Sean talking to coworker

Hi.

I'm Sean.

I'm a holistic designer with a focused on human-centered design. With a technical background in industrial design, I prioritize research, collaboration, and development to understand design contexts. Well defined problems lead to higher quality solutions. I believe in iterative, collaborative design as an exploratory journey. Maybe we'll take this trip together. Until then, here's a bit of my travelogue so far.

With a technical background in industrial design, I'm a holistic designer with a comprehensive background and approach to design processes and solutions with a focus in human centered design principles. I let research, collaboration, and development drive my approach to understanding the context of a design solution. My experience has shown me that effort given to properly defining a problem leads a higher quality resolution. Good design is a process – repeated through collaborative iteration. Its an exploratory journey, too. Maybe we'll take this trip together. Until then, here's where I’ve been so far.

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UMKC Libraries

UI/front-end dev/graphic design

The university library’s web presence needed to join the 21st Century. This involved a content overhaul, redefining user needs, and total visual makeover for UMKC University Libraries. My contributions involved design initiative briefs, discovery artifacts, sketches, wireframes, UX flows, low and high fidelity prototypes, heuristic evaluations, and competitive analysis. The site was developed in .NET with the Bootstrap framework with a focus on mobile optimization, accessibility features, and a custom CMS.

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Student waking down hallway

University Wayfinding System

Design System, User Experience

This project's objective was to develop a user-friendly wayfinding system for a multi-storied university library. Chat logs and circulation desk records showed routine questions related to library amenity locations. Existing maps were simply enlarged architectural plans; cumbersome to the layperson. Existing signage was installed in awkward locations. Research informed design enhancements and a new approach to interior map displays. Project outcomes resulted in a color-coded floor signage system, improved wayfinding, and simplified isometric map layouts.

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Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker

Print graphic/front-end dev

Jazz master & saxophonist Charlie Parker's centennial was celebrated in the Fall of 2020 by The American Jazz Museum. I was brought on board to design and develop both the physical and digital exhibits. The visual design and brand artifacts of the physical and digital exhibits was a result of my close collaboration with the content curation team lead by renowned jazz historian and curator Chuck Haddix. Archival print material was scanned in a high resolution format and presented in engaging, interactive formats. For an immersive experience, rare audio interviews and musical tracks were incorporated into both exhibits.

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Open Educational Resources

Open Education Resources

UI, front-end dev, graphic design

As part of a growing trend in higher education to provide low-cost educational material, the University of Missouri-Kansas City needed a digital access point for this newly developed set of academic resources and information. Using Wordpress, I developed this site in collaboration with university administrators, students, and instructors.

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Barney Kessel

Barney Kessel: A Musical Legacy

UI, front-end dev, graphic design

There was a need to develop and sustainably host digital exhibits built by students as part of their coursework. The result was a digital exhibit built on the Omeka S platform. The Barney Kessel collection is part of an Advanced Research and Bibliography course. I worked closely with graduate students to develop an interface to expand their digital humanities expertise through training and support for Omeka S and Timeline.JS.

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Annual Report

Annual Report Digital Experience

UI, front-end dev, graphic design

In an effort to move away from print while creating an more engaging experience for the University Libraries' annual report, I collaborated with a team of content curators to design a digial experience for the year's data. As an evolution of the physical left-to-right reading experience of the print report, this layout incorporates a horizontal scroll experience on desktop. Winner of the 2023 ALA PR Xchange Awards

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Radio Goldin Project

Radio Goldindex

UI/Admin Interface

A collection of over 10,000 radio broadcast discs were cataloged as part of a Mellon Grant. I developed an administrator interface that would allow for improved management of the collection that held true to the original objective to make the database accessible and provide consistency for discovering the collection.

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Resume

Qualifications Summary

  • Human centered design focus in digital product design & development
  • Design system develpoment, branding and visual systems
  • Email design/optimization across all email providers
  • POP merchandising display and tradeshow booth design and manufacturing process
  • Video editing, motion graphics, photo editing and manipulation
  • Enthusiastic collaborator; able work effectively in cross-functional team environments
  • Excellent time management and organizational skills
  • Outstanding hand illustration, storyboarding & concept development skills

Education

  • University of Kansas, BA Industrial Design, 2006 (5 year program)
  • Emphasis in Human Factors
  • Concentration in Spanish
  • GAP Award recipient, 2006

Skills & Software

  • Visual Studio, Adobe Creative Suite (Acrobat, Animate, AfterEffects, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere), Microsoft Suite
  • WordPress (focus in Elementor), Omeka-S, Drupal, PHP, .NET
  • Front end development with HTML, CSS. Working knowledge of JavaScript, ASP, PHP
  • Experience with Agile, Kanban, and Scrum product development methodologies and Atlassian project management tools
  • 3D & 2D modeling & prototyping software: MicroStation, Solidworks

Work

  • University of Missouri-Kansas City
    2016-present Iterative, user-centered design. Incorporating user needs, requirements, and usability test results. Producing mockups and detailed web-user interface designs for evaluation and iterative refinement while working closely with the development team to provide UI specifications. Also working within the application development process in front-end coding, testing, and production deployment.
  • Volly (FMLY SoftVu)
    2012-2016 Working with the technology and client service teams for day-to-day development and enhancements of client marketing campaigns. Utilizing email, landing page, video, and social media development. Web, graphic, video, animation.
  • Freelance
    2009-2012 Independent contract work with a variety of clients in web design, graphic solutions, brand identity/development. USDA, Greenies, Kiwi, SodaStream, Kellogg's, Bayer.
  • Impulse Marketing
    2006-2009 Website development, product-packaging concept development & point-of-purchase displays, hand illustration/sketching concept development, CAD modeling software for retail space layouts, plan-o-gram design and development. Trade-show booth design & construction.

Awards, Volunteer, Interests

  • RR Xchange Awards: Advocacy/Fundraising/Annual Reports, and Strategic Plans, 2023
  • Silver Award Davey Awards Silver Award, video/animation in the “Advertising & Marketing”, 2015
  • 2019-2022 Advisory Board Member, American Wolf Foundation
  • 2021 Kansas City Chapter volunteer, Mothers Out Front
  • 2021 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force Member, UMKC Libraries
  • Family, live music, drawing, cycling, playing guitar, and haiku.

Say hi back.

Get in touch with me for further information.