MENLO INNOVATIONS

Menlo Innovations is a design and development agency based in Ann Arbor. As a Product Designer, my role was largely focused on doing UX design work, accompanied by user research and product strategy.

As a designer at Menlo,

• I was paired with a fellow designer throughout the day. To paint you a picture, that meant sharing a single computer, mouse, and keyboard between two people!
• I co-designed wireframes for custom B2B software fostering effective collaboration, by ‘thinking-out-loud’ and regular feedback.
• We presented our work to clients, provided design support to front-end developers, and estimated user stories.
• I wrote user stories for each interface I created, providing clear intent and specifications for developers to follow.
• I collaborated with the Project Manager, ensuring efficient planning, prioritization, and scheduling of work based on business outcomes and user research.

Across different projects, I worked in a variety of domains - furniture data management, church participation tracking, speaking bureaus, custom accounting systems, etc.

REFLECTIONS

Working in an agency, my biggest takeaway was approaching the UX process as a risk mitigation tool. The process was aimed at helping clients think about the big picture and prioritize their business objectives. Another important realization was, all problems don't necessarily have a software-based solution. Sometimes, it's the process, outside of using a software/tool that needs to be modified to solve the problem.