Deutsch Inc.

(01/2012 - 06/2012)
Projects span a wide spectrum from Facebook apps to a complete mobile sites to analytics based tuning.

Most projects included some aspect that leveraged social networks to create or build-upon the brand's following. While we found these communities to be a great resource for reaching customers, we also had to be mindful of people's core tasks while in these spaces.

Mobile sites were a big part of my work at Deutsch, including sites for VW and fresh&easy Neighborhood Markets. Both were follow-ups to their desktop counterparts and required close analysis of user behavior and device constraints in order to create an appropriate experience. On the VW site, depth of information was an key. While mobile browsing is typically more causal than that on a desktop, mobile devices were a popular shopping tool while at the dealership. This lead us to have very detailed information, but in much simpler interactions.

MWES is a study done by JD Powers to assess car manufacturer web sites. They test the various sites in many areas in order to rate them against each other. This leads to standards that consumers can rely on to help them in their decision making process. It can also lead to monotony across sites. How can a brand differentiate itself if it is expected to present the same information as it's competitors. A good amount of design and analysis was done in order to properly select the enhancements that would help users, while maintain the brand message.

While much of my other work has focused on functionality and intuitive interfaces, much of the work at Deutsch was focused on making things cool. Tapping into people's curiosity and willingness to play can be a very power tool. Projects such as Why VW pushed storytelling boundaries and UX standards. For example, for the Safety section we created a parallax experience to visualize how the features work. Since parallax many times sacrifices usability, we took special care in crafting the solution to be usable while the user played.