Portfolio

Below are some of the projects that I have worked on recently. For additional information, or for references, contact me directly. You may also be interested in my resume or my educational profile.

Building tools for the analog researcher

For my Master's capstone project, I created tools to help analog researchers. Over the course of a year, I conducted in-depth observation, prototyped design solutions, and developed a cross-platform exploratory interface for students. Read more »

Project type: Interaction design + software development
Skills used: User research, prototyping, usability testing, Java
Collaborators: Drew Kipfer
View deliverables: Paper (PDF), SourceForge project, More »

Fridgets: Interactive refrigerator magnets

The design statement for the CHI 2005 Student Design Competition called for "artificial companionship to support the social well-being of seniors." Our design used interactive refrigerator magnets to connect seniors with their family and friends. Read more »

Project type: Interaction design
Skills used: User research, prototyping, usability testing
Collaborators: Jacki Bauer, Nick Gentile, Kristy Streefkerk
View deliverables: Extended abstract (PDF), More »

Indiana University Course Browser

In 2004, Indiana University unveiled an integrated, PeopleSoft-based portal for course registration. Unfortunately, the new system did not provide students with an easy way to browse available classes. I created the IU Course Browser to fill the gap. Read more »

Project type: Software development
Skills used: UI design, Perl, XHTML+CSS
View deliverables: IUB campus, IUPUI campus, More »

More projects

Below are a few additional projects that I really enjoyed being a part of.

Bañe Su Perro (Bathe your dog)

As part of our Instruction Graphic Design course, we worked with Amigos de los Animales in Isla Mujeres, Mexico to raise awareness among the local dog owning community about the humane treatment of their animals. Read more »

Project type: Instruction graphic design
Skills used: User research, instruction graphic design
Collaborators: Jacki Bauer, Apurva Pangam, Dan Rowe
View deliverables: Instructional graphic (PDF), Poster (PDF), More »

E-Learning system for the National Center on Accessibility

For our Prototyping Methods course, we were asked to create an e-learning system to reinforce accessibility guidelines in national parks. Our design used the concept of a "first-person shooter" video game to illustrate accessibility issues. Read more »

Project type: Interaction design
Skills used: Prototyping (paper + Flash), usability testing
Collaborators: Josh Evnin, Meijia Gao
View deliverables: Design proposal (PDF)

Kind-of Blog: A blogging extension for PmWiki

PmWiki is one of the most popular open source wiki engines. People often asked for a blogging extension that they could use to integrate their blog directly into their wiki. I created Kind-of Blog in response to these requests. Read more »

Project type: Software development
Skills used: UI design, PHP, XHTML+CSS
View deliverables: Kind-of Blog extension, Demo, More »

Google Earth usability evaluation

Following the release of Google Earth, we conducted a usability evaluation of the application. We presented our findings to the product team at Google, and some of our suggested changes were reflected in future versions.

Project type: Usability evaluation
Skills used: Usability testing, heuristic analysis
Collaborators: Craig Birchler, Breanne Kunz, John Michael Vore
View deliverables: Usability analysis (PDF)

Introduction

Ryan is a user experience professional and freelance interaction designer in the San Francisco bay area. Get to know him on Facebook, Myspace, or LinkedIn.

Resume • Portfolio • Education • Contact Information

ryanvarick.com