https://pdorazio.com palmer d'orazio Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:02:36 +0000 https://pdorazio.com en https://pdorazio.com/JazzHR Mon, 01 Aug 2022 17:25:14 +0000 palmer d'orazio https://pdorazio.com/JazzHR JazzHR 2017-2021 JazzHR makes recruiting software for small-to-medium businesses. During my time at Jazz, I was a UX “team of one,” collaborating with two or three PMs and dev teams in any given week. This was my first real gig, and I got to ship a lot of stuff. Shortly after I moved on, JazzHR was acquired by Jobvite, an enteprise sort-of-competitor, forming Employ Inc.&nbsp; Custom Reporting JazzHR’s old custom reporting system was… busted. It let you build queries that didn’t actually run, and I still lie awake at night, trying to figure out the confusing UI. After some internal discovery, support and usage data analysis, and a review of my past reporting-related research, the solution was clear: nuke Custom Reporting and start over. So that’s what we did. We were able to borrow some UX patterns from my past work on our main Candidate List and extend them to include capabilities like report sharing and improved filtering. We ran a beta and spent some time with those users, which uncovered another reporting use case that we were able to accommodate in our Workflow Reporting system. <img width="1400" height="801" width_o="1400" height_o="801" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8774cba379b4a54a71517db2eb41d4faaa7fb0e4171a3cf5459cb74bba693598/1-ffAZ2iGRl_dwhr66lqWXQg.png" data-mid="149371175" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8774cba379b4a54a71517db2eb41d4faaa7fb0e4171a3cf5459cb74bba693598/1-ffAZ2iGRl_dwhr66lqWXQg.png" /> A mid-fi concept with streamlined navigation between reports. <img width="1400" height="779" width_o="1400" height_o="779" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dfd3a97fb176bd69f4a92e1283ed72ac539bb555288f222cc1715616e515f5e9/1-CC7eK_i6Wj3t8aouPFhYCA.png" data-mid="149371170" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dfd3a97fb176bd69f4a92e1283ed72ac539bb555288f222cc1715616e515f5e9/1-CC7eK_i6Wj3t8aouPFhYCA.png" /> Early wireframes for report sharing. In the old system, you couldn’t make a report in JazzHR and let another user see it. As you can imagine... folks wanted this. Now, JazzHR users can get all of their candidate and job data out of JazzHR with ease — no more workarounds. A couple months after release, the project had exceeded our projected business case and reduced reporting-related cancellations to zero. Whitelabel Early in 2019, our Partnerships team identified an opportunity to grow our business by offering a “whitelabeled” version of JazzHR. Some of our partners (and prospective partners) wanted the JazzHR UI to reflect their brand, and we discovered that a couple competitors had this capability. I worked closely with our engineering team to audit all the places in the app that our logo and brand colors show up. Honestly, it wasn’t as much as we expected — mostly the app header, buttons, and some UI related to JazzHR’s customizable workflows. Everything else was pretty neutral. Our brand also appeared in a ton of notification emails. We were able to distill our brand info down to four colors and two forms of the logo (full-color and white). Long story short, we used CSS Custom Properties to comb through the app for any occurrence of those colors and make them controllable through a config file. Along the way, we knocked out a bit of visual design debt by reducing excess colors (goodbye, hot pink!) and creating a stronger “hierarchy” of button styles. <img width="1400" height="858" width_o="1400" height_o="858" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ef018b0c7757a85dd84ef514446f642be61b48d8746f284f189e0efbf96ffee1/1-2u5fZJHSmvUtjaxPa5ro3Q.png" data-mid="149371149" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ef018b0c7757a85dd84ef514446f642be61b48d8746f284f189e0efbf96ffee1/1-2u5fZJHSmvUtjaxPa5ro3Q.png" /> Part of my button audit that kicked off the Whitelabel project. We also created a new email template framework, and reduced roughly a zillion unique emails down to a few templates. This was amazing, hard work from this sprint team — this was a slog, but we’ll never have to do it again. This was a weird project because the “design” work was very subtle, and it was driven by business goals rather than user research. I suppose in this case our users were our partners, and we did spend a lot of time talking to them early on. Along the way I created a style guide document for prospective partners and recorded