Welcome to John Beckwith's design portfolio
I am a designer with 11 years experience working in the industry. The first half of my career focused on Web design and interactive advertising. Over the last few years I have shifted my focus toward the field of user interface design and usability. I feel this is a natural transition for a designer with a strong visual background who still wants to design for interactive media.
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area where I also studied graphic design, at the California College of the Arts, and spent the first part of my career. I now reside in the Portland metro area with my family and pets. I am currently employed as a UI designer for one of the leading internet security companies, Symantec, where I have been working on revamping one of their biggest products, Symantec PKI Manager. I also do some freelance work when the timing and project are right. 
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What I do:
UI Design - Visual Design
When it comes to user interface design, the best design is the design that gets in the way of the user the least. It is the job of visual designer to approach the user interface as a visual language system so the final design 'reads' visually like a well written (and edited) piece of writing. Ironically, the best visual design is also one that requires the fewest written words to guide the user. Spooky.
UI Design - Interaction Design
Just as the visual design of the user interface requires a lot of thought, the way the user interacts with the UI also needs as much consideration. Creating an interaction model is one of the first things a good UI designer does when starting a project. An interaction model is a set of rules for how interactions should behave so they are consistent with the user's expectations across the entire experience. For instance, an "X" in the upper right corner will always close the window. The user should also be able to infer, after a few interactions, how other interactions will work. For example, if you can drag and drop a UI element, the expectation is that other similar UI elements are also draggable. While there are definitely conventions to adhere to, part of user interface design should always be educating the user about interaction types they may not have experienced before. After all, do we really want a world where everything works like this?
UI Design - Wireframing & Prototyping
Wireframes and prototypes are the foundation of a well designed user interface. Creating wireframes should be the first step when designing a new user interface and a building a working prototype is the best way to experience the interactions and task flows. Both are essential for figuring out any issues with the UI before they become too hard to fix. As this is often something that requires a bit of time at the beginning of a project it is imperative that you can create, and iterate, on these quickly. I use a product called Axure which lets me quickly create layouts and interactions then generate a working prototype (as soon as Axure figures out layers, layer effects, and a drawing tool, I will abandon Photoshop for good). If you have stakeholders who find it difficult to comment on flow diagrams and static images, a working prototype of the user interface removes any need for them to have to think creatively.
Usability
Above: Users shouldn't feel like they're in a maze.
Usability is an umbrella term for a group of disciplines focused on the user experience. Usability theories and practices can be applied at every stage of user interface design, but the biggest impact is usually at the start. I always like to begin by interviewing people who will be using the end product to attempt to see the product through their eyes. Listening to someone who doesn't speak design-ese explain what they're doing as they are working through a task can be an eye-opening/humbling experience.
Doing user testing once you have fleshed out the user interface is a helpful reality check. Often you find that solutions that made perfect design sense (or technological sense) to your team leave the user totally baffled. Once you can identify, and fix, these tripping points you can be sure that you are putting out the best product you can.
Usability is important not only because you want to create a product that works the best for the most people, but because this data is just about the only way we can objectively quantify why our work is valuable.
Doing user testing once you have fleshed out the user interface is a helpful reality check. Often you find that solutions that made perfect design sense (or technological sense) to your team leave the user totally baffled. Once you can identify, and fix, these tripping points you can be sure that you are putting out the best product you can.
Usability is important not only because you want to create a product that works the best for the most people, but because this data is just about the only way we can objectively quantify why our work is valuable.
Online Marketing Design
When I was in design school back in the late 1990's the field of online marketing was in its infancy. A job in advertising was looked down upon on in my program. A job doing online advertising was considered an even bigger faux pas. Granted this was when your typical online ad was a 468x60 animated .gif that made the cave paintings at Lascaux seem like a Michael Bay film. So, rightly, one of my first jobs when I got out of school was working for an online advertising agency in San Francisco, designing 468x60 masterpieces for the Wells Fargo account. I ended up spending the next 7 years working in that industry.
Here's why I love online marketing (ads, landing pages, emails, Twitter, etc.). First is that you are always working within some type of constraint. Whether it's file size, animation length or copy, there is always some limitation that forces you to problem solve in a real way. Second is that you know, in real time, whether or not what you designed is successful. Of course, "success" in this field is 1 person out of 1000 clicking on an ad. Like a hillbilly wedding, it's all relative(s).
Here's why I love online marketing (ads, landing pages, emails, Twitter, etc.). First is that you are always working within some type of constraint. Whether it's file size, animation length or copy, there is always some limitation that forces you to problem solve in a real way. Second is that you know, in real time, whether or not what you designed is successful. Of course, "success" in this field is 1 person out of 1000 clicking on an ad. Like a hillbilly wedding, it's all relative(s).
