An application for Android and iOS for fans of the online live show, Critical Role. The application serves to inform their international fan base about the times of their various shows and to have access to all of their content (9 different shows over video and podcast) in one place.
Currently users must go to Youtube for their video content, Google Podcast/Apple Podcast/Podbean for their podcast content, and use a separate website to know the timing of their shows in the user’s local time zone.
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My role: UX/UI Designer
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I designed my first application during my job at The Hangar, Delta Air Lines’ Global Innovation Center.
One weekend, I wanted to see if I could design a brand new application that would get positive feedback from the targeted user. Being a fan of Critical Role myself, I realized that there was an opportunity to create an application using the Critical Role’s website as a base to possibly meet some user’s unmet needs.
I analyzed my own needs when interacting with their brand and found two key areas where an app would be useful:
1. Knowing the time of the different shows in the user’s timezone
2. Having one location for watching all of their content (9 different shows with both podcast and video forms)
The biggest issue is knowing when their shows go live; currently they only post their time in their own time zone (Pacific Standard Time.) Another website, literally called WhenIsCriticalRole.com, has emerged to help fans of the show know when the live show airs.
I took all of these elements (along with studying their current website to understand their branding) and started!
I only did a few wireframes before I moved into Sketch to iterate on designs much more quickly.
I went through about 4 or 5 iterations before I stopped and created an Invision prototype to test.
To get user feedback, I posted this video on the Critical Role reddit page.
There were a lot of comments and feedback given. Additionally, there were three people who wanted to help me make this application for real!
I’m currently working with a Project Manager, iOS Developer, and Android Developer to turn this Invision prototype into a real application!
We developed a scope by creating user stories and split the vision into two different applications: a Version 0 and a Final Version.
We scoped the Version 0 to test out key features to determine if we’re going with the right direction and if the usability of the application still works.
You can view the videos of both versions here:
Version 0 (Password: CRapp)
Final Version (Password: CRapp)
I started by going through the website and drawing out a sitemap to understand all of the current features and tasks that can be completed by the website.
I went through the website to understand the colors, text, and feel to their current branding.
I didn’t spend as long doing sketch wireframes because I realized that I could iterate more quickly by going ahead and moving to Sketch.
Transportable parallel bars for pediatric physical therapy in the home.
Designers: Veronica Young-Cooksey + Nora Johnson
My roles on the project:
Product Designer, UX Researcher, Final model manufacturer
Gaitway started as a senior studio project brought to us by one of our design professors. His friend, Shannon Smith, PT, noted that there wasn’t any equipment on the market to help some of her patients who needed ambulatory physical therapy in the home.
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Gaitway was a Finalist in the 2017 Georgia Tech Inventure Prize
Here’s a story written about Gaitway by the Georgia Tech News Center.
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This, is Isaac. Isaac is three years old. Isaac’s life is a little different from other kids’, because he has a condition that presents physical symptoms akin to cerebral palsy. This means that he has to get up every day and teach his own body things that you and I take for granted. He can’t quite stand on his own yet, so he works with his physical therapist in his home and in the clinic on equipment such as parallel bars to learn how to stand and balance.
Unfortunately for Isaac and the 50,000 other children born every year with similar conditions, there are no parallel bars designed for their use case. If you are under the age of 3, there is one set on the market. If you are over 3, there is nothing. Parents might build their own sets out of PVC – that’s plumbing pipe from the hardware store and the end result is very unstable. Children will also cling to stacked couch cushions or uneven counter tops. We saw this problem first hand, and we created a solution, Gaitway.
Gaitway is a set of transportable parallel bars for pediatric physical therapy. They are transportable because they can fold up to the size of a large suitcase, so the physical therapist we talked about? They can put it in their car and take it to your home, potentially to your school, or help the children in the clinic, without taking them over to the adult side of the room. Gaitway is made of lightweight, durable materials. That means that even though Gaitway only weighs 35 pounds, it can support children from 0-10. Lastly, Gaitway is adjustable. So that child Gaitway supports from 0-10, it can also adjust to fit them. Gaitway will replace all the homemade PVC sets, all the unstable couch cushions and uneven couch cushions.
