Home pages
NEPAccess.edu: A search portal for environmental data on infrastructure projects Reasearch project site for migrating species Misc. Home pages with hero images Home pages
NEPAccess Case study 2025
The government was required to publish an environmental impact statement for this LNG terminal outlining potential impacts to local fishermen. How would you find a copy? Designing a specialized search platform Finding the Needle: UX Research for Specialized Search. NEPAccess makes millions of pages of environmental planning documents searchable for everyone—from agency staff to community […]
Usability test clip
Usability testing Video Downloading a document: How hard could it be? This was an early prototype with known problems, and several concepts the developers wanted to test with users. So there are lots of problems to find. Participant: Program director for the John McCain National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution. Her scenario: I want to […]
Search word proximity tool: a simplified advanced search that doesn’t scare
Designing Advanced search Search word relationships: Inventing a tool to make an advanced search without scaring people People often perceive advanced search interfaces as complicated and overwhelming. Users are usually deterred by the many options and filters, leading to anxiety. Google removed the visible “Advanced Search” link in 2011, reflecting a broad trend towards minimizing complexity […]
NEPA Personas
Persona development for users of NEPA documents like environmental impact statements In the NEPAccess project, I used this table during user interviews to collect notes for the five different personas for users of NEPA documents (National Environmental Policy Act). I combined ideas from a Jobs To Be Done framework (JTBD), empathy maps, and my observations and […]
Lunch Money
You probably don’t want to give cash to your kid for school lunch LUNCH MONEY BUDDY is a prototype mobile phone app that aims to simplify the lives of parents by allowing them to view menus and pay online for their student’s school lunch program. Student project, Kent State University. Prototype opens in Proto.io online.
Science of Baseball
Battling Practice with an iPad STEM Baseball Math App: Lessons in User-Centered Design UI elements: The coach box on the left and working calculator for the student to submit their answers. Project Overview Our team developed a STEM tablet app aimed at teaching math through baseball science for middle school students. The concept combined educational […]
Ordering Pizza Online
Which Half the Pizza Should I Put the Topping on? Ordering Pizza: the movie A moderated usability test People want quick and simple online delivery. But is online pizza ordering really more simple than the old phone call? The drama becomes high when Participant no. 2 is given the task of ordering a combo pizza—one […]
Aduino sitemap
Mapping a Site as it goes Rogue Arduino.cc site map Who or what exactly is an Arduino? Overview What exactly is an Arduino? That was the first question I asked—and it took some effort to answer. A clear explanation is buried two levels deep from the homepage or tucked into the FAQ. Users typically arrive […]
Content audit
Site Audit Kent State University Health Services Site A content audit or content inventory is not pretty, but it’s part of the creative process: culling out the bad ideas and the ROT (redundant, outdated, or trivial content) that has accumulated over time. Removing the chaff makes the important content easier to find, simplifies the design […]
EMIGRA
https://vimeo.com/787410932?share=copy PRoject web site EMIGRA: Fair Treament for Migratory SpeciesAcross Multiple Borders Project name EMIGRA.edu: Equitable Governance of Migratory Species and their Habitats Organization School of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Arizona Summary Design a informational web site as part of an NSF research grant proposal. Audience: grant review committee members. My role Web design […]
Reading behavior for long-form text online – 2024
How do people read on screens vs on printed paper? A analysis of on online literary magazine with a goal of increasing engaged long-form reading through design improvements.