I enjoy design, but I especially love designing with constraints. That’s what I love about the UX process: research identifies the constraints that drive the design. I also like design languages and frameworks. My favorite project was when I built a Figma component library—essentially a design toolkit and accompanying guidelines—that determined how charts and graphs would look throughout a product. Some people need to design outside the box; I’m just as happy to design the box itself.
Lately, my focus has been on UI design for websites and portals. I enjoy making high-fidelity screens and bridging the gap between Project Managers and Engineers. But ultimately, I just like problem solving. I like human-centered design. I appreciate the diversity of thoughts and behaviors that exist in other people. I finished my undergrad education with a dual major in Mechanical Engineering and Product Design—engineering plus the study of how to apply it for social good. I advanced that education by studying UX in graduate school, leaving me with skills to design and apply digital technology to serve user needs.
To see what I’ve been writing lately, check out my Medium page.
I was born and raised in the Hudson Valley of New York before finding my home in Seattle. In the past, I’ve worked professionally as a nanotech researcher, an SAT tutor, a mechanical engineer, and a technical writing instructor. In my current career, I’ve worked as both a Data Visualization Engineer and UX Designer, serving as a consultant for companies like Microsoft, Boeing, and T-Mobile. I currently work for Cisco as a UX Designer for the Webex Analytics Platform.
In my free time I’m…
Traveling, knitting, taking too many pictures, curating my wardrobe
I get curious about…
How niche micro-communities adapt and evolve technology around them for new and unexpected purposes
You might not know that I…
Am nationally competitive at softball, trivia, and curling
My bragging right is…
I got every SAT and GRE math question right each time I took the test
My design philosophy…
All buzzwords in moderation
Joe Bernstein UX Design Portfolio 