Blake Williford, Phd

Blake Williford, Phd Email and Phone Number

Fractional Lead Product Designer @ Startup Design Partners
United States
Blake Williford, Phd's Location
Austin, Texas, United States, United States
Blake Williford, Phd's Contact Details

Blake Williford, Phd personal email

n/a

Blake Williford, Phd phone numbers

About Blake Williford, Phd

I'm a Georgia Tech educated design leader and innovator with expertise designing and prototyping human-centered user experiences. I drive value by inspiring teams with passion and vision while designing and implementing beautiful, simple, and world-class user experiences. I bring deep experience with every stage of the design process including strategy, user research, customer journeys, personas, conceptualization / ideation, sketching, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, and visual design. I can also bridge in to front-end development / collaborate very well with front-end engineers. My thirst for innovation led me to complete a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction. In addition to my core skills in design and high-fidelity prototyping I have a proven track record of research-driven innovation (4 patents filed, 2 awarded) and I've conducted award-winning research related to teaching drawing skills with artificial intelligence. I've also worked for two of the world's most renowned computer science R&D labs, Microsoft Research and Adobe Research.

Blake Williford, Phd's Current Company Details
Startup Design Partners

Startup Design Partners

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Fractional Lead Product Designer
United States
Blake Williford, Phd Work Experience Details
  • Startup Design Partners
    Fractional Lead Product Designer
    Startup Design Partners
    United States
  • Blake Williford Design
    Freelance Designer
    Blake Williford Design Apr 2010 - Present
    Freelance UX design, UI design, UX research, graphic design, illustration, and branding services with 10+ years of experience working on projects for more than 50 clients ranging from startups to more established corporations. Generally assisting with all stages of the user experience design process from concepting and strategy to research, data-driven design, and front-end development.+ Greatly improved UI design and visual design for sustainability startup Ubuntoo and helped launch its initial website and web app in 2019 to 750+ key partners including major brands like CocaCola and Clorox.+ Designed brand and helped launch website for Titin, an innovative fitness apparel company that was featured on Shark Tank and received a $1 million investment from FUBU CEO Daymond John.+ Assisted various other startups in launching world-class websites and apps, designing better brand identities, and VC pitch decks that raised more than $7,000,000 in venture capital.+ Most recently leading UX and UI design (contract) for a stealth startup - a product that leverages AI to analyze front-end code and find inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and dead code to clean-up tech debt. I have worked with the founders and leadership to redesign the design system, produced concepts for VC pitch decks, and the product is currently being trialed by major brands like Indeed and SurveyMonkey.
  • 2U
    Lead Design Instructor
    2U Feb 2023 - Aug 2023
    Arlington, Virginia, Us
    + Taught a 6-month UX / UI design bootcamp of 40+ students. This bootcamp had classes 3 times a week and covered the entire design process from UX research to UX design, UI / visual design, and even front-end development and prototyping with code. The coding portion was my own curriculum developed from scratch.+ I've additionally lectured at: University of TorontoGeorge Washington University
  • Polygence
    Senior Ux / Ui Designer
    Polygence Mar 2022 - Jul 2023
    Stanford, Us
    + Led UX / UI design for this educational technology startup focused on providing mentorship and passion project experiences for high school students+ Facilitated a rebranding and visual refresh of website, web app, and native app leading to a more consistent and cohesive brand identity and design system+ Conducted interviews and usability testing with dozens of mentors and students providing a strong foundation for continued design work+ Designed and facilitated numerous shipped features to create a world-class passion project experience for mentors and students, including tools for sharing resources, scheduling sessions, and a brand new native app (4.7 Rating on App Store)+ Mentored 2 mid-level designers on design best practices, more consistent design, responsive design, etc.+ Company has helped more than 2400 students from 44+ countries do passion projects and get in to top-tier universities
  • Chalkcast
    Senior Ux Designer
    Chalkcast Apr 2021 - Mar 2022
    Bradenton, Florida, Us
    + Led UX / UI design for this educational technology startup (virtual classroom tool).+ Rebranded company and collaborated with mid-level UX designer to produce a more consistent and cohesive style design system.+ Designed and built company's front-facing brochure site (https://www.chalkast.org) (HTML/CSS/JS)+ Conducted semi-structured interviews and usability tests with more than 30 teachers and students which led to key insights and better prioritization of features.+ Designed and prototyped numerous features for remote learning including a quiz tool, chalkboard, automated attendance, session history, etc.
  • Texas A&M University - Sketch Recognition Lab
    Ux/Ui Designer / Researcher / Prototyper
    Texas A&M University - Sketch Recognition Lab Aug 2016 - Mar 2021
    College Station, Tx, Us
    + During and after completing my PhD I led design and research on three innovative educational applications that leverage sketching and AI.+ Led the design and development of “Sketchtivity”, an educational platform for teaching the fundamentals of design sketching. I have won awards for my game design and research related to this project and published at top HCI conferences including CHI and IUI. The software has been used by over 1000 students at 3 universities and 3 high schools.+ Led design for "Mechanix", an educational platform for teaching free body diagrams by providing automated real-time feedback on sketches. The software has been used by over 1000 students at 5 universities and 3 high schools.+ Led the design and development of "FossilSketch" an educational platform for learning about micropaleontology and identifying microorganisms.+ Designed and developed a PIXL (Mars 2020 Rover) XRF simulation interface for Aeolian Lab and was a co-author on a peer-reviewed paper.
