PRODUCT DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Through two decades, I've had the unique opportunity to immerse myself in the dynamic worlds of product and user experience design, offering guidance on a wide range of digital solutions. Detailed below are instances of the products I've steered or had a hand in, accompanied by descriptions, video presentations, and case studies.
AMI CO-PILOT APP
Route management in the amusement and vending industries has always carried a fundamental mobile nature. This involves being on the move, maintaining equipment, collecting cash, and journeying from one location to another. However, the tools available to professionals in this field did not align with this inherent mobility. Consider the example of jukeboxes. A jukebox operator might oversee anywhere from 10 to 200 locations. The configuration of these devices frequently demanded physical presence, access to a PC, or reaching out to a support hotline. Similarly, bar staff also needed the capability to manage devices once they were installed. In response and in collaboration with AMI’s engineering and product management teams, I devised the UI/UX for Co-Pilot, a pioneering mobile solution to tackle these challenges.
BG MUSIC + CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM
Comprised of companies facilitating the use of music by gyms, restaurants, and shops, the background music industry is full of challenges. Among them is finding a balance between the in-store experience a client wants to create and the actually music tastes of consumers walking through the door.
My own experience in developing an interactive UX for background music listeners included shaping the in-venue experience, defining its components, guiding creative, overseeing curation, and working with early adopters to drive engagement. Unfortunately, a change in investors led to the project being prematurely shut down before general release. However, similar to all endeavors in product development, valuable insights were gained.
DIGITAL SIGNAGE SOFTWARE
Following its introduction of a music video catalog, which commonly led to jukeboxes being connected to television screens inside a venue, AMI saw an opportunity to bring promotional services to its customers.
The goal, as described to the development team, was to create an easy-to-use digital signage system that would fit seamlessly into the entertainment experience already offered. This web-based (and eventual mobile) tool would enable installers and venue staff to create and display ads on AMI products.
My responsibilities on this project included the strategy and development of a library of customizable templates, as well as the UI/UX design for the tool's mobile edition.
INTERACTIVE TELEVISION
Television plays a significant role in contemporary entertainment, and not just at home. Nowadays, it's a rare occurrence to enter any public place and not be surrounded by screens. However, unless there's a sporting event or something similar, people are more inclined to disregard these often-muted TVs and focus on their own smartphones. The concept of interactive television seeks to bridge this gap by offering programs that viewers can not only watch on TV but also engage with in real-time. My own experience involved the development of a dedicated trivia channel in the early 2010s, enabling viewers to match wits against friends, local bar patrons, and participants nationwide. In this endeavor, I was responsible for overseeing both mobile and TV user experiences, as well as content licensing, documentation, and game programming.
JUKEBOX MOBILE APP
Dating back to the 1920s, the jukebox industry has thrived for a century. It survived wartime, depression, and even a global pandemic. It has evolved and reinvented itself, today taking the shape of large cloud-connected touchscreens that illuminate their surroundings. But among their modern conveniences, the ability for jukeboxes to be controlled by smartphones is what unlocked their maximum potential for profitability. Facilitating touch-less engagement with 30,000 digital jukeboxes, AMI Music achieved the following during my time as its UI/UX lead:
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2.3M users
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7M song purchases per month
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Over 35% of jukebox plays shifted to mobile, providing significant cash flow benefits
JUKEBOX MUSIC UI
Version 5.0 of the AMI Jukebox software marked a significant milestone, bringing about the product's most substantial user interface overhaul in over a decade. Designed exclusively for bars across North America, this cutting-edge software introduced novel methods for browsing and playing available songs and music videos.
Acknowledging the profound influence of selecting the "right music" on consumer behavior, customer retention, and spending on food and drinks, the software was meticulously developed to recommend artists and tracks that align with the musical tastes of typical patrons and complement the desired ambiance envisioned by venue owners. In the course of developing this software, my responsibilities extended to architecting the UX and providing guidance on visual design.
MEGATOUCH GAMES
Before the rise of the smartphone, touchscreen video games served as a popular form of barroom entertainment in taverns around the globe. If unfamiliar, during the 90s and 00s, Megatouch was the world’s premiere touchscreen amusement system. With hundreds of games such as 11-Ball, Photo Hunt, Trivia Whiz and more, these coin-operated machines served up countless hours of nightly entertainment. Every game was intentionally crafted to end and provide a final score within 3 minutes, betting on the competitive nature of humans to say, "Oh, I can top that." And did it work to drive revenue? You betcha – to the tune of 5.5 billion annual paid plays. It was an incredibly unique place to earn your stripes as a designer, because every UX you created, regardless of complexity, had just 3 minutes to convert a first-time user into a repeat customer.
