Chris Scholtens - User Experience Designer

Chris Scholtens, UXC

Verona, WI | contact@chrisscholtens.design

I am experienced in leveraging user research to provide qualitative and quantitative data to guide design for the best user experiences. I love to design useful things, because a simple, easy to use website or application can be a beautiful, engaging experience that brings joy and satisfaction to a user.

Understanding users helps in designing a website or application they actually want to use, which leads to increased engagement, satisfied users, uncovering and solving new problems proactively, and ultimtately, building a culture of independence and success for users.

Experience

Web Designer, Front-End Developer

Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority

June 2015 - Present

Identify, engage, and coordinate with key stakeholders across all business units to coordinate content, develop new features, create intra/inter-connections, and reduce redundancy
Originate and edit web content related to business information and communications
Maintain WHEDA.com, WHEDAnet, and Transform Milwaukee.com’s architecture, including site map, information hierarchy, data connections, and file directory structure
Interface across all business units to recommend hardware/software, functionality, and technical upgrades
Conceive strategies and solutions, build consensus, and sell/execute solutions
Guide visual development with creation of graphics and other treatments to enhance WHEDA’s brand standards
Develop, modify, and have oversight of WHEDA brand styles, standards, and processes for professional quality presentation, continuity, and editorial integrity
Demonstrate ability to work individually, pursuing new projects independently, as well as a team member/team leader
Educate, guide, or train employees/users on new features and products in a comprehensive, easy to understand manner
Improve web performance, optimize loading times, and lower expenses
Coordinate data driven analytics, analyze and evaluate, form business cases based on data
Manage information, data, and user flow through website and web application experience
Coordinate and lead technical & business discussions
Develop and maintain project roadmaps, complete with goals throughout
Evaluate emerging technologies/industry trends for best practices and standards
Provide technology guidance and mentorship
Identify user requirements through research and analysis
Design information structure, work/user/data flow, navigation
Translate technical data, project needs, and analytics into business cases for higher ROI
Create custom code to enable new features and interactivity on WHEDA.com, using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML
Act as a champion for WHEDA and it’s mission
Oversaw design, UI testing, business unit review, and rollout of corporate website redesign (2015)
Led WHEDA Advance development, training, and morale growth team (2015-2017)
Acted as Project Manager for redesign of web-based Find a Lender application (2017)
Led a process review of the consumer facing web pages for the Single Family team, evaluating the overall process, user experience, information architecture, and marketing strategy (2018)
Attended trainings in leadership development, technical skill development, and project management (2015-2018)

Web Artificer

Chris Scholtens Design Studio

December 2010 - Present

Meet with clients to discuss project scope, responsibility for content, timeline, desired features, branding
Establish Information Architecture for site content, driving hierarchy, design, and navigation decisions
Create art mockups of sites
Wireframe site prototypes for multiple devices/platforms
Design and create client driven websites, with a content-first, responsive design
Conduct user testing for real world results and analysis
Ensure design conformity, continuous branding, and excellent user interface
Attended trainings in leadership development, technical skill development, and project management (2015-2018)

Education

Cornell College

BA, August 2005 - May 2009

American Public University System

MA, June 2010 - May 2012

Kirkwood Community College

Web Design Certificate Program, June 2014 - May 2015

Skills

HTML
- HTML 5
- Bootstrap
- Tachyon
- XML
CSS
- CSS 3
- LESS
- SASS
Javascript
- jQuery
- Canvas.js
- Animate on Scroll js
User Research
- Usability Testing
- User Interviews/Field Studies
- Analytics
- Survey Design/Delivery
- Card Sorting
- A/B & Multivariate Testing
Wireframes
Low Fidelity Mockups
Interaction Prototypes
User Flows
Personas

Software

WordPress
Drupal
Ektron
Episerver
Widen Digital Asset Management System
Adobe Creative Suite
- Adobe XD
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- After Effects
- Premiere Pro
Sketch
Figma
Morae
Viewport

Currently Learning

React.js

Workflow

Research
Information Architechture
Prototyping, moving from wireframes to low fidelity, to high fidelity
Design interactions/motion
Test continuously and iteratively

Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.

Certifications & Professional Affiliations

Nielsen Norman Group User Experience Certificate
- Interaction Design Specialization
- User Experience Management Specialization
Web Accessibility Certificate (WAI/WCAG 2.0/2.1/2.2 Draft, Section 508, ADA)
Web Governance Certificate
User Experience Professionals Association Member
Information Architecture Institute Member
Electronic Frontier Foundation Member
Attended World Information Architecture Day 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Interests

Apart from being a designer and artificer, I love tinkering with gadgets, drinking tea, listening to old jazz and blues music, and spending time with my family.

I have a passion for learning, and am always looking for ways to better myself, add to my skills, or just have a new bit of trivia. That has led me to be a designer that also has experience in coding, project management, content writing, video production/editing, and more!

When I disconnect from the electronic world, you can find me playing a brain-burning board game or reading either sci-fi/fantasy novels or graphic novels.

Portfolio

Selection of User Experience & Interaction Design Projects

All projects
User Experience Design
Interaction Design