  • Medicare Pathfinder, Inc.
    Lead Ux/Ui Designer
    Medicare Pathfinder, Inc. Nov 2015 - Jan 2021
    Atlanta, Ga, Us
    + I led visual design, UX design, front-end development, and data visualization for this startup.+ Helped company raise more than $450,000 in venture capital with numerous interations of VC pitch decks and helped company win "Best Startup" at Healthdatapalooza 2016.+ Designed and prototyped innovative visualizations for a predictive analytics dashboard that prevents providers from losing revenue.+ Designed and prototyped a simple and intuitive senior-facing application that gathers healthcare information and connects them to plans with the best possible coverage at the lowest cost.+ Company partnered with 4 insurance brokers as well as providers.
  • Adobe
    Ux Designer / Researcher (Contract)
    Adobe May 2019 - Aug 2019
    San Jose, Ca, Us
    + Worked with Holger Winnemoeller in Creative Intelligence Lab of Adobe Research to design and develop a novel creativity-support tool for novices. The tool leverages touch interactions and modularization of Photoshop commands to make digital image manipulation easier for novices.+ Filed for US Patent as co-inventor.
  • Microsoft
    Ux Designer / Researcher (Contract)
    Microsoft Jun 2018 - Sep 2018
    Redmond, Washington, Us
    + Worked with both Microsoft Research and an applied research / product group AI and Ink to conceptualize, design, and develop a novel sketch-based educational application and conducted a user study with 20 participants.+ Filed for 2 US patents as lead inventor.+ Published findings at Creativity and Cognition 2019 in San Diego, CA.
  • Fjord
    Ux Designer
    Fjord Aug 2015 - Apr 2016
    London, England, Gb
    + Collaborated on several client projects for the Atlanta studio of this service design firm. Work involved UX research, interviews, journey mapping, persona creation, sketching, wireframing, prototyping and visual design. + Conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 USAA employees and customers, and synthesized research to design a mortgage buying application.+ Designed various features for an award-winning Florida Power & Light mobile and web app which was launched serving 4,600,000+ customers.+ Conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 Celebrity Cruiselines employees and customers, and synthesized research to redesign their online booking experience.
  • Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Graduate Teaching Assistant
    Georgia Institute Of Technology Jan 2015 - May 2015
    Atlanta, Georgia , Us
    Assisting sophomore undergrad Industrial Design students in their main studio course. Responsibilities include helping them with research, ideation, giving them constructive feedback, and grading. Used my knowledge and experience to ensure they get in to good habits, break bad habits, and are dedicated to process.
  • Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Graduate Research Assistant
    Georgia Institute Of Technology Aug 2014 - Dec 2014
    Atlanta, Georgia , Us
    Designed a sketching ability paper test to measure sketching abilityAdministered spatial reasoning tests, surveys, and my own sketching ability test to 170+ Mechanical Engineering freshmen in an effort to gain baseline data for the NSF grant PerSketchTivity. Work was part of the iDREEM lab under Dr. Julie Linsey and was closely related to my master's thesis.
  • Stubhub
    Ux Design Intern
    Stubhub May 2014 - Aug 2014
    New York, Ny, Us
    Hybrid UX Designer role in which I designed and prototyped a new profile system concept for StubHub users called “My Hub”. Worked closely with a Project Manager intern to conceptualize a site-wide personalization framework, with the goal of making StubHub a more personally catered experience for event discovery and planning. Assisted UX team on several projects related to the responsive redesign of StubHub website by exploring page designs with sketches, wireframes, and prototypes.
  • Think Interactive, Inc
    Ux Designer
    Think Interactive, Inc Nov 2013 - Jan 2014
    Philadelphia, Pa, Us
    Assisted UX team in the design of two responsive websites for national brands during a 3-month contract position with information architecture, wireframes, task-flows, and sitemaps.
  • Cardinal Web Solutions, Llc
    Lead Visual / Ui Designer
    Cardinal Web Solutions, Llc Jan 2012 - Jan 2014
    Atlanta, Georgia, Us
    + Led the design services of this growing digital agency as their first in-house designer. + Rebranded the company and its entire physical and digital presence, leading to a more clear, concise, and cohesive brand identity. + Directed a wide variety of design projects for over 30 local and national clients involving responsive web design, mobile site/app design, graphic design, and branding during a time in which the company tripled in size and revenue increased more than 5X.
  • Cooper Lighting
    Industrial Design Intern
    Cooper Lighting May 2011 - Aug 2011
    + Supported design team and worked on a variety of commerical LED lighting products. I learned a tremendous amount about manufacturing processes, real-world design constraints, and the competitive lighting industry. I also developed concepts for a family of products for InVUE, reimagining their high-end outdoor lighting brand.
  • Case-Mate
    Industrial Design Contractor
    Case-Mate 2010 - 2010
    Sandy Springs, Georgia, Us
    + I helped develop the “Go-bare” product, a clear adhesive skin that protects phones and other mobile devices from scratches. I designed custom and very precise templates (within 1mm) for the various phones coming out on the market at the time - including iPhone 4, HTC Evo 4G, HTC Intruder, Samsung Galaxy, Samsung Wave, and LG Ally

