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About Me

I’m a New York based User Experience Design Consultant. While User Experience (UX) casts a wide net across many disciplines, I like to think of UX as a process that is applied to product development to make the best possible product that people want to use. I work mainly with technology based start-ups and companies building new Web, mobile or desktop-based applications or improving upon existing ones. Some of the things I do include: user research, user testing, wireframes, interaction and visual design. These skills are a compliment to the overall process and since every project is different, the types of deliverables that are produced are different.

In my spare time I like to make things that help people do things better, faster or easier. I’m the co-founder of Tweat.it, New York City’s only real-time food truck map. We also have a free iPhone app. I also co-produced Get a Room, which is a conference room booking app for shared spaces as well as Window Shopper, your shopping bag for the entire Internet.

Lastly, I’m the “Phebes” half of Phin & Phebes ice cream from New York. We make some ridiculous flavors check us out: http://phinandphebes.com

Examples of Work

Process

The process for any given project is a little different depending on the nature of the project. However, there is a common thread when designing and building anything for users that is a change to what they’re use to or is new; the process of: Hypothesis, Build, Measure and Learn.

This model is an iterative process that allows for the input of user feedback to help validate (or invalidate) a hypothesis and hone in on real problem areas. New ideas or projects are often conceptualized with a set of assumptions about what the problems are. The goal of the hypothesis, build, measure and learn model is to put those assumptions on the table and test them to see which ones are valid and to figure out the extent of their validity. This is done with the help of user testing, which can be done in a variety of ways.

When building something new it’s very common that the final product is not exactly what was envisioned in the first place. This is because the injection of user feedback as a result of testing changes our assumptions and informs us of what we actually should be building. It’s almost impossible to predict what people really need without actually testing it with them first.

Asking customers what they want is simply not enough. People are normally very good at articulating problems not necessarily envisioning solutions. User Experience gets to the heart of figuring out what the problems are then sets out to solve them.

“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” - Henry Ford

Types of User Testing

There are various types of ways to perform user testing. The type of method(s) used depend on the desired outcome, but typically speaking doing some sort of one-on-one customer interview yields the best feedback. However great results can be derived otherwise as well. Some different types of user testing methods include:

• Surveys
• In person (“contextual”) interviews
• Focus Groups
• Card Sorting

Different Ways of Testing

• Sketches
• Paper Prototypes
• HTML Prototypes
• Visual Designs
• Clickable visual prototypes

Read a blog post about methods and tips for user testing: Methods & Tips for User Testing

Testimonials

Some clients I’ve worked for:

Some nice things said about me:

“Jess is amazing. She has the product manager skills to build out great user experiences with barebones requirements, and yet applies a rigorous process with stakeholders to make sure everyone is involved and engaged. She was even able to suggest (and mockup) new features we hadn’t even thought of.”

- David Lifson, CEO Postling, (May, 2010)

“We brought on Jess to help us design our member referral system from the ground-up, including a fresh design that fit Scoop St. branding requirements but also a smart interface that would make sharing our deals as easy as possible. I can’t speak highly enough of Jess’ holistic approach to usability design, as it really showed on our referral system.”

- David Ambrose, VP of Business Development, Scoop St., (August, 2011)

“Jess is a rockstar. I hired her to bring an idea from concept to reality and wow, what a great decision. Jess’ fluency in UX, information architecture is extraordinary. She grasps complex ideas and with a balance of art and science, she distills them into usable design. If you have the opportunity to work with Jess, take it..”

- Rob Ross (September, 2011)

Blogging

I disseminate content in a few different places, which you can find here!

WordPress Blog
This is where I write about design, technology and user experience: http://jesseddy.com/blog

Tumblr Blog
This is where I post interesting things I find on the Internet that mainly have to do with design and products: http://jesseddy.tumblr.com

Ask UX Jess
This is another Tumblr blog where anyone can ask me questions about user experience, design and working with start-ups: http://ask-jess.tumblr.com

FAQ’s

Are you a contractor or an agency?

I’m an individual consultant. I can work with people on your team but it’s just me over here.

Are you also a developer?

I’m not a developer but I do sometimes work with and hire developers for projects.

Are you available for full-time work?

Not currently, no.

How much do you charge?

I have a ballpark hourly rate upon which I base estimates but since each project is different and requires some custom tailored approaches, I prefer to talk about my hourly rate in the context of a project and deliverables so you can see what you’re getting out of it.

(More FAQ’s coming soon!)

Contact Me