The following is a collection of personal projects and fun exercises I do to keep my craft sharp and engage with my community.

Interactive journey map
This journey map originated from a client project where I conducted generative field research, developed personas, and synthesized findings into a deliverable journey map. Inspired to extend its utility, I collaborated with one of my designers to white-label the artifact we had designed together, creating a reusable template for future team projects and an abstracted version for the open source community as well.

Download it Free in the Figma Community

Profile design
DailyUI.co has been an invaluable tool for honing my design craft. For this challenge, I combined two prompts—a user profile screen and a direct messaging tool—to create a generic app while learning InVision Studio, an upcoming challenger that was in Beta, during the early days of Figma when most of us were still using Sketch. Over a half-day, I designed, animated, and completed the project from scratch, exploring Studio’s ability to combine the simplicity of Sketch and Principle (for animation) in one environment.

E-Commerce redesign
As an expert in Adobe CC, Sketch, and Principle, I took on a DailyUI challenge to redesign an e-commerce app as an opportunity to learn Figma back in 2018. I chose to refresh Amazon’s app, addressing its dense layout and fragmented branding, completing the project in 1.5 days.

By lightening the interface, increasing white space, and refining the brand color palette, I sought to reflect Amazon’s evolution into a sophisticated product brand. I enhanced navigation micro-interactions to reduce cognitive load and prioritized relevant tasks, including a repositioned search for functional UX improvements.

Illustration design system
Inspired by Pablo Stanley’s Humaaans project, I explored Procreate for this quick design exercise. After creating character illustrations on an iPad, I vectorized them and built patterns for various permutations as design system components, resulting in a flexible illustration system.

Community service
I had the privilege of collaborating with Cal Poly to host the inaugural TEDx San Luis Obispo, with my employer, Experts Exchange, as the lead sponsor. I volunteered as the event’s art director, designing marketing materials, venue signage, swag, and the event website.

Staying involved in my community is important to me, and very rewarding. I have mentored Cal Poly graphic design and computer science students for several years, participated in portfolio reviews, career clinics, and served as a speaker and UX/UI coach for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s annual Hackathon. My work with Cal Poly inspired my employer, TransUnion, to host its own Hackathons and to sponsor Cal Poly’s event in subsequent years.