View a selection of my work

Brand, DIgital Concept

Tomato Vine

view case study
Mobile App, Visual System, ui/ux

BCBS Customer View

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Brand, Digital Concept

Spaced Concept

Responsive Web, Ecommerce,ui/ux

Target Optical

Product Suite, Ui/UX, Brand

Eventus AI

Responsive, Visual System, CMS

Uponor

Responsive, Ui/UX

All Kids Hospital

Digital Concept

Bookawocky

Product, Responsive, Ui/UX

Stratsys Customer Hub

Digital Concept, Motion

Biatain Product Page

Responsive, Ui/UX, Concept

Best Buy Platform

Product, Motion

Wifi Analyzer: Geek Squad

A larger selection of work is available upon request. Projects ranging from creative concepting, motion UI, Design systems, product design, etc.

Visual Design, Responsive design, Mobile App, Digital Branding

BCBS Mobile App

Redesign and rebranding of BCBS of MN's digital presence based on research and architecture work started by a third party partner.

Work done while at Slalom Consulting | Engagement Lead | Experience Design

01

Defining the problem

Blue Cross Blue Shield knew that it wasn't serving its customers with the latest and greatest technology had to offer. We were brought in to modernize, refine, and creat unity for a new mobile customer experience. We were also redefining the responsive customer portal at the same time as we were looking at the mobile application in order to create consistency between components and design standards.

02

Focusing the creative lens

Our approach focused on a calmer, more open experience which isn't new to the healthcare industry. We used a combination approach of mood boards and style tiles or "style boards" to test the "feel of the experience" before we committed to specific direction. We crafted special in-flight direction presentations to discuss how these new designs were impacting the larger BCBS ecosystem. Since they had to build unity as a team our documentation was focused on instructing and empowering them to leverage the systems we had put in place.

Important learnings during brainstorming

Feel comfortable making changes to the wireframes if you can communicate something better visually

At the end of the day we were the storytellers, interpreting feedback into visual decisions and therefore we needed to take control of the outcome and make changes as needed. All in line with the strategic objectives of both the user and business.

Mobile experiences should have a voice all their own.

Each touchpoint is an opportunity for a brand to solidify their brand values and tell a story to their audience. In this case, the story we needed to tell was one of service, support, and innovation. Young users needed to know they were planning for them and their future.

Train your clients to think about products in pieces not in terms of "completion"

There's no such thing as done especially in a world dominated by agile development where even major video games are being released as MVPs to end users. Our clients can't think of their digital presence or product as "complete". Part of my time with a client is to shift their project paradigm into product thinking.

We took our first stabs at a design language that was unique, pushing them out of their comfort zone.

It's easier to step backwards than it is to push forward. Once over the bump its the job of the designer and team to convince the client they are where they need to be.

03

Execution & Craft

Project Timelapse

View the time-lapse of the creation of some of the BCBS of MN creative assets over the course of 6 weeks. We had multiple visual iterations and meetings to come to an appropriate solution which worked across multiple channels and teams.

Visual Direction: Concept 1

In pushing them out of their comfort zone a bit we went big, bold, and slightly organic. Attempting to lesson the stereotypical "white room" approach for anything healthcare related. In this we added physical card breaks, circular profile images, and a large dip in the background which mimics the dip in the shield in their logo. Ultimately this was not the desired direction, though we kept the nicer parts of it.

Target optical product listing page mobile
Target Optical Product Detail page
Target Optical Checkout Cart
Target Optical slide out menu mobile
Target Optical Digital Try-on
Target Optical Digital Try-on

Motion Study

A quick, rough motion study was done in Invision Studio to begin exploring transition states and motion guidelines.

As we moved through the design discovery process we added new deliverables to the project to gain alignment on visual approach and brand consistency.

We began to look at their colors in a new way as BCBS felt uncomfortable with some of the new direction we had proposed but wanted to explore targeted areas to make big visual impact. We mocked up some screens which showed off the options before them so they could make informed decisions.

Finalizing the visuals and refining the rest of the system

Through our efforts in creating "Visual comparison" tests we were able to get consensus on from the brand team on what the appropriate voice was to the customer in a an information rich environment. We landed on a mostly monochromatic, clean approach (no big surprises) uso that BCBS of MN was never taking the focus off of the information needed at the different location in the app. A design with a bit less personality and neutral tone was important for information that could be tied to information which might deliver a range of extreme emotions, happy or sad. We didn't want to infer an emotional state onto the information presented.

Target Optical slide out menu mobile
Target Optical Digital Try-on
Target Optical Digital Try-on
Target Optical slide out menu mobile
Target Optical Digital Try-on
Target Optical Digital Try-on

Mobile Prototype

Using Invision, a mobile prototype was created to demonstrate basic functionality and context. This a brief walkthrough of some of the core features and content. The prototype was built out using finished  designs based upon the style guide built for the BCBS team.

The beginnings of a design system, component level thinking and a digital style guide

The final deliverable was the beginnings of implementing a larger design system into the Blue Cross Blue Shield culture. There was a large shift happening inside the company from waterfall to agile development and our goal was to set out early to show them the benefits of a design system early on in their transitioning. Had we a little more time, budget, and advocacy we may have been better equipped to make this change but as it was we did our best to document our recommendations in hopes that the team would carry through with the rest of the work.

04

What did I learn?

Collaboration and flexibility come to mind a lot when I think about this project. I had the opportunity to work with another senior level visual designer / art director on this project (Michael Zaspel) and we shared the burden of the work and the direction the work took but also had to come to terms with each others personal style and creative direction. We each had opinions that were important to the movement of the work and each of our visual directions were different in nature. That was probably the best learning to be had was finding the rhythm we both could live in, discussing challenging solutions that we disagreed on but still maintaining a good relationship along the way was no easy task. Within that world between ourselves we had another vendor and client we needed to brainstorm and review designs with in order to catch up to where everyone else was. We were juggling a lot of relationship and information with a client whose content and solutions weren't fully baked, this led to a lot of ambiguity that we needed to manage and wade through so we could get firm responses to our meetings with the client.

Important learnings during brainstorming

A brand can and should have different "voices" depending on their audience and context

Some of the "marketing" visuals that BCBS of MN was exploring probably wasn't appropriate in a setting where users just wanted quick access to meaningful information. In that sense we had to determine what that voice needed to be for the customer at this point in their journey.

Lean UX or Lean Design doesn't always mean less deliverables

I have plenty of thoughts on "Lean Design" methods of working and collaborating. Check out my Medium page for more thoughts there. However, we should be careful assuming that Lean UX means less deliverables. Lean UX is the focus on outcomes over deliverables and in this case we had to create deliverables we normally don't in other projects just to get alignment.

You project is only as successful as the clients ability to digest it

What we delivered was solid, good work. We had thought it through well, accounted for all the designs and tying them to their respected symbols and styles. The client was able to take that work and use it as the baseline for the growth of the rest of their platform.

Get in touch

05

Tell me your favorite kung fu movie or reach out to talk about design

Thank you! I'll be in touch as soon as I possibly can
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