Gaitway is user tested and approved. We have received excellent feedback and critique from pediatric physical therapists, parents, and the children who use it. According to the head of the Physical Therapy department at the University of North Georgia, Gaitway would have been invaluable when she was still driving around in her truck helping children across the state. Though she, as well as all of the other parents and professionals we tested with want to buy Gaitway right now, Gaitway is not quite ready for retail. We designed the aesthetics and specifications ourselves, and made most of it in a machine shop off campus. Winning the Inventure prize for us would mean working with engineers to design Gaitway for manufacture. With a manufacturable design, we could move forward to certify Gaitway as a medical device, and get it out to the children who need it. For the physical therapist to take with them, or the parent to have in the home, Gaitway is the next step.
To see our video interview and testing with physical therapists at the University of North Georgia, click here.
Final model of Gaitway in use at a children’s physical therapy location in Georgia
Our initial sketch that we used to build off of to create the final 3D CAD model and the physical model
Gaitway in use by Issac during his physical therapy
How Gaitway can be easily folded and transported
Veronica Young-Cooksey (Left) and Nora Johnson (Right) with Gaitway during an Inventure Prize Media event.
Photo by Rob Felt
A smart standing desk mat that teaches users how to best utilize their standing desk and promotes health and wellness in the workplace.
Team: Veronica Young-Cooksey, David Howard, Alfonso Soldevilla
My Roles: Team Lead, Product Designer, Final product manufacturer, CAD designer
Check out KeyMat in use Here.
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KeyMat won 1st place in the “Connected Home” section at Georgia Tech’s Spring 2016 Convergence Innovation Competition (CiC).
KeyMat also won the “Universal Design” award from TechSAge.
KeyMat was demo’d at Georgia Tech IPaT’s first annual Industry Innovation Day on April 13, 2016.
KeyMat was entered into Intel’s US-China Co-Making the Future contest hosted by Hackster.io. KeyMat was selected to be one of 10 US Finalists that was flown to Beijing, China on August 14-18, 2016 to compete in the finals against 70 other teams.
KeyMat both won 12th place overall and received the Excellence award.
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Our initial prompt for this project for our Junior Studio was to “Design something that incorporated electronics that promotes health and wellness in the workplace.”
We noticed the current trend in Standing Desks. Standing desks are overall better for your health due to the fact that the user isn’t sitting down for extended periods of time. Sitting for extended periods of time can lead to a greater risk of heart disease or stroke. We also found out that an average person burns about 300-350 calories more per day when standing versus sitting.
We also noticed that standing desks had a community online. There are many articles about the topic, from one user chronicling their switch from sitting all day to standing, advice blogs on how to adjust your standing desk for optimal use, and how to make it through the transition from sitting to standing.
David and I powered through the 2 week project and came up with KeyMat.
The first iteration of KeyMat operated using 5 bars of copper tape that when stepped on, they completed a circuit that told the computer where the user is standing. Basically, the entire mat is coded to operate like a giant button.
Along with the physical product, David and I developed a desktop application that would inform the user where they were standing, how long they were standing for, and how many calories they were burning over the course of the day.
After the project for studio ended, we decided to push the design of the physical mat and the desktop application further and enter it into the Georgia Tech CiC Competition.
We changed the inside to be more responsive. Rather than 5 bars of contact on either side of the EVA foam sandwich, the second iteration had 5 bars on one side, but 15 squares on the other (in a 3×5 grid.) Doing this (along with updating the code) allowed the mat to see where you were in 2 planes, rather than just one.
The interface was updated to be more intuitive for the user. We used a bold sans serif font to improve readability. The app is intended to be a desktop app that runs on a user’s taskbar. By having it this way rather than a phone app or separate program, the user can see the app without interrupting the user’s workflow.
The user can enter in their information (Name, age, gender, height, and weight) and the app uses this information to approximately calculate how many calories the user would burn over the course of the day. For example, I’m Female, 22 years old, 5’7″, and 135 lbs; This means that I burn (approximately) 0.03 calories per second, standing versus sitting.
The user can also set their own goals for the day, and the app tracks the user’s progress on the main page.
KeyMat lights up and changes colors depending on where you’re standing. Standing in the same position at a desk for too long has a negative effect on your health. If you’ve been standing in the same place for too long, KeyMat changes to a yellow color to let the user know to change positions.
