A slide detailing Ahvianna's education, career, and fun facts.

I'm an ENTJ-T with a double degree in Management and Philosophy and five years of experience in the creative field. My passion for art started from a young age when my parents had to find more conducive ways to get my energy under wraps by finding creative outlets.
I love blending creativity with functionality to solve real-world problems. I believe great design should be fun, fresh, and totally user-focused- or else what are we creating for? I’m all about bringing new, trendy ideas to the table, and I’m always excited to collaborate with others who share a passion for innovation and making the world a little more human. I also run ‘UX in the Wild,’ a weekly blog on Medium where I analyze everyday products, stores, and experiences through the lens of UX design.

Beyond the Screen...

Design is what I do, but creativity doesn’t stop at the screen. Here’s what inspires me beyond pixels and prototypes after hours.

Being a foodie
Banana bread pudding on plate.

I'll try any dessert once as I continue my search for the perfect dessert spot in Massachusetts (this was banana bread at Cafe G in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston).

Sneaker shopping and raffles
Blue and purple Nike sneakers sitting on shelf.

There’s no better feeling than unboxing a fresh pair of sneakers. Sneakers tell a story about culture and the people we care about. I love tracking down rare finds, staying up for new drops, and discovering unique designs.

Hand-curating playlists
"your hand in mine" album by Gabriel (dojang) with a Spotify code on the bottom.

I love crafting playlists that set a mood and tell a story. Find my hand-picked playlists on Spotify, @ahviannae2000.
(Scanning the code in the app to go to the album is fantastic design choice on Spotfiy's end to quickly share music.)

Getting lost in art musuems
Museum of Fine Arts staging of "Devout Men Taking the Body of Saint Stephen" by Benjamin West (1776)

I love wandering through museums, getting lost in textures, colors, and brushstrokes, and seeing how artists use different mediums to push creative boundaries.

Skills and Tools

Design Tools

Procreate
Figma and Figjam
Canva

Productivity Tools

Notion
OneNote
Apple Freeform

Research and Collaboration

User Interviews and Personas
Deep Market Research
Wireframing

Services

Brand Identity

Logo and Identity | Design Research | Style and Brand Guides | Inbound Techniques and User Journeys

Social Media Content

Content Creation | Product Photography and Mockups | Campaign Strategy | Pinterest and Etsy Marketing | Medium Blog

UX and User Research

Design Process | Ethical Focus | Systemic Thinking | User Experience Research

Design Process

My own personal steps to creating something that users love.

Research

Based on client consultation, user research, and competitive analysis, I focus on what the market is and isn’t offering. Who are the users and why might they not be fully satisfied by what they currently turn to and how do they want that gap to be filled? I take down key words, what works, and direction ideas.

Ideation and Exploration

Now, I set out a color palette and moodboard for the end visual of what I’m aiming for. With an understanding of user goals and their end-to-end journeys, I define the content as needed and structure it with information architecture. I sketch out screens and menus and anything else that users would interact with to get to their end goal. I also use this time to think as big as I want, then scale it down. The larger ideas can be saved for later iterations of the project or future ideas if I wanted to scale it further.

Iteration and Testing

Now moving to building more robust design, mid and high fidelity wireframes are getting built up. I do two to four rounds of usability testing or at least putting it in front of potential customers. This is to see if the design is intuitive, but avoids overtesting to ensure there is a strong balance between the experience itself and task completion.

Final Prototype

After the last few iterations, the product is check one last time for any writing and grammar mistakes and shipped off! Now, we wait for data and larger scale feedback to come in. If a client wants it, I help them understand any data they may have questions about and ensure brand consistency through storytelling.

Aw man!

While you were falling in love with my work and experience, you just missed me! Look below to see what I'm up to and where you can find me (I'm probably stuck in a Costco line...)

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