Qiri
This was a potential product created while I was the VP of Product and Design with Ident solution. In the research of FedCheck (see below), we had a number of comments from users similar to this: "Hey, I wish I could run this on my Tinder/Bumble dates". That got us thinking... Maybe you COULD!
Sample Work
Dating App Research (PowerPoint)
This is an initial research report created based on survey data. This report is what led us to build a functional prototype of the Qiri product, as our primary problem statement was discovered by analyzing the data. That Problem: As a user of an online dating platform, I want to know that the people I am meeting up with beyond the app are safe, so that I do not put myself in a compromised situation.
Survey Data (Qualtrics Analysis | Raw Excel)
To do the analysis for the above report, I used the Qualtrics XM and Stats iQ platforms. Being able to easily cross section the respondents was an incredible time savings.
Usage Analytics Dashboard (Image | Excel)
In the early prototype phase of Qiri, I used the following Excel spreadsheet to track web traffic and conversion. In addition to that we wanted to see which social platforms were being shared more often, and which of the four primary employees was getting the most referrals.
Tāne
Named after the Maori God of Trees and Birds, Tāne is a game concept designed as a free time project to help myself learn Adobe XD Prototyping. The core concept is the centered around the following problem statement:
As a fan of Breath of the Wild, I would like to have a real world adventure that matches the mythos of the game, so that I can share my passion for the series with others in the outdoors.
After some initial research, and talking to other fans, I settled on the idea of having a real life Korok hunting type adventure. As an avid biker, I constantly find myself looking at piles of sticks or weird arrangements of rocks and thinking, "Hey, I bet there is a Korok in there!"
Sample Work
Empathy Map (Adobe Illustrator | PDF)
This empathy map was done based on an interview with a potential user ("Fan of Legend of Zelda"). This exercise is what helped me hone in on the idea to pursue.
Prototype (Adobe XD | Web Export)
Clickable pitch type prototype for the end solution. Can be viewed using XD (preferred), or on the web as well if you do not have access to XD.
Serotonin.rocks
Sometimes discovering potential solutions comes in the weirdest situations. Many parents understand the frustration that is experienced when your child has a bit of a tantrum. In that moment, I have found that "Cool Down" time is the best solution (for both the child and Myself). With that concept, I created the website Serotonin.rocks. Sometimes you need to cool down, sometimes you just need a bit of a laugh, sometimes you just need a palate cleanser from a stressful work or school situation. This website is an easy way to do just that. No ads, No doom scrolling, No difficult navigation. Simply crowdsourced collection of images to brighten your day. In addition to the website itself, this was my introductory foray into Social Media management for a "brand".
Sample Work
Serotonin.rocks (Web | Twitter | Insta)
Multiplatform experience for getting a nice pick me up in a crazy time (2020... Am I Right??)
FedCheck
As the VP of Product and Design with Ident Solutions I was the creator of the flagship FedCheck product. The company and product were born out of Motorola purchasing our previous company, Spillman Technologies. We had been prototyping the FedCheck idea at the time of the buyout, and when that happened, we wrote the product and our small team out of the buyout and started Ident Solutions.
FedCheck is a security solution for critical infrastructure facilities (Electricity, Water, Commerce, Mass Gathering, etc). It allows facilities to scan an ID and send an instant check to verify that the person asking for privileged access is not a threat based on violent criminal histories, history of sexual assault, or presence on international terrorism watchlists.
Sample Work
Example Persona (PDF)
After prototyping the concept, I created persona documents for some of the key players in the FedCheck pipeline (both Users and Buyers). This is a sample of one such document
Journey Map (PDF)
What was once a very sales driven process needed to be converted to a self-signup process. To start the design of what this might look like, I did some research with potential users. That research led to a Journey Map of that signup process, which was used to design the system.
Event Usage Report (PDF)
As part of a discover phase, we were asked to provide FedCheck as a service for the MLB World Series in 2020. As part of that event, I teamed with our marketing team to provide an executive summary of the event, including statistics about the data the software provided.
The Sims 3
I spent roughly three years on the Sims 3 team at Electronic Arts. I was the Quality Assurance Lead for the game's Expansion Packs (Including Showtime, Supernatural, and University Life). With the Sims franchise, QA is significantly more than just testing. QA is responsible for monitoring the huge player forums looking for bugs, feedback, and general sentiment towards the game. We also played a crucial role in initial design, as input is needed for each potential new feature regarding potential breaking points with the 100's of other systems, and the potential player thoughts towards a new design. As most of the work done within EA is protected by NDA, I do not have a lot to show of the process, but below is a potential Sims Expansion pitch I gave to the Sims Exec team.
Sample Work
Sims Frontier Pitch (PowerPoint)
EA held an annual Pitch Event, in which anyone in the company could give an elevator pitch to an exec team after passing a few preliminary rounds. I was able to present the above slides as a potential Sims crossover game.
How Many Days?
At least once a day my kids ask me: "How many days until... "
After hearing this question countless times, and not being particularly great with math (especially for items that are more than a year away), I created an app for that. The "How Many Days" app is designed for keeping track of how many days away something is (either in the future or the past). A simple interface allowed parents and children alike to customize their countdowns with backgrounds, fonts, and clocks. The app would then allow you to quickly see "How Many Days".
Unfortunately, I did not have the time to keep up this code base and it has since been taken down from the various app stores. But you can find the APK for android devices below.
