Ariel Blackman's Portfolio Project

Ariel completed our UX Design Program in 2019 and went on to complete the UI for UX Design Specialization. She’s now self-employed as a freelance UX designer.  If you’d like to visit her full portfolio, head to her website.

Hi Ariel! Could you give us a brief overview of your educational and professional background before enrolling in the CareerFoundry program and UI design specialization?

I’m a graduate from Arizona State University, Bachelor of Science, majoring in Graphic Information Technology.

What inspired you to make a career change into this field?

I’d been a graphic designer for a while, but slowly realized the world was moving towards UX design. I conducted some research around the field and realized UX design was my calling. I wanted to do anything in my power to learn as much as possible about the discipline, and then go out and create the best products!

What did you enjoy most about the program?

I enjoyed learning about the structure of UX design, and creating real projects—but above all, I loved the support from my tutor. This support really helped me throughout the course, and I learned so much from my tutor.

With regards to your new career, what are your hopes for the future?

I hope to become a respected senior designer. I’d like to be able to confidently run and manage any project that comes my way, and strive to not only make my projects successful—but make a real impact on the user’s lives. I believe that if I do my job correctly, it can only benefit those around me.

Below, Ariel maps out the design thinking process for her case study “Study Together,” an app that helps students feel connected and supported throughout their course.

“What I loved most about creating Study Together was that this was an app that I could relate to. Studying online can be isolating—there is often very little interaction between other students and mentors, so staying motivated can be difficult. I wanted to create an app that was relatable and easy to navigate while remaining highly effective. I loved that I could apply my understanding of UX design and love of UI design to give the app its own character. This project enabled me to really take a step back and reflect on how I wanted the user to interact with my app. I wanted users to feel like the app is there to support them every step of the way.”

To view the interactive prototype for Study Together, please click here.