Joyful Testimony From Coworkers

"No matter the topic or task, you always have the feeling that Joel has done this before. I am impressed with Joel’s knowledge of the UX space. He has an eye for design and the creativity for problem solving. During critique, Joel can quickly pull up relevant design choices other companies made. He brings to light current, past, and future trends. From the feel of an interface, down to the interactions, Joel helps you see the pros and cons of your options. He has an opinion when it’s helpful and always works towards the team’s agreed upon goals."
​Jalen Even,
UX Researcher at Thompson Reuters

"Joel is one of the most creative individuals I have had the pleasure of working with. He is an incredible storyteller and is able to create a relatable analogy for just about any situation. I worked alongside Joel for a couple of freelance projects and he was the first to take on the role of Scrum master and create an organized and efficient process for the team. I appreciate Joel's willingness to give and accept specific feedback graciously. He thinks about people and ideas first which allows for a safe and collaborate space to work. Joel also creates fun and dynamic visual design that will knock your socks off! I hope to have the privilege of working with Joel again someday and highly recommend him to anyone looking for a creative and empathetic team member!"
Katie Holmes,
Product Designer at Target

"Joel knows when to push creative boundaries to their limit and when to recognize the simpler solution as the best solution. He is a problem solver, a joy to work with and a wiz at mastering new design software. Joel is a smart designer and an effective communicator-- I hope to get the chance to work together again in the near future!"
​Molly Horton, 
UX Architect at Clockwork Interactive

"Joel is a great mix of thinking outside the box and working within the constraints of the box--he is an artist and former military member, which I think sums up his personality pretty well. He shows up super passionately to his UX work, and is also thoughtful and fun to work with." 
Kiell Kosberg,
Information Architect at Thompson Reuters ​

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Professional Experience

Freelance UX Researcher and Web Designer 
​(August 2017 - Present)
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Improving the user experience of existing websites. Interviewing stakeholders and customers to uncover unarticulated needs. Turning research into design recommendations. Creating illustrations and web graphics.
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Brian Just Music | www.brianjust.com

• Updated website design based upon latest album's visual style
• Prepared LP and CD artwork for printing.
• Conducted remote usability testing and used findings to inform design.

Reach Higher Painting | www.rhp.mn

• Lead a design workshop for clients and customers.
• Perform competitive and comparative research to determine design.
• Created custom graphics, drawings, logos using Photoshop and Illustrator.

Nano Nore Artworks | www.nanonore.com

• Conducted a competitive analysis, heuristic evaluation, and contextual inquiry with the client.
• Simplified website to show the artwork first, increasing user certainty.
• Designed and published the website using Weebly and custom HTML and CSS.

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MN Interfaith Power & Light 

• Interviewed stakeholders and customers.
• Built a service blueprint uncovering redundencies.
• Redesigned on-boarding shortening the process by 50%.

Aquatics Empowered

• Created 12 month product strategy.
• Redesigned site and logo using Adobe Illustrator and Sketch.
• Designed a Style Guide.

User Experience Design Student 
​(June 2017 - July 2017)

Greater Twin Cities United Way 

• Designed an app which incorporated a personality quiz resulting in increased conversion.
• Created the recommender systems logic based on dating apps and motivation fundamentals.
• This app is currently in development and they will be using my illustrations. 

Peace Coffee

• Increased packaged coffee findability 70%.
• Discovered pain points bulk coffee customers were experiencing, proposed prototype toolkit.

Freelance Visual Designer
(April 2017 - April 2007)
​

• Specializing in visual solutions (both digital and in print) for musicians and small businesses using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
• Provided art direction, photography and digital enhancement.​
• Graphic Design: Album covers and packaging (CD & LP), print and web graphics 
• Marketing: Copywriting, branding, promotional materials, posters, logos, pamphlets 

​Unique Professional Experience

Route Sales and Delivery Driver
Peace Coffee (October 2011 - April 2017)

Managed the stock levels of Peace Coffee at 24 grocery stores and dozens of large volume customer accounts.

Waiter in Yellowstone National Park 
Delaware North Company 2010

• Waited tables in a fast paced environment.
• Picked up vacation best practices and learned local hidden gems.
• Helped families plan their vacations.

Call Center Team Lead
Rust Consulting (June 2006 - April 2010)

Handled escalated class action lawsuit calls

• Reduced employee on-boarding by writing the company's first call center SOP and How-To guides.
• Standardized paperwork across projects.​
• Improved call quality by monitoring calls and coaching employees on best practices.