some feedback for possible iterations.Last but not least, I also designed an internal tool to help our Partnerships team get more of these Whitelabel accounts up and running. <img width="3360" height="1896" width_o="3360" height_o="1896" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/20737dc3f51e7b3f728604d9ae7d7eb0bb3b42a77815fa27bfc23a85cd3545e3/1-bic9Gq5NmtQ5PTJz9dGsgA.png" data-mid="149371151" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/20737dc3f51e7b3f728604d9ae7d7eb0bb3b42a77815fa27bfc23a85cd3545e3/1-bic9Gq5NmtQ5PTJz9dGsgA.png" /> <img width="3360" height="1894" width_o="3360" height_o="1894" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77fc7476901f5db3a489433c766e0cded17c36ad79ff665d2a5d30923cb8a64b/1-WgLBCXkLiIW_XqCESO4OsQ.png" data-mid="149371150" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/77fc7476901f5db3a489433c766e0cded17c36ad79ff665d2a5d30923cb8a64b/1-WgLBCXkLiIW_XqCESO4OsQ.png" /> JazzHR’s standard branding vs. Spock’s favorite recruiting tool, VulcanHire. https://pdorazio.com/Kiavi Tue, 02 Aug 2022 02:04:10 +0000 palmer d'orazio https://pdorazio.com/Kiavi Kiavi 2021-2023 Kiavi provides financing for real estate investors to acquire and renovate America’s aged homes. Most of Kiavi’s customers run their own small business, so they do everything: property sourcing, project management, marketing, even some DIY renovations. Kiavi uses technology to get investors the financing they need - fast. Navigation Redesign Kiavi’s main web application is business-critical - it’s the thing that allows our customers to apply for and manage their loans. That’s important! Unfortunately, navigating around the site was confusing: Non-standard UX patterns caused friction when new users try to navigate between loans. Our mobile header conflated global and loan-specific destinations. There was no guidance to show users “where they are” within a loan application. And to make matters worse, tech debt was abundant: there were basically four separate implementations of our app’s header. Luckily, we my team found some extra space in the roadmap, so we slotted in a quick project to fix this whole thing. I had a couple weeks to get ahead of the dev team, so I jumped right into design, knowing that I would check my work later by testing prototypes and watching a gradual rollout to our users.The new design would need to... Allow users to navigate in and out of individual loan applications with easeWork well on desktop and mobile Clearly show where the user is in our info architecture Emphasize business-critical CTAs (e.g. “apply for another loan”) Express a bit of Kiavi brand presence I kicked things off with a quick workshop to get the whole team involved. It quickly became clear that introducing a “secondary navigation” pattern to the loan page would accomplish our main functional goals with minimal engineering complexity. So, we sketched some concepts for new primary and secondary nav patterns. <img width="1254" height="558" width_o="1254" height_o="558" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8abfd0cb624fd9689e6c4e3f931158875ab76e7a9b8150195168df5050cebf6e/Screenshot-2022-08-01-222251.png" data-mid="149373512" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8abfd0cb624fd9689e6c4e3f931158875ab76e7a9b8150195168df5050cebf6e/Screenshot-2022-08-01-222251.png" /> A few mid-fi concepts that emerged from the sketching workshop. After agreeing on a direction, I rapidly created many visual design options to explore different expressions of our brand. I also tried a few variations on the desktop design to pressure-test them - for example, a desktop-width band of dark “Earth” green has too much visual impact and distracts from the actual page content. Lastly, I explored some new ways to show which page is currently active. (Click to zoom.) <img width="1010" height="659" width_o="1010" height_o="659" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6859faefcf86a31a8f10a2855f9e7997dc040692ac6adb3f081881957d4d4e5b/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223446.png" data-mid="149375685" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6859faefcf86a31a8f10a2855f9e7997dc040692ac6adb3f081881957d4d4e5b/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223446.png" /><img width="1129" height="696" width_o="1129" height_o="696" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/048c7340814143da6fd9eb5f5bc993ce6641da255d409e822f1ffd90be9e387c/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223459.png" data-mid="149375684" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/048c7340814143da6fd9eb5f5bc993ce6641da255d409e822f1ffd90be9e387c/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223459.png" /><img