User Experience Design
Research-driven design through the HCI design cycle
Good UX design starts with genuinely understanding the people who will use what you're building. My approach is rooted in the Human-Computer Interaction design cycle I studied at Cornell — a structured process of understanding users, designing solutions, implementing prototypes, and evaluating through testing. It's a cycle, not a straight line, and the willingness to go back and iterate is what separates functional design from thoughtful design.
How I Approach UX
1. Understand Users
Every project begins with research. I conduct user interviews, create affinity diagrams to find patterns, and build personas that ground the design process in real needs rather than assumptions. Recruiting the right participants and asking the right questions is half the work.
2. Design
With research in hand, I move into market analysis and design intention statements before prototyping. I start with paper prototypes for fast iteration, then move to mid-fidelity wireframes in Balsamiq and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. Each stage is an opportunity to test assumptions before committing to higher-fidelity work.
3. Implement
Implementation means building interactive prototypes that can be put in front of real users. I use Figma for high-fidelity prototypes that simulate the actual product experience, with attention to interaction patterns, visual hierarchy, and information architecture.
4. Evaluate & Iterate
Usability testing closes the loop. I facilitate testing sessions, take structured notes, and synthesize findings into actionable changes. The goal isn't to validate what you've built — it's to find what's broken and fix it. Then you go back to step 3 and do it again.
Tools & Methods
Research
- User Interviews
- Affinity Diagrams
- Persona Development
- Competitive Analysis
- Usability Testing
- Heuristic Evaluation
- Task Analysis
- Market Research
Design & Prototyping
- Figma
- Balsamiq
- Adobe XD
- Paper Prototyping
- Wireframing
- Information Architecture
- Interaction Design
- Storyboarding
UX Case Study
Car2Cart
A full UX case study from Cornell's Human-Computer Interaction course — user interviews, affinity diagrams, personas, paper prototyping, Balsamiq wireframes, Figma prototypes, usability testing, and iteration. The complete HCI design cycle in action.
Read the Full Case Study