Squad Leader
Minnesota Army National Guard (May 2002 - October 2007)
​

• Lead a team of 8 mechanics responsible for preventative maintenance.
• Taught courses in combat driving to hundreds of student soldiers.
• Diagnose and repair large industrial machinery​

​Education

Prime Digital Academy
User Experience Design Certification
Graduated July 2017

University of Minnesota
Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Specialty in Middle School Science 
Graduated June 2007

United States Ordnance School
Industrial Machinery Mechanic (63J) Certification
Top Student Award
Graduated December 2002

Minneapolis College of Art and Design
General Studies - Graphic Design
2000-2001

​Awards

Twin Cities Startup Week Hackathon (2017) Second Place 
Conceived, designed and cleaned data tables for a machine learning web app that predicts the date of your death using government data and the Nexosis API

Top Student Honor Graduate Award
U.S. Army Ordinance School (2002) Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland 

Methods
​Field Study
Usability Testing
Heuristic Evaluation
Affinity Diagramming
Contextual Inquiry
Rapid Prototyping
Journey Mapping
Kano Analysis
Cognitive Walkthrough


Tools
Sketch App
Photoshop
Illustrator
Invision
Axure
HTML
CSS
​Machine Learning (Nexosis)

​
Career Related Activities
Host of UX Whiteboard Challenge Meetup
Member of UXPA-MN
Haunted House Actor & Designer

Hi, I'm Joel and I approach UX Design like a tenacious detective. I collect information by establishing rapport with users and interviewing my network of experts, compile data through research, then make a hypothesis and test it by building prototypes.

My coding knowledge and years of experience as an instructor makes me good at presenting complex information to non-technical audiences and collaborating with developers.
​
I am a proven leader in both unstructured and highly matrixed environments like the military. Supporting teams by creating a culture of kindness. ​Monthly, I host a meetup which connects people by doing hands-on group brainstorming games.

Usability Testing
To better understand the digital experience we conducted usability testing on the current online tool, Volunteer United. We asked 5 participants who identify as being included to volunteer to use the website to sign up for an opportunity that interested them. First-time users found the number of choices to toggle through overwhelming, often got results they didn't intend, and found the process impersonal. However, for users who knew exactly what they wanted or had used the site before it worked really well.

Key Insights - Because first-time users are our target, our solution needs:
•    fewer choices, easier on-boarding 
•    error protection
•    more personalized experience
•    the final steps need to be more clear

Survey
What are the reasons people give when they volunteer and what are their excuses when they don't? Using Optimal Workshop we asked 111 Twin Cities residents the following questions:
​1. What is your age?
2. What is your gender?
3. What is your employment status?
4. Where do you live?
5a. Do you volunteer?
5b. Why or why not?
6. How often do you/ would you be willing to volunteer?
7. (If applicable) Where have you/ do you volunteer?
8. How did you find these opportunities?
9. What causes do you care about?

Key Insights:
    •    Most people volunteer because they are morally inclined
    •    They volunteer for a huge variety of causes
    •    Most people don't volunteer because they don't have time


Card Sort
User testing of the Volunteer United website showed that new users found the number of causes and skills to choose from daunting. To lower the cognitive load a card sort was performed using Optimal Workshop surveying 9 potential volunteers. They were asked to categorize the causes and skills. They were also asked to name these new groupings.
    •    Reduction in categories from 59 to 17.


Dating App Competitive Audit
After conducting a competitive audit of other volunteer matching websites and apps it was clear that no one has built one with an easy on-boarding process and that gave a personalized feel. So we started looking around for other apps that connect two groups of people, specifically dating apps.
Key Insights:
    •    Use Tinder's UI as the skeleton for our app.
    •    Design a recommender system similar to HiDine by matching two parties with a third thing.


Recommender System
The reason people are motivated to volunteer is because it gives them purpose. Purpose is when you believe in the outcome of the work. You may not like doing it, but you believe in the greater mission of the work. The only motivator stronger than that is play. Play is when your reason for doing the activity is the activity itself. You do it because you enjoy it. However, play means different things to different people. In Stuart Brown's book Play he breaks down play into 8 different play types.

Key Insight:
    •    In addition to their causes and skills, what if we also match volunteers with opportunities based on their play personality type?
​
Play type is the most motivating so it should have the most points when there is a match, followed by a cause match, then a skills match. I tested this out several times and  am happy with Five points for a play match, two for a cause match, and one point for a skills match. This is because since volunteer opportunities can list many skills and causes. This point value seems to balance that out, but this needs to be tested.

​Background
I've been a supervisor, a squad leader, a teacher, and a waiter in Yellowstone. This diverse background means I understand a great many people on an intuitive level. It also has taught me the value of field studies, my preferred form of research.

​
Personality
Strengths Finder: Ideation, Woo, Communication, Strategic, Includer
Myers Briggs: ENTP​

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Drawings

Videos

Poetry