Connecting the dots between shoe design & UX design

I have over 6 years' experience in the fashion industry, working as a former Footwear Designer, collaborating along sides American fashion legends, such as Ralph Lauren, Alexander Wang, and even Oscar de la Renta himself in his incomparable heyday. 

My career has fortunately allowed me to think and live globally; as my education and experience hails from London, Milan, Sydney, Shanghai and now, currently; I reside and work in New York as a digital product designer.

HOW

... I’ve applied my knowledge of footwear design to product design is, primarily through, understanding and exploring the equilibrium between emotional design, and how to make things people actually understand, and can actually use.

This sentiment is veritably and approvedly expressed with a footwear analogy, by Don Norman; the revered UX expert, and eponymous co-founder and consultant of the Nielsen Norman Group: 

Design...

is all about fitting people’s needs, and our needs vary… We might buy a pair of shoes that are really uncomfortable, we just love the way we look… We don’t care; we will suffer the discomfort   because it makes us feel good.  Some things maybe should be more FUNCTIONAL and EFFICIENT and some things more warm, loving and 

           emotional.

We need this balance between the two. "

- Don Norman

How

fashion

has influenced my approach to 

digital design

As a former footwear designer, I’m accustomed to, and am comfortable with overcoming challenges, and providing flexibility and adaptability to amorphous processes.  In a much similar fashion (pun intended!), I have mastered the task of taking broad concepts and bringing them to life into beautifully formed products and experience, from start to finish while maintaining the integrity of the design process. 

This is where the crossroads for my passion for innovation intercepts with my obsession for creating exceptional user experience design: falling in love with the process. 

While fashion may satiate my hunger for newness and inspired design; user experience gratifies my appetency to coalesce creativity with critical and strategic thinking, while solving user needs and goals in a way that contributes to positive social impact.  

 ...explicit consideration to the footwear trajectory of my UX design career, I have fleshed numerous hours honing technical design skills, which has cultivated the sophisticated and elevated visual design aesthetic I have so colorfully refined.  My design influences are myriad, and are a celebration of, and homage to the cultural and spiritual zeitgeist.  As a former footwear designer, and now present-day digital designer, I still champion upstanding values of product design integrity, forward thinking innovation, industry leading quality, collectively with; strategic, critical thinking.

This is underpinned by my obsession to elevate the consumer experience through my intuitive ability to translate consumer knowledge and insights into product solutions and narratives.  I have been responsible for the development of entire line plans within multiple successful markets and product assortments per calendar year, for numerous brands at one time. 

In doing so, I possess proven cross disciplinary and cross-enterprise experience working with; and designing for; luxury and high taste-level, lifestyle and fashion brands in the fashion and tech industry.  Meanwhile, I have accumulated senior and leadership experience developing innovative products whilst meeting the demands of the product development cycle, rendering the fashion industry a formative bootcamp for the dynamic, fast-paced environment in which I thrive. 

The interesting confluence of fashion & UX Design...

as told by two leading industry experts:

Don't be shy

I love meeting and connecting with new people.

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