About Michelle Jordan

She received her Bachelor’s Degree at North Carolina State University in Industrial Design and took Master’s level courses at Jefferson University in User Experience Design.

“The beauty in design is in the process. It is beautiful because much like waves, it moves in a cyclical pattern. As a designer, I work to better serve the user as improving people's lives is my ultimate life and career goal. As a person, I have a passion for helping youth through means of tutoring/mentoring. I also have a passion for outdoor activities like paddle-boarding, hiking, and going to the gym.”
- Michelle Mills

skills

• Low to High Fidelity Mockups

• Website + Application Design

• Design Strategy

• Front End Coding (HTML, CSS)

• Illustration

• Infographic

The Client

Who is the client? What goals do they have in mind? What is their vision? When I speak to clients I keep in mind that often times they aren't designers. How can I transform what is floating around in their minds into a design? At my last role this was my biggest accomplishment. I worked at a marketing firm as a web designer where the design process was no more than "here, do." I am more of a "let's gather all the clues" type of designer. I implemented the company's first design brief to increase visual communication to the clients. This was very successful and smoothed many bumpy roads to a good design.

DELIVERABLES

• Design Brief

  • Goals

  • Website Architecture Outline

    • List of features on each page

  • Stock Imagry

  • UI elements to check design direction

  • (Quick) High fidelity mock-up

    • This was used to bridge creative gaps 

    • Created unity between employees, bosses, client 

Research

What do user's think about this topic? What don't we (designers/client) know? What is already out on the market? Research is a critical part of any design. While the length of time given for research may vary from project to project it is a step that should not be missed. You have to dig for answers, research does not come easily and sometimes research will show you a completely different path. This is wonderful because we can learn what problem we are truly solving.

DELIVERABLES

• Competitor comparisons 

• Interview summaries

• Experience maps

• Charts, statistics, quotes

Development

What have we learned from our research? It's time to lay all of the cards out on the table (metaphorically and literally). It is in this stage that I would story board to illustrate the problem.  

DELIVERABLES

• User flow charts

• Site mapping

• Story boards

Ideation

What might this look like? What is the craziest possible design? What is the safest design? It is best to start brainstorming a range of ideas from crazy to obvious. From there it is easier to get your "brain juices" flowing. This is also the stage to think about color palettes, stock images, fonts, and other UI elements. 

DELIVERABLES

• Sketches

• Wireframes

• Low fidelity mock-ups 

• Prototypes