With roots in computer engineering and interior design, I bring a rare dual lens to UX — where logic meets beauty, and every pixel serves a purpose.
Hello! I'm Faeze — an empathetic UX designer with an unconventional background I wear proudly. I studied computer engineering, then found myself drawn into interior design, and ultimately landed where both converge: creating digital experiences that are as functional as they are beautiful.
I specialize in translating complex systems into intuitive interfaces. Whether I'm conducting user research, building prototypes, or leading a project from concept to handoff — I approach every challenge with curiosity and precision.
My background gives me a superpower: I can speak to developers in their language, and to creatives in theirs.
"Good design is as little design as possible — but intentional in every detail."
PAWS Ohio has been rescuing animals since 1976 — a 501(c)(3), 100% volunteer-run, no-kill organization with deep roots in Northeastern Ohio. Their Executive Director Amy Beichler even championed Goddard's Law, a landmark 2016 felony animal abuse bill. The work is extraordinary. The website was not.
The homepage opened with a wall of dense fundraising text — no imagery, no visible animals, no emotional connection. A 17-item nav bar competed with itself. The adoption flow was buried behind multiple clicks, and outdated COVID-19 content still dominated the primary content area. For an organization whose website is its only front door, it was turning away the very people it needed most.
I led the full redesign — from content audit and user research through information architecture, wireframing, high-fidelity design, and usability testing. The project ran over 6 weeks with a focus on restructuring the site around three clear user journeys: adopt, foster, and donate.
The single highest-impact decision was putting a live animal profile card in the hero — above the fold, before any text. In usability testing, every participant's first comment was about the animal, not the organization. That emotional hook changed how they read everything that followed.
The nav reduction from 17 items to 4 was initially the most contentious recommendation. Stakeholder pushback centered on losing visibility for pages like "Cat Tales" and "Dog Tales." But first-click test data was clear: the existing nav created decision paralysis, and most secondary content was reachable from within the 4 primary journeys anyway.
Elevating Goddard's Law to a dedicated homepage section transformed the trust signal hierarchy. In post-test interviews, 6 of 8 participants mentioned it unprompted as a reason they trusted the organization — despite it being buried in a text paragraph on the original site.
The fitness app market is saturated, yet most apps fail the same way: they design for the already-motivated, not for the person who keeps quitting after week two. Onboarding is overwhelming, libraries are impossible to navigate, and progress tracking feels clinical rather than motivating.
FitCoach needed to stand apart by feeling like a genuinely intelligent training partner — not just a video player. The brief: design a full-featured platform that beginners can start in under 3 minutes, while advanced users can build entirely custom programs.
The 89% 30-day retention rate — nearly 3× the industry average — validated the core hypothesis: fitness apps fail because they design for the motivated, not the struggling. By designing specifically for the Restarter archetype (the majority of users) and making the Restarter experience forgiving and encouraging, we kept users long enough for the habit to form.
The decision to eliminate streaks in favour of milestone badges was initially controversial with the product team. Post-launch survey data confirmed it was correct — users cited "no pressure when I miss a day" as a top reason for continued engagement.
The coaching workout player — the feature that required the most iteration (3 prototype rounds) — drove the highest satisfaction scores. The feature that reduced mid-workout app-switching also reduced session abandonment by an estimated 35%.
Palocal.co is a platform helping Palo Alto residents support local businesses through digital gift cards — a genuinely valuable mission. But their site failed both audiences it serves. Business owners couldn't immediately understand the value proposition, and customers had no clear path to browse or buy.
The navigation held 12 emoji-heavy links. The hero message was buried below the fold. There was no trust layer, no fee transparency, and no visual hierarchy to guide a first-time visitor toward any action.
I led the end-to-end redesign — from initial audit and user research through information architecture, wireframing, high-fidelity design, and usability testing. The project ran over 8 weeks with two rounds of user testing.
The original site's biggest failure was a complete lack of audience clarity — both types of users landed on the same generic page with no guidance. The redesign treats this as the primary problem and solves it structurally: the hero targets customers, the nav targets business owners.
Trust was the second major blocker. The original site never stated its fee model, never showed social proof, and used an informal emoji-heavy interface that signalled low production value. The redesign repeats key trust facts ("$0 fee," "100% to businesses") at every scroll level and introduces a polished visual system that communicates credibility.
The test data confirmed the redesign worked: task completion for the primary customer flow rose from 25% to 87%, and zero participants in round 2 expressed confusion about the platform's purpose.
I uncover what users truly need through surveys, moderated interviews, and usability tests — translating raw behavior into insights that shape every design decision.
I build personas, journey maps, and empathy maps that help teams viscerally understand users — not just their clicks, but their frustrations, goals, and context.
I sketch fast and fail cheap — starting with lo-fi layouts to map user flow and catch structural issues before any polish is applied.
From clickable mockups to high-fidelity animated prototypes, I create experiences you can test — not just view — before a single line of code is written.
I build scalable component libraries and documentation that keep product teams aligned — so design and development speak the same language.
Research users, stakeholders, and context. Define the real problem before jumping to solutions.
Synthesize research into personas, journey maps, and a clear problem statement that guides the design.
Ideate, wireframe, and prototype — moving from low fidelity to high fidelity with continuous feedback loops.
Test, iterate, and hand off polished designs with thorough documentation for seamless developer collaboration.
I'm currently open to new opportunities — whether it's a full-time role, freelance project, or a good conversation about design.
faize.shamshirdar@gmail.com