United States

Product Design

UX Design

UI/ Visual Design

UX writing

Interaction Design

UX Research

Data Analysis

Generative AI

AI Product Management

Thom van der Doef

Principal Product Designer

Usability Testing

Typography

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Conversational AI

Design systems

Human computer interaction

Information architecture

User research

Typeform

Webflow

Amplitude

Axure

ChatGPT

Figma

GitHub

Intercom

Notion

Adobe Creative Suite

Adobe After Effects

Lookback

Introduce yourself, define mentoring expectations and goals. Learn and grow together.

General mentorship

How to successfully prepare and position yourself for a job promotion?

How to get promoted

Methods of prototyping and solution validation. When to use which kind of prototype (eg. Webflow, Notion, etc)

Prototyping methods and tips

Learn how to properly present your work and share ideas and opinions.

Presenting your work with impact

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Methods and models of exploring, deciding and delivering design.

Building a design process

Managing being the only designer at your company and working with non-designers.

Being the only designer

Explore different generative and evaluative research techniques. User research synthesis and presentation.

Conducting good user research

Navigating the working relationship with PM's and engineers as a designer.

Working with product and engineering

Ways to provide constructive feedback to team members.

Giving effective feedback

Tips on how to work and collaborate with engineers and developers.

Working with engineers

How to conduct interviews, what to ask, and how to analyze your results? (eg. user interview)

Conducting effective customer interviews

Work with engineers, PMs, educators and students to create fun and rigorous learning and teaching experiences.

As a UX designer at eSpark Learning I:
– develop and collect relevant user insights by observing and interviewing teachers, students and administrators.
– create low to high fidelity design solutions and validate these with users.
– work with engineers, data scientists and the partnership team to ensure proper launch of new products and features.

I use human-centered design methods and visual communication skills to help transform product ideas into viable, desirable and feasible products.

As senior UX designer I:

   * lead and execute qualitative research efforts. I plan, execute, analyze and communicate findings from direct observation, self-doc studies and interviews with users, stakeholders and experts.

   * visualize research findings, product concepts and user experience flows.

   * develop wireframes and low- to medium-fidelity interactive prototypes.

   * organize workshops for persona creation and concept development.

As a Senior Designer I am responsible for the visual and interaction design of educational products. Where possible I advocate the overall user-experience of our products and introduce user-centered design methods in our workflow. In this capacity I recently: 

   * developed the interaction design of a dashboard and courseware for a Workforce Development program

   * helped establish and design the brand identity for a new Reading Curriculum

   * ideated and created several interactive mobile prototypes outlining new product vision

   * organized bi-weekly lunch–and-learns about interaction design and user-centered design methods

I am conducting design research on Social Badging. The goal is to develop frameworks for understanding how groups and individuals communicate affinity and competency through visual markers. 

Additionally, I am working on research planning for the Chicago Learning Network. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the Chicago Learning Network allows museums and other institutions of informal learning to share their content and expertise over a network with Chicago Public School kids and other learners.

Planning research for the Chicago Learning Network (CLN). CLN allows large museums, the Chicago Public Library and other institutes of informal learning to share their content and expertise over a network with students at Chicago public schools and other learners.

As a design manager, I provided creative and innovative design leadership, directing staff and outside vendors in the development and delivery of market-leading educational products. I started an internal strategic innovation group that was involved in the development of the Business Strategic Plan and initiated the development of an innovative, customizable, online Teacher’s Guide.

Thom van der Doef🇺🇸

About Thom van der Doef

Expertise

Sessions with Thom van der Doef

What mentees say