Welcome to my UX Portfolio!
My name is Patrick Fitzsimmons, a UI/UX Designer working with a unique toolkit of technical expertise, data science, and empathy. My approach draws from a wide range of experiences including market research, web design, and game development.
Tech Fleet Lead Position: The Melanin Village Phase 3
Clara’s Cauldron Conundrum
In June of 2024, I designed and programmed a video game for the Portland Independant Gaming Squad’s Summer Slow Jams. You can play Clara’s Cauldron Conundrum on itch.io: https://ryankoning.itch.io/claras-cauldron-conundrum
Tech Fleet Lead Position: The Melanin Village Phase 2
I took a UX Writing Lead position with Tech Fleet. Our client was The Melanin Village, a homeschooling/supplementary education program. I led a team in auditing and updating copy for The Melanin Village’s social media site.
Night Side Game Development
In 2019, I published an RPG called Night Side. Night Side required playtesting, competitive auditing, usability testing, and user research. I did all this while heading a small team of designers.
Courier: Dragons Within UX Consulting
In 2023, I was a UX consultant for the independently produced game, Courier: Dragon’s Within. I followed the Double Diamond method and advised the rest of the team on the UI portion of production. We completed our project within the projected time and I’m very proud of my Team.
Wedding Planning App Case Study
I completed a usability study on a wedding planning application through Figma. I was surprised to find how low the wedding budget was for most Users. After the surveys were in, a competitive audit revealed a surprising amount of the market for wedding planning apps aren’t focused on budget. This guided my initial designs for a wedding planning app based around what tasks were most essential for a wedding to be considered “complete” as opposed to a marketplace for wedding related services, which is much more common: https://www.figma.com/proto/2304aOMuE08s5xTkR0v9P3/High-Fidelity-Planr-Mockup-(Week-5)?type=design&t=sSC9o29YXTtSFAtb-1&scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1&node-id=226-41&starting-point-node-id=226%3A41&mode=design
Networking Site Account Creation Case Study
The subject of my second Case Study was the account creation process for a fictitious networking site. Such a universal experience was the ideal material for a survey. There were survey results I expected: users disliked the length of the account creation process, as well as the high probability of glitches between pages. There were other results I didn’t predict: users were wary of sites that took down seemingly erroneous information without justification, and worried sites may be using their information for targeted marketing. These results inspired me to design the login process with clear progress indicators, and a focus on transparency in the purpose of field: https://xd.adobe.com/view/8b462009-2622-4825-ae26-8f4631f77852-de15/?fullscreen&hints=off
Political Campaign Web Experience Case Study
I performed a Case Study on a web experience for prospective politicians. I performed a competitive audit and found I was in good company. There are hundreds of organizations in existence dedicated to assisting political newcomers, particularly from underrepresented groups. I was surprised how few of them had a dedicated app. I knew that was a niche I could fill, but I wanted to know more about what roadblocks political newcomers faced. I sent out a survey to people who had confirmed past political ambitions and was surprised to find that most reported a sense that they were unqualified. So, I sought to create a web experience that would put a wealth of information in one easy to navigate place: https://www.figma.com/proto/WUc3vomchlF2eappzCKAnl/Populi-Site?type=design&t=ea146EITLwumcGQL-1&scaling=scale-down-width&page-id=0%3A1&node-id=15-211&starting-point-node-id=15%3A680&mode=design