Avery Simmons

Product Designer • User Researcher • UX Designer • Lehi, UT, US

Writing

Figma

Front-End Development

Illustrator

Procreate

Storybook

UX research

Graphic Design

UX Copywriting

User Personas

Web Accessibility

User Interface Design

User Research

Usability Testing

Product Design

Design Thinking

Product Strategy

Design Systems

User-Centered Design

UX Strategy

Design

UI/UX Design

Available for hire fromNegotiable

Contracts

Full-Time Roles

Experienced UX Designer with a diverse background

I'm a storyteller at heart and a UX designer with a mission: to craft user journeys that unfold like compelling narratives. I'm a generalist designer, though much like Liam Neeson, I do have a particular set of skills. I specialize in UX writing, information architecture, artful UI, and having an impeccable eye for detail. In my 4 years as a UX designer, I've had the privilege of wearing a great many hats. I've done all the normal UX things as Canopy's floating UX designer bouncing between each of their six development squads, but I've also devoted my writing and art skills to double (quadruple?) as the UX chapter's sole content designer, designated graphic designer, and lone engineer. I lead with empathy and champion users at every turn

Projects

Flashbook Inquiry Review Flow

One of the first, most important features provided by Flashbook is the ability for artists to bring all of their inquiries into one spot to review and book. The inquiry dashboard allows artists to go through each inquiry, quickly mark whether to accept, waitlist, or reject an inquiry, and then begin a consultation with their clients. GOALS Provide an speedy way to review inquiries and move them along the booking pipeline Streamline responses so that clients can better understand how their inquiry is received and where it is in the booking process Create a clean and intuitive dashboard to view all inquiry information in one place, at a glance LESSONS Sometimes the best designs come when you add some constraints, simplify the problem, and lessen the mental load Problem solving requires creative thinking. Users don't always know what they need because their current process is so archaic. We need to step out of the box to show them what's possible. Designing goes a whole lot smoother when you have a structure to followSee More

Darkroom Design System

My friend and I saw an opportunity to help freelance and commission artists and creatives by creating an all in one booking platform called Flashbook that puts client communication first. My friend handled most of the engineering, and I handled all of the UX and content work. Because this project started from ground 0, I had to create an entirely new design system from scratch. I built out the Darkroom Design System (Because that's where you develop film, get it? Flash? Camera? File? Hah! So funny. I know. You're going to love my humour.) and UI Kit in Figma. I built all components from scratch and ensured AAA WCAG adherence for all app designs. This design system is currently being used to build out prototypes, high fidelity designs, and to convert components to SvelteKit code to develop Flashbook. I am currently assisting in some of the app development, while maintaining focus on creating all the needed design elements. GOALS Create a AAA compliant kit of components in Figma to create rapid prototypes, clean and beautiful UI designs, and delightful and intuitive UX interactions Build a scalable system, with consistency in mind for future growth and new features Make practical, easy-to-use components to empower others to join in my design efforts as the business expands LESSONS I have become a Figma guru. There's not a component out there I lack the confidence and experience to build. I gained a deeper understanding of WCAG guidelines by building an app from nothing. Every style decision made needed to be accessible - especially because these base components served as the building blocks for the rest of the app. Brand new apps have no UX debt. It was a relief, frankly. And that relief I felt helped teach me how important it is to design for the future and to keep consistency in mind across the whole app right from the start.See More

Flashbook Consultation Dashboard

Once artists advanced a project past the inquiry stage, they needed a way to conduct consultations. In their consultations, they needed to be able to collect additional information about a project, request images of the location/canvas or of the project's inspiration, and send out booking or payment links for their clients to schedule the project. The consultation workspace seeks to provide all necessary information in a modern, clean, and distraction free environment. GOALS Provide all project information in a way that doesn't feel cluttered Center client-interaction. The consultation is supposed to give artists and their clients a chance to get to know each other and decide if they're a good fit. Allow artists to send booking and payment links to their clients to get projects scheduled LESSONS Often the best experience is found on your Nth iteration - Not the first. Just keep designing. Giving clients the ability to resize things not only makes things feel modern, it helps eliminate distractions and create a feeling of empowerment Listen to your users. I know. It's obvious, but when you're lost or struggling with something, turn to the user. They'll help right the course.See More

Canopy Tax Product Illustrations

Years ago, Canopy downloaded a standard, black/grey set of illustrations to shoehorn into the app. These illustrations contained no brand identity, little personality, and generally missed on the opportunity to inject personality into the app and build brand rapport with users. In an effort to liven up the app and make it feel more like Canopy, I designed a whole new set of product illustrations for use in the app. GOALS Liven up the app. Standard grey illustrations are boring and sterile. Cultivate our brand in the app and build rapport with customers by making it all feel like Canopy. Show some effort - personal branded imagery helps users feel more at home and gives the sense that we care about all parts of our app. LESSONS The little things matter. Users don’t like staring at boring, grey imagery. It shows little effort from the team. Figma really can serve as a total replacement for Adobe Illustrator. I learned a lot of skills in Figma for designing imagery. Illustrations are an easy way to inject personality and branding into your product. They make everything feel more complete, welcoming, and cohesive.See More

Canopy Tax - Product Emails Redesign

Canopy’s product emails were previously written by engineers, with language that was not accessible to the non-engineering brains among us. The emails were also quite bland, didn’t show any of Canopy’s personality, and barely any of Canopy’s branding. I redesigned the email templates to align with the brand and better promote our products. I fixed all of the cumulative errors that had come up in the content and ensured that the styling all matched our content style guide. I created more helpful emails by rewriting each email to offer more consumable, accessible, and informative content. GOALS Promote product branding and personality, and match new style guide principles Update content to establish a consistent and professional tone, with useful and actionable information Modernize our client communications to provide a more delightful holistic communication experience LESSONS Product emails offer a quick win for communicating brand personality and branding Emails are often overlooked by product orgs — your customers can tell Clear and engaging content improves the holistic user experience, especially as they are often the first touch point in any user flowSee More

Work History

Founding UX Designer

FlashbookFeb 2023 - Present • 1 yr 9 mosAs the Founding UX Designer at Flashbook, I am responsible for establishing the user experience design process and creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for our platform.

UX and Content Designer

CanopyFeb 2020 - Jul 2023 • 3 yrs 6 mosAs a UX and Content Designer at Canopy, I focused on creating engaging user experiences and developing compelling content for the company's products and services.

Technical Writer

CanopyFeb 2020 - Sep 2020 • 8 mosAs a Technical Writer at Canopy, I was responsible for creating clear and concise documentation for the company's products and services.

Instructional Assistant

Utah Valley UniversityDec 2019 - Mar 2021 • 1 yr 4 mos

Pro Shop Assistant

Hobble Creek Golf CourseApr 2015 - Oct 2019 • 4 yrs 7 mos

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Western UniversitySep 2018 - May 2019 • 9 mos

Teaching Assistant

Southern Utah UniversityAug 2015 - Apr 2017 • 1 yr 9 mos

Education

Western University

Master's degree, English Literature2018 - 2019

Southern Utah University

Bachelor's degree, English2014 - 2017

Marquette University

English2013 - 2014

The Odin Project

Computer Software Engineering2023

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.

Available Now

Book a Call