Laura Sender
What are you looking for?
A UX/Visual Designer
An Anxiety-Friendly Art Teacher
The About Page
©Laura Sender 2023 | laura.a.sender@gmail.com
“Her designs are cute and whimsical, full of personality and joy!”
— Kay, Skritt in a Trenchcoat Raid Member | April 29, 2023
“Laura’s artistic talent in a variety of mediums, along with her encouragement and enthusiasm during our very enjoyable weekly art lessons, is helping me to become a more confident artist.”
— Kim Marie Nicols, Student | June 8, 2023
I am a UX artist and collaborator. I love to create space where others feel welcome and can be themselves. My favorite way to spend time is with other creatives spit-balling a problem back and forth, doing a little research, and then making chocolate legos. Or building a logo for a raid team.I like to listen. I want to hear about how frustrating it is to play your favorite game because the entire game is in red and green so you can’t see where the lava on the floor is. Or when the “expand video” icon is almost entirely underneath the help icon, so you can’t enlarge the video you’re watching.And if I am working on a project for you and make a fix that doesn’t do what you need it to do, tell me. Tell me what’s frustrating or why it doesn't meet your needs. It’s fine.You deserve to enjoy the things you love. Once it’s working for you, let me know. Hearing how your life is a little bit better is what drives me to be a better artist.
Contact
To discuss design opportunities or general inquiries, email me at laura.a.sender@gmail.com
To discuss anything related to The Blade & Briar email me at laura@thebladeandbriar.com
Art
Portraits
Pencil & Ink
Wet Media
Digital Design
Case Studies
When you design something that is both lavishly beautiful and accessible, you are telling your audience that they matter. I wanted to create a multifunctional tool that contained both the depth of knowledge of Wikipedia and the scrollability of Tumblr while on the side offering educators, students, and historians something fun, usable, and bottomless.
With Diablo IV recently launched I’ve been spending my fair share of free time scooting around Sanctuary and setting everything on fire. Of course, the precursor to visiting Sanctuary was visiting the Battle.Net website. This is my redesign of the player profile creation experience.
A budgeting app for butterflies based off of the Clutterbug test and David Bach's financial values worksheet.
Work in Progress
I once heard a gamer say, “Whenever I run into something like this, I feel like I’m broken.” That statement broke my heart. They were talking about how their favorite game and social outlet doesn’t have any colorblind accessibility. I’ve heard this statement from countless gamers, but perhaps I was cherry picking...So, I started collecting data.
An Art History App Case Study
UX Designer & Researcher: Laura Sender, 2023
2.2023 - 5.2023
| Menu | |
|---|---|
| Project Overview | Usability Studies |
| Accessibility | Refinement |
| Highlights | Visual Direction |
| User Research | High Fidelity Content |
| Ideating | Next Steps |
| Paper Ideating | Takeaways |
| Paper Wire-frames | Reference Sheets |
| Digital Low fidelity Wire-frames | Thank You |
What Is It?
La Belle Galerie is an art history app with an arts and supplies (materials) database that provides cross-reference functionality and access to materials vendors. This provides professors, students, and hobbyists with a valuable resource that is the only app of its kind on the market.
What problem are we trying to solve?
Access to fine art and related research tools tends to be restricted by location, income, and ability to navigate physical spaces that historically do not meet accessibility standards. Extensive cataloging of materials used to create art pieces is lacking in the general market for public consumption.
What is our end goal?
Generate buy-in from the public by allowing greater access to fine art and providing an educational tool and database.
What was my role?
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Designing with accessibility first has led to a more usable product that should require fewer bone-level iterations in the future, cleaner design, and decrease the likely hood of class action lawsuits.
This directly impact the bottom line.
This design is also inline with user-centered design philosophy. A user once told me, "Being able-bodied is a temporary condition". This person was in their early thirties and abruptly forced to use a cane. As climate change impacts the overall health of the population, this will only continue to be the case. Therefore, designing with accessibility in mind is not only a wise financial decision but mandatory for a product to survive under fair market conditions
Motion
Many different ways to navigate the app including multiple types of movement allow for a range of physical abilities
Vision
Settings include a dark mode, light mode, and text size changes.
Language
A dropdown menu in settings allows the user to choose their preferred language. Primary use of images and icons is designed to help navigate for users for whom reading is difficult.
Highlights
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
User Research: Summary
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Research Goals
• How to generate mass buy-in and prolonged relational hype?
• What will make using the app pleasurable for users?
• What do people need in order to feel invested and want to support local galleries and artists?
• What will keep people coming back to the app?
Notes
My experiences include watching people feel uncomfortable entering places that they
consider above their income level. I want to offer users a white-tie experience from
the comfort of their own home to reduce social anxiety. The user group confirmed
these social anxieties.
Ideating (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Paper Wireframes (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Digital Low Fidelity Wireframes (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Usability Studies (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Refinement (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Visual Direction (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
High Fidelity Content (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Next Steps (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Takeaways (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
Reference Sheet (User image header)
This project is from Google's Coursera UX Design certificate program. It is not a current product on the market, but was everything from the initial inspiration and design to prototyping.
ThisisEngineering RAEng
Seyi Ariyo
Thank You
I hope you enjoyed your experience.
Questions? You can reach me at laura.a.sender@gmail.com
Age: 34
Education: MAT
Hometown: Boston
Family: Cat and Adopted Child
Occupation: High School Teacher
Problem Statement
Arwen Connolly is a Highschool teacher who needs to see specific information about paintings because connecting the information
with her art history class.
Goals
To give real-world context to what she is teaching in the classroom. To teach her students the importance of respecting other cultures while learning about global history. To be up-to-date with ways for students to learn, so using technology in addition to outside experiences is important to her.
Frustrations
Communicating nuanced information to her diverse group of multiethnic, multilingual students. Some of her students are hearing, vision, or other ability impaired, and might not be able to read. Any software or app she assigns needs to be accessible. Any technology she is using must be intuitive for teenagers.
User Journey Map
| Actions | Download the App | Make an Account | Explore | Create Lists | Share Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task List | Locate in app store and download | Find special accounts for teachers | Browse art and materials | Add pieces to favorites | Post lists on Schoology with related assignment. |
| Emotions | 🤔 | 😒 | 😄 | 🤔 | 😁 |
| Fix-Its | potential | potential | potential | potential | potential |