Blake Williford, Phd Skills

User Experience Web Design Sketching Rendering Concept Design Illustrator Indesign User Experience Design Photoshop Design Thinking Graphic Design Model Making Logo Design Wireframes Brand Development Usability Testing Laser Cutting Solidworks Packaging Design Adobe Illustrator Concept Art Adobe Photoshop Conceptual Sketching Creative Direction Alias Google Sketchup Wireframing Javascript C# Sketch Recognition

Blake Williford, Phd Education Details

  • Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Human-Computer Interaction
  • Texas A&M University
    Texas A&M University
    Computer Science (Human-Computer Interaction)
  • Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Georgia Institute Of Technology
    Industrial Design
  • Stanton College Preparatory School
    Stanton College Preparatory School
    6Th Subject - Computer Science

Frequently Asked Questions about Blake Williford, Phd

What company does Blake Williford, Phd work for?

Blake Williford, Phd works for Startup Design Partners

What is Blake Williford, Phd's role at the current company?

Blake Williford, Phd's current role is Fractional Lead Product Designer.

What is Blake Williford, Phd's email address?

Blake Williford, Phd's email address is bw****@****amu.edu

What is Blake Williford, Phd's direct phone number?

Blake Williford, Phd's direct phone number is +121265*****

What schools did Blake Williford, Phd attend?

Blake Williford, Phd attended Georgia Institute Of Technology, Texas A&m University, Georgia Institute Of Technology, Stanton College Preparatory School.

What are some of Blake Williford, Phd's interests?

Blake Williford, Phd has interest in Animal Welfare, Education, Arts And Culture.

What skills is Blake Williford, Phd known for?

Blake Williford, Phd has skills like User Experience, Web Design, Sketching, Rendering, Concept Design, Illustrator, Indesign, User Experience Design, Photoshop, Design Thinking, Graphic Design, Model Making.

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