Three brief stories about design

Some clients I’ve worked with:

Ryan Miglavs

Portfolio

  1. 1. Mazamas

    Simplifying complexity for a climbing community.

    The Mazamas are a volunteer-driven mountaineering nonprofit, founded in 1894 on the summit of Mt. Hood.

    Leading hundreds of climbs, hikes, courses, and outings each year, this passionate group of outdoorspeople needed a simple system to organize and register participants for adventures.

    I led the design of a new web application and CRM, with the goal of making it quick and easy for members and non-members of all ages to engage with the Mazamas and their rich calendar of activities.

    view samples
    Screenshot: Mazamas Homepage Header Screenshot: Mazamas Join Call-to-Action Screenshot: Mazamas Join Call-to-Action (mobile)

    An aesthetic challenge was to modernize the organization’s image while honoring its rich history.

    The new site and tools are simple and modern for new members, while feeling welcoming and familiar to leaders with decades of legacy.

    Photo: Design workshop with Mazamas Photo: A whiteboard sketch of the activity design, made in collaboration with Mazamas

    The Mazamas has hundreds of self-organized volunteers. To gain from their knowledge and to encourage early project buy-in, I led extensive workshops, community surveys, and interactive design sessions.

    Wireframe: Mazamas calendar of activities Comp: List of Mazamas activities

    The Mazamas hosts hundreds of activities every month, making for a fun challenge to design a good calendar that shows this huge amount of information without getting overwhelming.

    Participants of all skill levels can quickly find activities and courses suited to their interests, while leaders can view everything going on across groups.

    Screenshot: UI panel for scheduling a calendar item Screenshot: UI panel for scheduling an activity, with options for volunteer recruitment Sketch: Flow and options for a leader scheduling an activity

    I designed a flexible, modular UI framework for user actions, such as scheduling activities, managing participants, and editing web content.

    As with the rest of the site, the editing UI framework passes WCAG AA accessibility guidelines out of the box.

    Icons representing Mazamas activity types

    In order to scale a complex application that would grow over time, I designed a system of meaningful iconography for the Mazamas’ particular taxonomy. (Icons for education and volunteering not shown)

  2. 2. Unannounced News App

    Your news, intelligently curated.

    You care about:

    • Politics
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Keanu Reeves
    • Hilarious Cats
    • Something Weird and Awesome That No One Really Understands But You

    This app (not yet announced) uses AI to make sure you don’t miss important news from all the sources you want to follow.

    I designed the concept and all screens.

    view samples
    Screenshot: List of pages in news app Screenshot: A page of top news Screenshot: A page of world news
    Screenshot: Adding a page Screenshot: Editing a page

    Add popular pre-made pages, or create and configure your own.

    Sketch: Adding a page Sketch: Item detail
  3. 3. Oregon Convention Center

    One tap for all key tasks for all audiences.

    The Oregon Convention Center is the largest venue in the Pacific Northwest, and the first convention center in the world to achieve LEED certification for environmental sustainability.

    This hip-yet-friendly client is a perfect representation of Portland, and needed a website that communicates their soul and serves their distinct audiences efficiently and uniquely.

    We set out to design and build the world’s best convention center website.

    view samples
    Screenshot: OCC Homepage Screenshot: Visitors hub Screenshot: Food images for event planners

    Convention centers aren’t known for being cool, so we saw an opportunity to differentiate the OCC by presenting a clean, modern look that also captured the friendly personality of the city and the convention center team.

    Screenshot: Quick navigation items on phone

    All the key tasks for visitors are available within 1-2 taps or clicks. Pulled over illegaly outside and need to find parking? One tap on your phone for parking info could help you avoid getting a ticket.

    Screenshot: Call-to-action button inviting visitors to find food venues Screenshot: 'Eat Now' feature on phone Screenshot: 'Eat Now' feature on desktop Photo: A sign inside the convention center promoting the 'Eat Now' feature to visitors
    Photo: Whiteboard of feature brainstorming with sticky notes on a whiteboard

    I led interactive workshops with OCC staff to learn about their organization and their needs. From the beginning I also guided brainstorming and prioritization exercises so we could be sure we focused on the most valuable features.