Below are some selected highlights of work I have done over the years along with descriptions of the roles I played in the development of these projects. There are plenty more examples of my work that I’d be happy to show you if you want to sit down and talk about some potential upcoming projects.
You can also click here for a copy of my resume.
IKEA
IKEA: Strategy, UX Design, & Production
The challenge: to create a compelling online experience to connect IKEA fans with a new store opening in Canton, Ohio. IKEA customers are very active, incredibly outspoken people, and we wanted to harness that energy to spread awareness of the store's opening, and to keep them happy until that day. We felt a viral online approach was the way to go.
IKEA: True Viral UX
What better way to create a viral campaign than to model it after an actual virus? Since a virus is an incomplete structure that is only completed upon passing itself on, all of my user flows and site maps were likewise designed with simple sharing and action elements that were required for the user to complete the engagement.
IKEA: User-Centric Experience
The central point of the IKEA: Canton Project was the customer, or "fanatick." IKEA fanaticks would engage in games, reviews, daily quizzes, and other scalable activities. In return, their level of brand connection would increase as they got promoted from a lowly fanatick all the way up to an esteemed "kook." We developed three levels of fanaticks to reflect the three user personas developed to address the different levels of customer loyalty our research discovered.
IKEA: True Integration
Traditionally IKEA had been a print-only (catalog direct mailing) marketing company. It was important we didn't alienate customers who weren't comfortable with computers. To do this, we made sure that games and activities utilized imagery and concepts common in the print materials.
IKEA: Social Media
Participation in the IKEA Canton Project included strong social media and sharing elements. Fans were rewarded when they interacted with each other, when they shared campaign elements online, and when new customers joined the site from fan referrals. Originally, our goal was to reach 50k participants - we reached that number the first day! It grew so fast our big problem was getting the funding every few days to turn on more servers as overwhelming traffic kept crashing the site! The viral microsite and online app went on to win many awards, including the 2006 WMA Online Community Standard of Excellence and Retail Standard of Excellence WebAwards.