• Design and testing of IA solutions, user journey, content and interaction hierarchy
• Prototyping IxD solutions, lo fidelity and high fidelity
• Created HTML style guides and documentation for interaction patterns
• Oversaw implementation of design for development team using agile methodology including writing, prioritizing and tracking stories for project management team
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Skills
- Interaction Design
- User Experience
- User Testing
- User Based Design
- User Flows
- Customer Journey Design
- User Journey
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Persona Creation
- Treejack Testing
- Usability Testing
- Usability Analysis
- User Research
- User Researcher
Education
Bachelor of Arts Design and Visual Communications
- 1227 W 27th St, Cedar Falls, IA 50614, USA
The Design and Visual Communication program provides a learning environment for advancement in innovative research, user-centered design, and professional practice focusing on the creative potentials of visual communication through a full spectrum of media.
This program takes a full-spectrum approach to design implementation and integration into multiple forms of media that includes: web and mobile, 3D modeling and motion, information design, user interface and experience design, and branding and identity system design.
The program is professionally focused to inspire and empower graduates to become practicing designers, researchers, and entrepreneurs who impact interactions among people, products, and environments.