About
I love to create things. I especially love creating things that people enjoy or at the very least find useful and usable. This passion is what drew me to User Experience and Product Design.
Professionally speaking, to me there's no greater feeling than doing the work to learn how we can improve a product or a service and then applying those learnings and using them to build something that has a positive impact on someone's daily life.
When I'm not working on design systems at Buildertrend, you can find me experimenting in Procreate, playing pick up soccer, hiking in North Georgia, or cheering on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A little more context...
I’ve been interested in design since receiving a BA in Communications from the University of Minnesota and subsequently completing a UX certification program at Prime Digital Academy. But that was all just the beginning, I'm always looking to learn and grow.
Here is a curation of just some of the content that has shaped me as a designer since then.
Books
Just Enough Research - Erika Hall
This book has had more impact on me as a designer than probably any other resource. It's a utilitarian, foundational perspective on research. I use it as a reset whenever I'm stuck on a problem.
How to Make Sense of Any Mess - Abby Covert
Like Just Enough Research, I revisit How to Make Sense of Any Mess as a foundational text in my practice. It provides clear, methodical approaches to any problem we may face (design or otherwise). It's also free, and the website itself is an example of great IA.
Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug
There isn't much to say about this one that hasn't already been said. It's as relevant as it ever was. We should always strive to simplify the complex, not complicate the simple.
The Lean Product Playbook - Dan Olsen
I love this book because of the real world examples Olsen employs to illustrate the utility of incorporating our users in the product development process.
Thinking With Type - Ellen Lupton
Typography is the foundation to good visual design—web or otherwise. Lupton's book is great guide for anyone (like myself) looking to improve their visual design skills.
Youtube Channels / Courses
Figma Academy
This course is currently in beta and it’s been fun to follow along as its creator Michael Riddering continues to build it out (in figma). I’ve been learning so much about strategies to bridge the gap between designing and development hand off.
Figma Youtube Channel
An invaluable resource for honing design craft. I especially love watching the recordings of speaker presentations from their live events as a way to gain perspective on the varied experience of designers across the industry.
Interneting Is Hard
Simple, beautiful course about HTML/CSS basics. This course brought me a lot of aha moments about CSS after having tried other resources.
webflow University
Incredibly effective, engaging tutorials. This is the best place to learn how to use webflow, but it's also a great resource for applied design thinking. More generally, I recommend jumping into webflow for anyone also learning front end development as it gives you a different perspective on CSS.
Layout Land
Jen Simmons is a CSS grid expert and I love the way she clearly explains concepts. I believe it's important that as designers we have a good understanding of the tools being used to implement designs.
Podcasts
Voice of Design
Erica Hall, Mike Monteiro, other members of Mule Design studio and their guests dig into the intricacies of implementing design thinking into an organization's product development practice. I especially love the more esoteric examinations of the current digital landscape.
What is Wrong With UX
When it comes to product design and development, Laura Klein and Kate Rutter have seen it all, which is why they pair a alcoholic beverage with every episode of their podcast. Listening to this is like being a fly on the wall at bar where two friends with extensive UX experience share war stories.
Design Details
I found this podcast from Brian Lovin and Marshall Bock so useful I became a VIP (very important pixel) patreon contributer. It's a great place for someone to learn about experienced UI design processes and stay up to date with the general landscape of design.
Aurelius Podcast
Zack Naylor of Aurelius Research software interviews industry experts about their research processes. I'm inspired by Naylor's interviewing ability, he finds the perfect balance of asking interesting questions while giving his guests room for extensive answers.
Awkward Silences
This podcast from User Interviews continues to give me perspective on how different organizations approach their user research. Everyone's goal is to build better products, but their process depends on the circumstance, and that's exciting to me.