1.
MELANIE ANN O’DONNELL
building delightful experiences
through strategic UX methods

2.
CONTENTS
profile
my process
case study
contact

3.
I’m a UX/UI Designer, positioned at the intersection of
art & design. With significant experience in the art
world, I’m detail-oriented and have deep analytical
abilities. I thrive on opportunities to solve complex
problems; it’s in my nature.
My UX philosophy is centered around content strategy
and a deep empathy for the user. I love guiding
decisions based on opportunities I’ve identified in the
research. My strong eye for visual design positions me
to form these research-driven designs into beautiful,
fulfilling experiences.
I value collaboration and recognize the importance of a
shared vision. I leave my ego at the door and empower
my teams to deliver great user experiences.
At a high level, my UX design process follows basic
principles: research, design, test, iterate. The value I
bring as a designer is in my market comprehension and
philosophy, so this portfolio offers a closer look at how I
build delightful experiences.
PROFILE
“The details are not then details.They
make the design.” -Eames
“You are not an advocate of your design;
you are an advocate of your user.”

4.
MY PROCESS
RESEARCH
concept discovery & ideation
user research
synthesis
DESIGN
sketching
usability testing
iteration
visual

5.
RESEARCH

6.
CONCEPT DISCOVERY & IDEATION
listen
Synthesizing this information facilitates the refinement
of the planned deliverables and the development of a
product plan. At this point I’ve defined key success
factors and know who our users are and what we
need to learn about them.
refine
discover
ideate
METHODS
This stage is where we define and research the
design problem at hand. What is the current state of
the concept/solution? Analyzing similar solutions and
identifying strengths and weaknesses can become
opportunities to leverage in the design. This context
guides my design principles for creating a better
experience for the user.
The next step is to generate ideas about what
solutions might be possible, to define the product
more clearly. Is it viable? is it feasible? is it desirable?
Understanding constraints and context is essential to
determining the scope of the project. What attributes
are going to be designed? What might make the
experience delightful, and is that within the scope?
business research & analysis, data collection, competitive analysis,
stakeholder interviews, concept mapping, information architecture
RESEARCH
Approaching every new project with an open and
analytical mind, I am focused on learning about the
clients and users, peeling back the layers to best
understand their needs and goals.
What are the business requirements? What is desired?

7.
USER RESEARCH
To build a great experience, it’s essential to fully
understand the needs of the user. Through
screener surveys and conversational or contextual
interviews, I’m able to discover their needs,
goals, and fully understand their behaviors and
motivations.
I focus this part of the research on getting to the
root of who the user is. When their pain points
and needs are clear, the product can be designed
empathetically and result in a successful solution.
A design that is not founded on user research
may not succeed.
RESEARCH
METHODS surveys, user interviews, contextual inquiries
& observe
ask

8.
SYNTHESIS
& analyze
experience mapping, scenarios, concept mapping, storyboarding,
personas, user flows
visualize
RESEARCH
Highlighted trends should validate the business
goals. A strong research report can clearly
define (or refine) the design plans going
forward. Do the planned features meet the
primary user goals?
METHODS
synthesize
When the user research stage is complete, I organize
my findings and synthesize them. How do the user
goals match the business goals of the enterprise?
With the research, I am able to define major concepts, and
develop personas and potential user flows. These visual
illustrations of the research help inspire creativity going forward
into the design process.

9.
DESIGN

10.
SKETCHING
With a thorough understanding of the challenge and
its primary user base, I am able to develop high-level
strategies leading into the design phase. Rapid
sketching sessions, led by asking how we might
accomplish certain goals, are effective in idea
formation and further development of strategy.
Sketching is an ideal way to communicate and explore
strategies and concepts, without weighing them down
with visual details that may be distracting.
METHODS whiteboarding, ideation, developing task-flow
diagrams, design studios, paper prototyping
DESIGN
strategize
& ideate

11.
USABILITY TESTING
& iterate
evaluate
With each phase in development of the design,
usability testing should be conducted. I’m always
testing my designs. To determine whether a design
is intuitive and simple to use, I observe and walk
users through various tasks. These tests, done at
varying levels of prototype fidelity, reveal problems
in the design, whether in concept or in execution.
Subtleties in behavior during testing are essential to
the overall experience, so copious note-taking and
recording of these sessions is critical. It allows me to
accurately assess the status of the design and
collect suggestions and perspective. I continue to
refine the design until the experience is seamless.
DESIGN
METHODS usability testing, data collection, iteration, critical thinking

