Early Design
These are snapshots from my first UX courses in 2019, a few years before Mixtape and PostUp. They are not full case studies. They show where my process started and the habits I still lean on today.
NTS Radio: Mobile App Prototype
The brief: Design a mobile app for NTS, an online radio station with two live channels, so listeners can tune in, follow favorite hosts, and see what is playing next.
What I did: I mapped the sitemap, set up a grid, and wireframed 13 screens before building a high-fidelity prototype. Across three versions, I added notification controls, made the favorite interaction clearer, created a host episodes page, and added data saver and audio quality settings.
What I learned: Small settings carry a lot of trust. A short line explaining what a toggle does, right next to it, mattered as much as the main player.
Big Subs: Apple Watch Ordering MVP
The brief: Design an Apple Watch companion for Big Subs, a sandwich ordering app, on a 184 x 224 px canvas.
What I did: I set up a five-column grid and wireframed the start, sign in, order, and find-a-store flows, with item browsing by category.
What I learned: On a watch, every screen gets one job. When a task needed more than a glance, like creating an account, I handed it off to the phone instead of forcing it onto the wrist.
Starbucks: Designing for Baristas
The brief: A group design thinking project focused on the people behind the counter, not the customers.
Research: We observed a busy Starbucks, built an empathy map, and interviewed a barista. The biggest pain points were wait times, a crowded pickup area, and order stickers that did not always print correctly.
What we explored: Order updates that show which barista is making your drink and how far along it is, a tablet that shows one order at a time with swipe-to-advance steps, and a more organized pickup area.
What I learned: Watching people work surfaced problems a survey would have missed. It was the first time I let research reshape the question before jumping to solutions.