Hello!
My name is Jera
I design solutions for business problems
My passion is understanding how people think and why they make the decisions that they do.
I've had the luxury of working with many professionals with many unique backgrounds. From Human Factors Psychologists to young entrepreneurs; to professional video game players to the professionals in television media; I have met some incredible minds.
What they all shared was the drive for success, and what each had different was their perceived pathway to success. The challenge for these groups was understanding perspectives beyond their own and using that knowledge to achieve their goals.
My job is to use creativity and empathy to understand the needs of the business, and the needs of the user. Working in a team, we solve problems by create meaningful experiences that fulfill business objectives.
Wichita State University
Wichita, KS
2009 - 2012
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
Specializing in Human Factors
UX Designer
Bellevue, WA
Oct 2018 - Present
- Designate tasks and mentoring the UX skills of four junior designers, reporting to the UX Manager
- Lead discovery sessions with clients and stakeholders to distil functional requirements
- Design application wireframes in Adobe XD and online prototyping with InVision
- Lead and moderate in-person usability studies for client (Stanford University)
- Lead internal workshops for generative ideation for topics ranging from logo design to persona definition
Freelance UX Design and Researcher
Wichita, KS // Bellevue, WA
Spring 2013 - Present
- Captured business requirements through stakeholder interviews to strategize new ideas
- Researched customer experiences through surveys and user journey maps to evaluate customer attitudes and behaviors
- Prepared usability studies executed by UserTesting.com, as well as moderate in-person usability tests
- Designed website wireframes using visual design programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, Affinity Designer, Figma)
- Developed websites for businesses using HTML CSS, JS, AngularJS, and ReactJS
- Monitored and analyzed web traffic (Google Analytics) to provide data-driven business suggestions
Digital Content Producer
Jun 2014 - Apr 2015
- Collaborated with reporters and producers tell meaningful stories using Television and Web mediums
- Wrote web articles following the writing standards of broadcast journalists
- Developed style guidelines for a mobile-first approach for content creation
- Winner of 2015 Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Website
Communication Analyst
Jan 2014 - May 2014
- Provided statistical analysis of opponents and players to help identify weaknesses in opponents as well as weaknesses in our own team dynamic
- Refined communication systems to reduce the amount of "clutter language" in order to focus as a team
- Mentored young adults to improve their mental fortitude, provided feedback to improve performance, and encouraged critical thinking
UX Consultant
Mar 2013 - Aug 2013
- Contributed to design decisions to create Kansas's first video game themed bar
- Advocated for an ergonomic approach for the arrangement of furniture to offer the most comfortable setting for patrons
Research Assistant
Feb 2011 - Dec 2012
- Recruitment specialist for special populations, using surveys and data analysis to recruit a specific demographic
- Assisted in the experimental design for a doctoral research project involving video game training and performance on attentional tasks
- Analyzed experiment results with quantitative statistical tests (t-tests, ANOVAs, chi-square tests) using Excel and SPSS
- Conducted usability studies on products ranging from digital websites to wearable technology
- Research published in Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) 2012
User Research Abilities
- Usability Testing (Moderated & Unmoderated)
- Field Studies
- Survey Design
- User Interviews and Focus Groups
- Heuristic Evaluation
- Personas and User Stories
Coding Proficiencies
- HTML & CSS
- Frameworks: Bootstrap & Foundation
- Advanced CSS: Sass, Flexbox, CSS Grid
- Vanilla JS, ES2017, ReactJS, AngularJS
- Basic Proficiency: NodeJS, NPM
Research & Analytic Programs
- MS Excel
- Survey Monkey
- Google Forms
- Google Analytics
- SPSS
- Morae
Graphic Design and Code Programs
- Adobe Illustrator / XD
- Adobe Premire Pro
- Affinity Designer
- Sketch
- Figma
- Git / GitHub
Recent Projects
In a world where millennials are the emerging market demographic, non-profit organizations must find novel ways to raise funds to sustain their mission.
GroundSwell is a client that had to take a unique pivot to save the fidelity of their product. Through clever analysis of altruistic behaviors, we were able to create an engaging experience that turns a banking application into a do-good feel-good application.
"Project Greenhouse" is a digital monitoring system for greenhouse environments. Metrics, such as temperature, pH level and water level, are captured by sensors and transmitted to an online storage system.
The real-time metrics can be accessed through computers and mobile devices to help farmers monitor remotely, saving time and resources for the business.
Heroic Knight Games is a small business that sells board games and hobby items, but received negative feedback about the quality of their website.
Working with the business owner to refine his business objectives, we were able to create a new website that fulfilled the business's needs and the information needs of future customers.
Memorable Projects
Typical games last anywhere from 30-minutes to an hour, but the game can be lost in a matter of seconds if a team does not execute a plan properly. Having an analyst improves the overall knowledge of the team and increases the chances that a team will win, and ultimately end up playing for multi-million dollar prizes.
Here are my strategies that helped elevate a team to the Top 10 in North America.
Video Game research has been a hot topic over the last decade. A graduate student at Wichita State University wanted to discover if there was a link to the improvement of cognitive abilities by training people with specialized video games.
For the adults who have been playing video games most of their lives to the casual person who only plays phone app games once in a while, there are skills that train your brain.
Testimonials
Paul Sewell
Small Business Owner
"I have known Jeremiah for a number of years and over that time he has displayed the ability to creatively and effectively solve any task presented to him. Whether it be working with clients or designing a webspace, he is a true master."
Ryuichi Itoi
Software Developer
"Jeremiah understands people to an astonishing degree. His ability to empathize and understand complex situations is truly incredible. I know very few people who have the mental finesse that Jeremiah possesses."
Kevin White
KSN.com
“Jeremiah has a creative eye in designing the look of websites. While at KSNW, he made our stories shine by adding a unique look with different elements. He is incredibly friendly and a diligent worker.”