width="1108" height="692" width_o="1108" height_o="692" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/20fcec7d481b725db30df55c1d49991d98bce745bbeecf380602d2ae74b73ddd/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223518.png" data-mid="149375683" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/20fcec7d481b725db30df55c1d49991d98bce745bbeecf380602d2ae74b73ddd/Screenshot-2022-08-01-223518.png" /> We synced with our Marketing team to gut-check the branding and learn about their business goals. We also surveyed other parts of our app and similar navigation patterns across the web. After wrestling with active states, background colors, button hierarchy, link styles, and accessibility checks... here it is: <img width="1198" height="687" width_o="1198" height_o="687" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed7f8385772970388acf4b0b88360b0b42ca3e29681f13f7d3aad749fcf6eabf/Screenshot-2022-08-01-224311.png" data-mid="149376129" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed7f8385772970388acf4b0b88360b0b42ca3e29681f13f7d3aad749fcf6eabf/Screenshot-2022-08-01-224311.png" /> A simple underline shows which page is selected. Our special marketing CTAs float to the right and gain a Kiavi Seafoam icon. The light Seafoam background feels “Kiavi” without dominating the page content. <img width="892" height="693" width_o="892" height_o="693" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc1181721377813e4fdae99c9cd8467a0ee8a49cb6b7e91d209d8a130572aebb/Screenshot-2022-08-01-224325.png" data-mid="149376128" border="0" data-marker-id="2" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/892/i/bc1181721377813e4fdae99c9cd8467a0ee8a49cb6b7e91d209d8a130572aebb/Screenshot-2022-08-01-224325.png" /> On mobile, the secondary navigation collapses into a dropdown. It’s visible on every page, so you can tell which part of the loan application you’re looking at, and quickly get to another page. With a bit of cleanup, the simple hamburger menu works just fine for global navigation.&nbsp; We quickly ran a few usability tests, and the designs passed with flying colors. New and experienced Kiavi users were able to complete their tasks and get around the app with ease. Is this design rocket science? Heck no. But it fixes the issues, it’s on brand, and it came to life quickly. https://pdorazio.com/Ford Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:02:36 +0000 palmer d'orazio https://pdorazio.com/Ford Ford 2023-Now Ford makes some of the world’s most iconic vehicles, from the Mustang to the F-150. Over the last few years, we’ve built an in-house product and design org to take Ford.com to the next level. My team owns the vehicle inventory search system, which is a key part of our new ecommerce journey. Inventory Search Part 1: The Pilot When I joined Ford, I jumped onto a product team that was building a new inventory search system from scratch. This new “Vehicle Finder Tool” had been designed by an agency, with a few big UX assumptions that were not thoroughly tested. The Vehicle Finder only supported Ford’s electric vehicles, and it was being built alongside our brand-new global data platform. We were truly building the plane as we flew it, aiming for a pilot launch with some of our EV-savvy dealers in the fall of 2023. To enable our pilot launch, I… Adapted the application to work well on desktop (the agency had delivered mobile-only designs)Leveraged user testing to identify and fix critical usability issues, including an important “see results” CTA that looked like an adDesigned new behaviors to account for edge cases (e.g. “zero results” scenarios and API failures)Collaborated with designers from other teams to elevate the app’s visual design <img width="1600" height="1272" width_o="1600" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/154e3b687398c54c626c4fbbf19e5b330ee5ab0c1232efd8728c6683ff099e1f/ford1.png" data-mid="236270925" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/154e3b687398c54c626c4fbbf19e5b330ee5ab0c1232efd8728c6683ff099e1f/ford1.png" /> The basic user flow I inherited. Users didn’t realize they could swipe between trim levels on the first screen. Then, users ignored that blue banner at the bottom of the middle screen - including its main CTA to see the list of vehicles! <img width="1600" height="608" width_o="1600" height_o="608" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5e1ac79431de8d7147ee491a2d93952b2ca184e8ee63a7af4ee8fa59634d7c98/ford2.png" data-mid="236270930" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5e1ac79431de8d7147ee491a2d93952b2ca184e8ee63a7af4ee8fa59634d7c98/ford2.png" /> Part of the user flow that we took into the pilot. Progressive disclosure, usable desktop layouts, and clear CTAs got more users to a relevant vehicle. The results were somewhat promising. Shoppers found the tool engaging, and the new application was way faster than our legacy inventory system. However, while the tool felt slick, it didn’t support the way that people actually shop for vehicles:The multi-step “wizard” UX locked shoppers into one trim level and battery combo, so it was very difficult to cross-shop and understand the available options.