12.
VISUAL
design
Once the design proves intuitive to users, it is
ready to be built in higher fidelity. These
detailed mockups and interactions bring the
design to life and create a delightful experience
for the user.
The visual product should meet the design
specifications and reflect the brand identity. The
style of the design, including color schemes and
typography communicate the values of the
brand.
DESIGN
METHODS hi-fidelity wireframing, style tiles, graphic design, color &
typography evaluation
& build

13.
DESIGN
VISUAL
A glance at couple projects I developed as a UX Design Immersive student, & my role in each:
kindle socialparagon sports
collaborated on
research, led synthesis
& strategy, sketching
& usability testing,
assembled final
prototype and visuals
solo project,
research, built
desktop prototype,
performed usability
testing
work samples

14.
CASE STUDY

15.
OVERVIEW
CASE STUDY
MY ROLE
Working with two UX designers, I managed the
project as client-facing lead from kick-off to post-
presentation wrap-up. I assisted with the creation and
fulfillment of a robust research plan, synthesized the
research and built reports to present to the
stakeholders. I developed personas, user flows,
created the app map and concept maps. I also
sketched wireframes and built the prototype.
✴ Research Report (key takeaways, use cases, user
stories, user-flows, personas)
✴ Designs: Product sketches, medium-fidelity
wireframes, annotated wireframes and app map
✴ Usability Testing Insights
✴ Design Recommendations and Suggested Features
✴ Style Tiles
✴ A Clickable Mobile Prototype
DELIVERABLES
FoodtoEat is an online ordering and concierge catering platform that helps companies
feed their teams delicious food from the best NYC restaurants, food trucks and
caterers.
We were asked to design a iOS mobile application that allows users to find restaurants
and place online food orders. With a team of two other UX designers, I aimed to
design a viable product that is aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly and leverages the
company’s differentiators.
With just over two weeks to complete the design, we prioritized certain flows based on
the business goals and most common use cases. We worked with their development
team to better understand the technical limitations and requirements for the app.
THE PROJECT
OUR PROCESS
business analysis, stakeholder interviews, competitive analysisMETHODS

16.
process & discovery
CASE STUDY
✴ Received ~60 survey results
✴ Conducted 6 in-depth user interviews
✴ Conducted 15+ competitive app usability tests with users
(Seamless, Delivery.com, Chipotle, Foursquare, Eat24)
✴ Conducted 5+ FoodtoEat.com group order and individual
order usability tests
The initial research gave us a general understanding of online ordering
habits. When we dug deeper through interviews & contextual inquiries,
we uncovered many pain points that people experience when using
other apps to order food online.
With these key takeaways, we were able to develop use cases, user
stories, task flows, and personas.
USER RESEARCH & SYNTHESIS

17.
DESIGN
key screens: extended research
CASE STUDY
We held timed sketching sessions to develop leading
design options for several key pages. Each design
studio was focused on exploring how we might
achieve certain goals through design.
After completing our initial competitive research, user
interviews, and usability tests in the food ordering and group
ordering space, we discovered an opportunity to strategize
around the experience of opening the app and searching
for food, since it is a key flow and therefore an opportunity
for differentiation. We decided to dive deeper into
researching and exploring design solutions around the
home/food-finding experience. We conducted usability
tests on other existing apps, to better understand which
design elements and interactions work well and which don’t
work well.
✴ To design solutions that are specific to the FoodtoEat
audience & technically feasible
✴ Explore possible solutions for entry to browsing
restaurants, sorting and filtering results, different entry
points into browsing restaurant results
✴ Challenge ourselves to design creatively while testing to
ensure excellent usability
goals
design studio
research, synthesis, design studios, wireframing,
usability testing, a/b testing, iteration
METHODS
home screen options & app map

18.
THE OUTCOME
MEDIUM FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
CASE STUDY
POST-PRESENTATION DEBRIEF
We discussed our design decisions & recommendations in greater detail with the client. Aside from
enthusiasm over the outcome, the debrief included questions about our decision-making process from
a UI/IxD standpoint. We were able to validate each of our decisions with points from the research.

19.
melanie.odonnell23@gmail.com
www.melanieodonnell.com
@lola_roma
CONTACT