Early on, I needed to update Brainstorm’s visuals across dozens of page layouts and page elements. This CSS-only modernization required consensus-building and coordination, and earned plaudits inside and outside Ellucian.

UX was as much a part of my role as UI detailing. In spring 2016 I conducted eight scripted tests for my product. I analyzed and shared my results, including screen-by-screen observations supported by user quotes. A number of recommendations for improvement were implemented.

One focus of the user testing was a complex workflow that stymied users. I presented the problem and a solution to internal stakeholders to raise awareness, gather feedback, and build consensus for a fix.

My work at Ellucian included new product features, refinements, and special projects — including a big one around responsive design.

We began the design of each “widget” by discussing an analogous figure in a print textbook with Pearson editors. My team and I would produce concepts for using interactivity to enhance the educational experience. In the enlarged scheme for a gallery, I sought to include a sort of “subway map,” guiding the student as to how each image in the gallery related to the others.

My team, which grew to 14 people, tackled a variety of projects, including this National Geographic Learning K-5 science textbook. We overcame major challenges around accessibility, localization, and e-reader compatibility.

I also worked on conference samples and client pitches, and served as a primary point of contact for clients.

Eventually Metrodigi’s work for Pearson became so extensive that we needed to scale our operations. I conceived and led the creation of a private web app that allowed us to track thousands of interactives across dozens of titles. We ultimately outproduced and outcompeted our better-funded rival, Inkling.

Our predecessors in the App Store used off-the-shelf user interface elements. They look like paper log books made interactive.

To my cofounder and me, they felt like too sterile a place for people with a difficult condition to have to spend hours each week logging and reviewing health-related data.

I began by analyzing the steps for making each type of log entry — multi-select (which med or meal was being recorded), quantitative, and time-of-day entry.

After trying a number of conventional ideas, I found a way to make circular controls for each input type, and pitched my cofounder on fun animated transitions between them.

Working with an illustrator and another designer, we developed a visual style for the interface. It was important to my cofounder to avoid the color red — so reminiscent of stressful clinical situations.

I explored every detail of the interface, including the positions and choreography of the Add Note and Save buttons.

In November 2010, six months after beginning the project, our app was on the App Store. I wrote all the code. My cofounder was happy.

And the app soon found an audience. We received positive write-ups in health blogs, thousands of downloads, and hundreds of emails. In the years since we’ve refined details and added features.

I tried various adaptation strategies. Rather than use the iOS off-the-shelf tab bar control, I created a custom one for a more Blurb-branded feel. I took advantage of the larger screen size to show story metadata in a translucent overlay animating out over the thumbnail, rather than keeping it in a separate screen.

Blurb Mobile had hundreds of thousands of downloads and passionate users, but because the road to a business return was unclear, the company has since sunsetted the app. Thousands of brilliantly creative photo stories that people created, shared, and discovered on Blurb Mobile remain the legacy of this ambitious project from the peak of app mania.

The product manager had data showing that users were gathering photos from multiple Facebook albums, a use case that hadn’t been common when the interface was designed. A heuristic analysis suggested to us that as users went through their journey of selecting photos, they would lose track of photos they’d chosen from other albums. I proposed a “hopper” at the right, giving users a rough preview of the book they were constructing and a feeling of progress. After a prototype tested well, we built it.

In discussions with the product manager and the Chief Product Officer, another observation came up — users were suffering “paralysis by analysis” when confronted with the many tools in the interface, and dropping off in the middle of creation. To speed them through, we put only the simplest controls in the main interface, and added a small “Switch to Advanced Editing” button at the upper right that launched a different mode (signaled by a different background) with more complex editing features.

Finally, we knew users were dropping off during a processing step, which could take a minute or two. I suggested using this downtime for adding a book title and author name, which we could let users preview as they typed. Afterward we could also show a sample spread while the book was generated, with a reassuring message below.

The net result of these changes was a better experience that improved conversions and helped more people preserve their digital memories in high-quality photo books.