&nbsp;Many users were also confused when they configured “their vehicle” and then ended up with a list of vehicles near them, many of which didn’t match their selections. This design mashed up our traditional “build and price” and “inventory search” concepts in a way that didn’t align with anyone’s mental model.&nbsp; I raised these concerns early in my tenure, and they were gradually confirmed by prototype tests, live product tests, user session recordings, and analytics data. <img width="1600" height="1020" width_o="1600" height_o="1020" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b408ab1deba9dc02db50e751d496910d8ffef6c4e811f608e5093c144be7a79/ford3.png" data-mid="236270929" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5b408ab1deba9dc02db50e751d496910d8ffef6c4e811f608e5093c144be7a79/ford3.png" /> Matching my early questions and concerns and concerns to user research activities <img width="1600" height="864" width_o="1600" height_o="864" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bac43137f61ea0d4606baeeebe263caa9610c5a2c7463ecbd853cf1ebc77aff4/ford4.png" data-mid="236270928" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bac43137f61ea0d4606baeeebe263caa9610c5a2c7463ecbd853cf1ebc77aff4/ford4.png" /> Early proposal for a “results-first” redesign that would eliminate the confusing “builder” concept and get users to vehicles faster In addition, with the launch of Vehicle Finder, we now had two separate user flows on Ford.com that both served the same “job to be done” - finding a vehicle on a dealer lot near you. Users had to learn two separate tools to shop for gas vehicles and electric vehicles. This was ultimately because of org politics, legacy systems, and a desire to try something new in the EV world… but our customers don’t care about any of that. They just want to find a dang truck and get on with their lives. Inventory Search Part 2: From Pilot to PlatformIn spring 2024, Ford's priorities shifted, and leadership recognized the need to consolidate our inventory search systems into one modern tool. I had been advocating for this consolidation, and my team was charged with making it happen.To set my team up for success, I… Collaborated with PMs and dozens of stakeholders to define functionality, align on scope, and highlight differences between EV and ICE business rulesCreated low-fidelity artifacts to describe the overall flow for the new system within the broader shopping journey and visualize the cutover planSuccessfully advocated to remove the confusing "wizard" UX from the Vehicle Finder pilot toolPartnered with our UX researcher to test prototypes and early working versions of the new systemDesigned a bunch of functional elements that were missing (filtering refinements, comparison, error states…) <img width="1600" height="665" width_o="1600" height_o="665" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4b0bd395a919114738987e9e8e6788414c9d1be5dd7b6837cceff054843cef7c/ford5.png" data-mid="236270927" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4b0bd395a919114738987e9e8e6788414c9d1be5dd7b6837cceff054843cef7c/ford5.png" /> Sharing progress and key UX decisions with leadership <img width="1600" height="782" width_o="1600" height_o="782" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eda6b678c190c82becf6db657b97018008090a6cf390b34216662bc541ae033e/ford6.png" data-mid="236270926" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eda6b678c190c82becf6db657b97018008090a6cf390b34216662bc541ae033e/ford6.png" /> Flow diagrams I created to align on overall user flows and create our&nbsp; transition plan with the Analytics team The consolidated platform pretty much sticks to the classic “search results” UX posture: it’s a list of vehicles with a filtering panel, just like every other ecommerce site. The new system launched in November 2024, achieving a 15% conversion boost from our vehicle page into the checkout flow. I