Nathan Tisdale

Software Design is an Art

Any artist can tell you that mastery comes with practice. Learning the tools of the trade, whether a throw wheel or an algorithm, are what enable expression. Design thinking and methodical execution are both required for the right user experience. Welcome to my portfolio.

That Wine is Mine

A mobile app for touring wine country, designed and prototyped with Adobe XD.

Case Study

Museo Bello

A web site and mobile app for a museum, designed and prototyped with Figma.

Case Study

Time Fairy

A web site and mobile app for time management, desiged and prototyped with Figma.

Case Study

UX is more than just a UI

Start Right

Spend time researching user needs and set clear goals. Competitive analysis can highlight where users are not being served. A lot of brainstorming and sketching goes into producing one good plan.

Build Smart

A design system provides the building blocks for creating your web and mobile apps. Build quickly, and maintain consistent branding, with a detailed style guide.

Iterate

Wireframes, low-fidelity prototypes, mockups, and high-fidelity prototypes, are not one time tasks. Identifying issues through usability evaluations is a success, not a failure. Embrace continuous improvement.

Test Driven Design & Developement

Before

Design reviews help ensure User Stories have clear acceptance criteria. This enables test cases to be designed. Testing can begin while still in desing phase, with usability testing of the prototype.

During

The main focus during development is on determining if the functionality being delivered is complete and correct, as determined by clear User Stories. Unit tests and regression tests should be passing before branches are merged. Don't forget about security testing!

After

Some aspects of testing are blocked until after deployment. For example, it is usually considered cost prohibitive to replicate full production capabilities in staging or testing environments.

Engineering Maturity

The best engineering teams understand the need for self-reflection, and use retrospectives to generate actionable process improvements. The Capability Maturity Model and the Test Maturity Model are useful tools to help you assess where change might be helpful to reach your goals.