With past projects from varying backgrounds, I have gained experience and knowledge about the design process and how to create better software. Whatever the project may be, I am up for the task.
Participated in the creation of a non-profit organization's online registration system as well as its integration alongside their WordPress website. My participation consisted of basic UI/UX Designer duties, Front-End Development, and the integration of the payment system via client-side and server-side.
AppJam+, a partner of the non-profit organization Dreams for Schools, educates and provides classes for students who are interested in STEM-related fields in the Orange County area. AppJam+ at the time ran with 3 coordinators, and student-participation in their programs was growing exponentially, with a projected amount of 1000+ students from over 40+ schools for the 2018-2019 academic year. Coordinators would manually track and register students for their classes using a paper-based system.
To ease the student registration process for parents, teachers, and coordinators, our project team created the AppJam+ Online Registration System and integrated it into Appjam+'s WordPress-powered website. The system enables parents and teachers to register students for classes. Teachers are able to add, edit, and remove students for classes occurring during the school year, while parents are able to register and pay for students participation in classes during Summer. Coordinators are able to administer all the information from Summer and Academic Year classes and make changes as necessary.
I also participated in front-end creation of the Summer Classes Registration using HTML5, CSS, php, and Javascript. I am also responsible for the integration and custom styling of the Stripe Elements Payment System. I also participated in the testing of the system.
From this project, I learned about following Brand Book specifications, such as appropriate usages of logos and company colors.
I also learned about the importance of ensuring that stakeholders requirements are met, as well as creating a flexible and usable user interface that is usable for parents and students.
This project required me to think outside the box and put myself in the perspectives of the users of the system. It made me realize that the design decisions that I make can greatly impact the overall readability and understandability of the system.
Participated in the creation of an opioid epidemic information visualization website capable of calculating a person's probability of being 'at-risk' of opioid abuse in California based on data collected from the California Department of Public Health. The site is currently being used for research by a Professor at UC Irvine as well as a visual aide tool by a doctor at UCI Health.
Opioid Abuse has recently become an epidemic in the United States, and California is no exception. A Professor in the Bren School of Information and Computer Science at the University of California - Irvine was curious about learning about the implications, consequences, and any statistical trends from the opioid epidemic. An Anesthesiologist working in the University of California-Irvine's School of Medicine was curious about finding a creative and impactful method of educating her patients about their risks when abusing opioids.
To help aid both individuals, Team MKA Data decided to create a website that is capable of showing statistics about Opioid-Related Deaths in the State of California. Using data from the California Department of Public Health, our team was able to create a "Calculate My Risk" page that is capable of determining a person's risk of opioid abuse based on their age, ethnicity, and gender.
As a part of Team MKA Data, I was responsible for the UI/UX Design, creation of Requirements Documents, using HTML for the creation of pages in the website, and creation of other documents. Tools used for this project include: Javascript, d3, HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap.
From this project, I learned about the importance of communicating with stakeholders throughout the development phases of a project. Talking with stakeholders allows for clairification of the requirements documents and allows for better understanding about what the expected outcomes of the project are meant to be. I also learned about using Bootstrap and additional JavaScript Libraries to complete tasks.
From this project I was also first introduced into the Agile Development Environment, which taught me the importance of completing sprints efficiently and effectively.
Participated in the Organizational Analysis of Tustin Police Department using obersvational studies as well as interviews and ride alongs. The analysis was used to recommend technologies for future use as well as to allow Tustin Police Department to learn more about their organization's culture and efficiency.
This project consisted of conducting an Organizational Analysis of the Tustin Police Department alongside my team. Items that were analyzed included the organization's workflow, communication between officers, the tools used, as well as giving suggestions for updating their current technologies. The methods used to complete the organization analysis included interviews, obtaining artifacts, and job-shadowing.
Completing the organizational analysis required understanding how multiple systems must work together within an organization's ecosystem. It required looking at how the organization interacts with their tools and what are some of the obscured importances from using the tools they have. It also required to look at workarounds that the organization had in place to complete everyday tasks that were not originally the systems intentions to complete.
From completing the Organizational Analysis, I gained knowledge about how to interact with individuals professionally. This project required me to put myself in the perspectives of the individuals within the organization to better understand how they interact with technologies, as they needed recommendations for purchasing new equipment.
Though this project did not require me to create software, it made me a better Designer and Developer because I got to see first-hand how officers interact with technology as well and how creating user-friendly and functional interfaces can make it easier for organizations. I also saw first-hand how creating an integrated technological system can be difficult, as individuals become accustomed to the systems they are using. As individuals become accustomed, they may find it difficult to switch to other systems; it is important as a designer and a developer to make the transition from one system to another is as simple as possible.