attribute this success to improved performance and adherence to familiar ecommerce patterns.Since our launch, I've balanced stakeholder requests with user research findings to enhance the shopping experience. We’ve added new functionality including… A towing calculator to provide truck shoppers with essential towing-capacity infoAn enhanced image gallery and 360-degree interior viewClarified pricing displays and optimized UI for “next steps” to purchase or contact the dealerA nice UI and visual design refresh, which improved responsive behavior and visual hierarchy We’ll continue to improve this experience as ecommerce rolls out to more dealers throughout 2025. A couple snapshots of the live website are below, but you can also check it out for yourself :) <img width="1082" height="851" width_o="1082" height_o="851" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/549c7d9004cc82a529197e3f804c138a3c39344b894153fb037dccfb1f9cd3c7/results.png" data-mid="236270148" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/549c7d9004cc82a529197e3f804c138a3c39344b894153fb037dccfb1f9cd3c7/results.png" /> The search results page with a few filters enabled <img width="1078" height="844" width_o="1078" height_o="844" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/af35ffd61d412092cf341b9c830750049a23f3f0c19536079279b87c37c667d4/VIN.png" data-mid="236270150" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/af35ffd61d412092cf341b9c830750049a23f3f0c19536079279b87c37c667d4/VIN.png" /> The vehicle info page for a specific Mustang Mach-E in Pittsburgh https://pdorazio.com/About-me Wed, 03 Aug 2022 00:47:49 +0000 palmer d'orazio https://pdorazio.com/About-me I’m a UX generalist. I live in Pittsburgh. My strengths include: User research - strategy, execution, and synthesisModeling - visualizing complex systems to create shared understandingInteraction design - from quick prototypes to polished UIs that match how users thinkIterative development - collaborating with Product and Engineering to ship incremental improvements I’m particularly interested in these industries: ClimateGovernment and civic techMusic technology Outside of work, I enjoy: GardeningWatching Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” with my partnerNatural wineUrsula K. Le GuinMentoring and teaching at CMU HCII Here are some photos of my cat, Bernadette. She likes sunny spots. (I promise this is not my entire personality.) <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/76b74e160e110a5c282277c4328dae7655ef8a9534f78008cddec61a6d52c624/PXL_20210730_223700443.jpg" data-mid="149479698" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/76b74e160e110a5c282277c4328dae7655ef8a9534f78008cddec61a6d52c624/PXL_20210730_223700443.jpg" /> <img width="3072" height="4080" width_o="3072" height_o="4080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/189cbc226f81dcecad34f5c95f9c2b9c7fcabcdd85bd065cf0eb77efe243a78a/PXL_20220517_150747508.jpg" data-mid="149479701" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/189cbc226f81dcecad34f5c95f9c2b9c7fcabcdd85bd065cf0eb77efe243a78a/PXL_20220517_150747508.jpg" /> <img width="3072" height="4080" width_o="3072" height_o="4080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74d9bcf2e3ac5ead19621b8ceace51d3adfb3e503faf0a100836ab6173dbbf25/PXL_20220311_142057463.jpg" data-mid="149479801" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74d9bcf2e3ac5ead19621b8ceace51d3adfb3e503faf0a100836ab6173dbbf25/PXL_20220311_142057463.jpg" /> <img width="3072" height="4080" width_o="3072" height_o="4080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5053eeba230081a8c02da79f4ca8d97194f55bc2accd7120c4b886d8312ea7ab/IMG_20220512_152938_01.jpg" data-mid="149479700" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5053eeba230081a8c02da79f4ca8d97194f55bc2accd7120c4b886d8312ea7ab/IMG_20220512_152938_01.jpg" /> <img width="1934" height="2578" width_o="1934" height_o="2578" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9474dc8e47c19fab48e47e7129058c8d359bb42e259007aed76e92844197c75e/Snapchat-19770670.jpg" data-mid="149479751" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9474dc8e47c19fab48e47e7129058c8d359bb42e259007aed76e92844197c75e/Snapchat-19770670.jpg" /> <img width="3072" height="4080" width_o="3072" height_o="4080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a245a0f1dd41710f8a0328f119076e1a2dff1078b97025fcd30f0390c6d5513f/PXL_20220127_162933712.jpg" data-mid="149479803" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a245a0f1dd41710f8a0328f119076e1a2dff1078b97025fcd30f0390c6d5513f/PXL_20220127_162933712.jpg" />