Cartoons and Product Design
In 1993, I started out as a cartoonist building websites for myself and other comics artists, so my first digital products were comic books. When I went to work for a Portland CRM company, I saw that usability was a huge issue, so I delved into the methodologies of Don Norman, Alan Cooper, and Jakob Nielsen to learn new methods for solving the user's problems in context.
Throughout the years, I have had opportunity to design digital products of all descriptions, from early WAP mobile applications to enterprise portals. I believe that successful product design starts with a thorough understanding of both the user and the context. Trends will come and go, but a good product iterates to change with the times.
Solving Problems in Context
Chareles Eames said "The details are the design." Great visual elements and logical interactions are crucial to good products, but the most important element is to make sure that the product team has a clear understanding of who the user is and what they need to do. A good product designer will utilize research data to drive product decisions and help teams align around solving specific problems. Using a consistent process is the key to creating alignment aross teams.
Philosophy
The design of digital products requires that we understand the user and the context in which the product will be used; after that we need to define the problems the user needs to solve using the product. Only then can we begin to ideate the best way for the product to tackle these problems. It's a team effort involving product management, developer leads, QA, and interactive designers. The keys to success are clarity, validation, ideation, and iteration.
I seek always to collaborate across business, technical, visual, and product teams to ensure that politics, budgets, and strong personalities don't degrade the product.
My top priority is to clearly define the problems we seek to solve. This mitigates risk and assures the highest value product design.
I offer the passionate product design leadership that gets everyone on the team rowing in the same direction.
Other Interests
I am a cartoonist, illustrator and writer. I also play drums in various rock and jazz bands.
What does this have to do with UX?
As a life-long storyteller, the reader's interests have always been of primary importance.
As a comics artist, I know the value of pacing, style and brevity.
As a drummer, I strive to be the best accompanist for any musicians I play with.
These are all attributes I bring to my work every day.
What People Say About Josh
Josh’s talent in design, wireframing and prototyping is considerable and second only to his comprehensive skills with user research, task and scenario mapping, product strategy, storyboarding and persona synthesis. Always advocating for the user, Josh’s work has been tremendously successful increasing user empathy from his immediate team members up through the entire organization.
-Mike Lane, UX Thought Leader
Across every interaction, Josh demonstrates an incredible passion for user experience strategy, as well as a deep commitment to human-centered design. All of his efforts are grounded in a deep understanding of consumers and their needs.
- Lauren Schwartz, Director of Innvation at Maddock Douglas
Josh's ability to see through the clutter and unravel complex documentation was an incredible help for our small team. He was able to perform informative user testing on shoestring budgets. His personality was only a bonus. He's easy-going, smart as a whip and ready with an entertaining story or fun fact about just about everything.
-Tracy Ahern, Co-Founder of Rogue Labs
Josh’s skills in UX, design, and storytelling helped provide a new set of tools that helped put employees, consultants, projects, and programs on the same page. Josh has an infectious enthusiasm for user-centered design.
-Matt Arnold, UX Director at Handrail