Sample Work
Date Calculation and Update Script (Lua Script)
Although this code snippet isn't big in the grand scheme of the app, it contains the entirety of actually calculating and displaying "How Many Days"
Android Build (APK File)
This is the final android build of the How Many Days app. It may not properly install on newer phones, as the way android issues permissions greatly changed in 2018
385 Days Presentation (Powerpoint)
This is a presentation deck I put together to accompany a talk I have given to a number of student developers. It explains the eccentricities of native app development, within the context of ideation through release of How Many Days (which took 385 days). The takeaway is short is: Apps take a lot more work than the actual code of the app
Tale of Despereaux
After Universal Studios secured the rights to the movie based on the popular children's book by Kate DiCamillo, they reached out to Sensory Sweep to make a game accompanying that movie release. I was a designer on that project, and was responsible for the building of a number of levels (including the initial tutorial levels) and mechanic systems (like Soup Bowls). The game was built for four platforms simultaneously (Wii, XBox, PS2, and PC), and got its mechanics inspiration from other 3D titles such as Super Mario Bros, Prince of Persia, and Legend of Zelda. Below is a sample of some of the work I did on this project
Sample Work
Level Design Doc (PDF)
For each level, one of these documents were created for review. This allowed us to discuss the design as such with the leadership teams and publisher, without having to have a level fully built (and thus waste time in iteration)
Level Design Layouts (PDF)
This is an example of what the levels looked like between the Maya 3D model, the scripting tool, and the final game render.
3D Level Design: Mouse Town (Maya File)
This is an actual Maya file for one of the levels I built. The goal was to keep things scaled properly, yet remain fairly low poly. Tagging of surfaces was also done in Maya to be picked up in game engine for determining if a surface was climbable, slippery, did damage, etc.
Truth or Treason
Originally built as part of the Global Game Jam (24-hour game making event), this game was built on the jam theme of "Deception". After the jam, another designer and myself spent an additional month or so getting the game polished up and live of the Xbox Live Indie Games store (XBLIG). All proceeds we made from its sale went to the Child's Play charity.
The game is based on Rock/Paper/Scissors triad mechanics. But rather you chose a Wizard, Archer, or Soldier. Not only do you make your choice in secret, you have the ability to "show" your opponent what you might be playing. Are you telling the truth to try and make them think you are lying? or will your treasonous lies deceive the opponent? Very simple, but enjoyable game for friends.
Sample Work
XBox Controller Script (C# File)
This script looks for input from the XBox controller and changes the players character (both for real, and the "costume" they chose)
Gamasutra / Game Career Guide
I have written two published articles on the Gamasutra platform. These were written for the Game Career Guide site specifically, and are a fun insight into a few design principles.
Artistic Concepts in Games Article (PDF)
How are traditional artistic principles implemented in game design? In this article that topic is explored a bit more fully
Design in Film to Game Crossovers (PDF)
Many gamers despise movie to game conversions. Since the time of E.T. on the Atari 2600, these games have been given a bad stigma. In this article we explore some concepts that can help understand how these walls can be broke down
Family Village
As the Technical Designer for Alpine Studios, I worked on a Facebook game called Family Village. This core game concept was that by studying your genealogy, you could gain additional villagers to help you build the town of your dreams. This was a little bit of The Sims, a little SimCity, and a bit of Farmville.
Sample Work
Character Editor Design Doc (PDF)
One of the major game systems was the customization of your villagers. You could change facial features, clothing, accessories, and more. All of this system needed to be catalogued and organized so that the art assets could be properly exported and named accordingly
Spillman Nova/Ally
While at Spillman Technologies I spent time in a number of roles, but the majority of my time was spent as the Manager of Design and Development for the Nova/Ally products. Spillman itself had a long lived product for Law Enforcement built for on premise servers, and expensive database licenses (CTree). Our task with Nova was to port the usability of that clunky system to the cloud, using a SQL database structure to cut costs and build a more UX friendly system.
Our small team accomplished that task, and in doing so we discovered that the same system was perfect for not just Law Enforcement, but Private Security also. At that point we split the product into Nova (Law) and Ally (Security). That opened up a whole new untapped market for Spillman. By doing such, it caught the eye of larger companies, and Spillman was eventually bought by Motorola. Our small team went on to start Ident Solutions with that money.
Sample Work
Before the release of Adobe XD, I was doing designs in a number of other mock-up tools. I really enjoyed using Balsamiq for this, as it was simple and easy to use. It did not give high fidelity prototypes like XD can, but it served our purpose
Users Conference App (APK)
As a side project, to try and help freshen the company image, I built a native app for our annual users conference. This was very well received, and the following years they had a dedicated team take over this responsibility.
Rock Play (unreleased)
This was a concept being worked on by Sensory Sweep, in partnership with a major record label. The idea was to make small playable music games they coordinated with specific songs. These would be sold on the Apple iTunes store alongside the song itself. We started with two prototypes being built in Unity 2D. These samples were for Heart's Magic Man, and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. The concept was that the games would be played on rails so that the pace and timing could correlate specifically with the given song. This was a fun design challenge, and working with the art team to make this happen was an incredibly fun experience. Unfortunately, these were never released as iTunes and Apple didn't approve the idea for sale on their platform.
Sample Work
Magic Man Storyboard (Movie)
Although the Unity 2D file of the playable games were lost when Sensory Sweep closed down, I do have the storyboard for one of these prototypes showing how the look and feel of the game progresses with the song
Certifications
Nielsen Norman Group UX Master Certified (UXMC)
NN/g is the leading group for UX Training and Certification. I hold a Masters Certification from this group. At the time, less than 100 people had such certification. Not only am I certified, I am in the inaugural group of Nielsen Norman UX Mentors.
Certificate (PDF)
Pragmatic Marketing Certified (PMC-V)
Pragmatic Marketing is an outside in focused product training. They stand on the principle that making good products starts and ends with users and problems more than the solutions themselves. I have a level 5 certification, having completed the following courses/exams: Foundations, Focus, Build, Launch, Market.