KeyMat at a standing desk
KeyMat works by using copper tape with a separating layer to determine where the user is standing
CAD model representation of the inner construction of KeyMat
A quick early mockup of what the user interface might look like on a desktop.
The revised version of the user interface
The KeyMat team (From left to right: David Howard, Veronica Young-Cooksey, Alfonso Soldevilla) presenting at the US-China Maker’s Competition Finals in Beijing, China.
The KeyMat team presenting our product at the Beijing Maker Faire at the Intel Booth.
A city bike designed for women (but can be used by all) to feel safer commuting to and from work.
Team: Veronica Young-Cooksey + Katelyn Adcock + Aubrey Wilson
My Roles: Product Designer, CAD Modeler, UX Researcher, Final Model Manufacturer
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For this Junior Studio project, we were tasked with reviewing the bicycle market (finding trends, holes in the market, interest, etc.) and creating a bicycle that would fill the hole in the market, or fit the trend.
We started out by sending out two surveys over Facebook and several bike related Reddit pages.
Out of over 600 responses, we realized that there was a huge gap in the biking market; there are significantly less female riders than male riders and even less female riders who commute to work. We kept this in mind as we moved forward.
From there, we identified our main market hole is “Women Bike Commuters.” We sent out another survey specifically geared toward why women don’t bike. The responses we got were overwhelmingly skewed towards safety. When riding in the city, with non-attentive drivers and unseen road hazards, riding can be dangerous. We did a multitude of sketches to determine the features and aesthetic that we wanted our bike to have.
We narrowed those ideas down to three main ones. The one that we drew the most from is Bike Concept 1 (See in the photos to the left) It is a bike geared towards Convenience. It has airless tires so that the user has less to carry with them and the fear of getting a flat is negated. Another feature of this bike is the “Spring-Assisted Drive.” This drive attempts to recreate the assist function of current E-Bikes. A case contained in the back wheel houses a compression spring (commonly used in clocks) which is attached to the chain. The user switches to a specific gear to activate the drive and then begins to pedal backwards. By pedaling backwards, it winds up the spring, storing potential energy. When the user switches back to the regular pedaling gears, the spring releases it’s stored energy, giving the user a burst of speed. The burst of speed can help with having to stop for traffic, Stop lights, and stop signs.
In addition to this focus on convenience, we also focused on Airless tiers and a hidden and easy to access baton or pepper spray.
With all of this in mind, we 3D modeled and rendered the bike using AutoDesk Inventor and KeyShot. Once we had the form of the frame down, we moved on to physical production of the model.
The bike was machined out of plywood on a 3-Axis CNC machine. Because of the complex curves it had to be machined out in 4 parts, the glued back together. For the airless tires we took 0.5″ ABS sheets and machined them to the pattern using the 3-Axis CNC again.
Sketch exploration for the frame form of the bike
Mockup of our first of 3 concepts that describes the “Spring Assisted Drive” and the airless tires.
3D CAD model of the frame that we used on the CNC
Digital rendering of the final 3D model
Digital rendering of the final 3D model
Final physical model
Cosplay (noun): A portmanteau of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.
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I cosplay as a hobby! I hand-make almost every aspect of my costumes (EVA foam-smithing, 3D printing, sewing, painting, etc.)
Awards:
Best in Show: Novice, DragonCon Cosplay Contest - Aveline Vallen
Nominated: “Best Cosplay Fabrication” - Ironclad Brigitte
Nominated: “Best Game Inspired Cosplay” - Ironclad Brigitte
I was nominated in 2 different categories for QuirkCon’s first annual Cosplayer Awards: “Best Cosplay Fabrication” and “Best Game Inspired Cosplay” both for my Ironclad Brigitte Cosplay.
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This gallery is a collection of some of the best images of my cosplays.
Photo by Geek Behind the Lens
Photo by @LimitedAperture (Instagram)
For this cosplay, I made all my own chainmail, both creating the loops and then knitting the loops together.
The back of the cosplay
Photo by @LimitedAperture (Instagram)
Here’s a shot to compare my cosplay to the in-game character
Photo by me
Photo by @LimitedAperture (Instagram)
Photo by Geek Behind the Lens
Photo by Images by George
Photo by me