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Ann Balk

User Experience Designer

Designing meaningful experiences across platforms and disciplines.

MY UX WORK

These in-depth project overviews showcase my methods, practices and skills when applied to widely different tasks.

Redesigning UX for
better productivity and
onboarding

View Case Study

Designing for the
physical world

View Case Study

Please contact me to learn about many other projects I have done over the years.

My Approach to Design


Design Process

I firmly believe that good design is not just about looking good. My designs focus on solving real people's needs and prioritizing usability through a method of rigorous testing and constant feedback.

I start each project by studying business goals, constraints and needs of the customer (usually the end user of the product). Once I form an idea of the desired result, at least for the initial stage of the project, I systematically iterate through creating prototypes, deploying minimum viable products (MVPs) and testing their effectiveness in meeting the objectives defined in the goals and needs research phase.

I have been both a designer and a developer, so I know the importance of both roles. I always aim to build clear communications and mutual support between developers and designers, no matter which one I am at the moment.

METHODS

Ethnographic Observations
Interviews
Competitive Analysis

Key Personas
Journey Maps
Focus Groups

Sketches
Flow charts
Storyboards

Wireframes
Mock-ups
Prototypes

MVPs
Usability Tests
Iteration

TOOLS

Prototyping:

Paper & Pencil
UX Pin
Adobe XD

Graphic:

Sketch App
Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

Analytical:

Google Analytics
MATLAB
Microsoft Excel

3D & CAD:

Autodesk Fusion 360
SketchUp
Carrara 3D

Developing:

HTML & CSS
JavaScript
C++, Delphi

Biography


My journey into the field of UX Design was long and unconventional, with several unexpected turns along the way.

  • Graphic Design & Fine Art

    Solid proficiency in visual storytelling.

    I received over 10 years of education in classical fine art and visual design, and although I chose not to pursue a full time career in this field, I often find use for my artistic side when I pick up graphics or artistic direction projects. These skills come in handy in UX design as well.

  • Computer Science

    Extensive software engineering experience.

    One of my Bachelor's degrees is in Computer Science. During my career as a software engineer I developed a good understanding of the technical underpinnings of digital products.

  • Film & Video Production

    Team management, budgeting, conflict resolution, amongst others.

    Driven by thirst for learning and interesting experiences, I spent several vacations working on short films as either producer, production designer or art director. I have balanced extremely tight budgets, coordinated diverse teams and brought strict order to chaotic creative environments.

  • Neurobiological Research Analytics

    Experiment design, interdisciplinary communication, scientific approach techniques.

    For 15 years of my career I created and managed software for data analysis and experiment design in neuroscience research. Academic research is at the forefront of innovation and evolves constantly, but, sadly, most externally developed solutions for this field lack UX sensitivity and flexibility or quickly become obsolete. I have witnessed the enormous improvements my good-UX-driven changes provided for the scientific outcomes.

  • 3d Modeling & Illustration

    Designing physical objects, production scaling, cross-disciplinary collaboration.

    What started out as a fun hobby soon became integrated into all of my professional pursuits, from CAD designs for brain implants to realistically rendered 3D illustrations and composite shots for movies.

  • Enterprise UX design

    Understanding user needs, usability research, effective designs.

    I have been concentrating on UX design and improving user experiences for the last 8 years.

Contact Me

724.826.8272

New York City, USA