Cisco Live!, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2017
Cisco DevNet Create, San Francisco, California, May 2017
Cisco invited The Opportunity Project team to speak about the initiative and to engage developers from across the country with Federal open data. I gave a keynote speech with my colleagues about the project, what we’re working on, what our process is, and how developers can get involved.
Introduction to User Centered Design, August and September 2017
Introduction to User Experience Design, February and July 2017
Introduction to Design and Photoshop, April and October 2016
The Commerce Data Academy is an educational initiative within the U.S. Department of Commerce with the goal of upskilling Commerce employees with data skills. Educational programming includes classes on data science, web development, and design. I taught six 3-hour long classes within the design subject area, and had a total of 400 students overall.
Workshop Facilitator
Crossroads: Intersectional Feminism and User Experience Design
ColorCoded, Washington D.C., August 2017
UMD Diversity in Computing Summit, Washington D.C., Nov. 2016
TechLady Hackathon, Washington D.C., October 2016
I taught this 45-minute workshop on the ideas of applying the theory of user experience design to feminist problems. Participants learned the basic principles of UX, including empathy building, conducting interviews, creating personas, and research synthesis. Throughout the workshop, I presented a feminist problem for participants to apply their UX skills to, in order to help them ideate on a solution.
Workshop Facilitator
Paper Marbling and Zine Making
Coffee and Design, Washington D.C., August 2017
I taught this workshop with my mentor to a group of creatives in the DC area. We spent the evening marbling paper using shaving cream and food dye, and then turned our marbled papers into mini-zines.
Resume
Community Manager & Digital Lead
The Opportunity Project Department of Commerce
January 2016 – October 2017
Facilitated collaboration between developers, designers, subject matter experts, data enthusiasts, and policy specialists to create digital tools using Federal and local open data. Designed print and digital materials for program outreach, coded website changes as needed, and ensured all products were created using human centered design methodologies.
Front End Engineer & User Experience Designer
Department of Commerce Commerce Data Service
January 2016 - September 2017
Interfaced with clients to scope, plan, and execute projects. Conducted rigorous user research, identified personas and end user goals for new products. Created website wireframes and high fidelity prototypes, and coded websites using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Conducted usability testing on all our products to identify improvements to be made.
Web Content Manager
CEB
August 2015 - December 2015
Migrated content from retired website into Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) at a rate of 15-20 pages per day. Documented CMS bugs and worked with the team to troubleshoot those issues. Learned and followed CEB’s branding and SEO guidelines.
Front End Web Developer
JMU Technology & Design
August 2014 - May 2015
Built and maintained University Unions websites using Wordpress. Advised clients on project feasibility and completion. Served as UI/UX designer for web team projects. Collaborated with graphic designers to create mockups for website redesigns.
My name is Radhika, and I'm a front end developer and user experience designer. I have extensive experience building websites with content management systems, coding websites using Bootstrap, designing interfaces, conducting user experience research, and interfacing with clients. I am passionate about the intersections of design, technology, and community engagement, and I firmly believe we can solve big and small problems through collaboration and human-centered design. I am an advocate for increasing the number of women and people of color in tech, building tech for underrepresented communities, and creating inclusive spaces.
Accomplishments
Panelist, Cisco Live!, Las Vegas, July 2017
Keynote Speaker, Cisco Devnet Create, San Francisco, May 2017
Recipient, 2016 DCFemTech Powerful Female Designer Award
Organizer & moderator, Diversity & Inclusion Around Open Data Panel, The White House, August 2016
Participant, White House Open Data User Engagement Series, Summer 2016
Instructor, Commerce Data Academy, Introduction to Design & Photoshop
Graduate, General Assembly User Experience Design part-time course
Graduate, Design Thinking DC Summer of Design program
The Opportunity Project (TOP) is an initiative which brings government agencies, technologists, and local communities together to create digital tools to help the American people increase their access to economic opportunity. TOP was launched in 2016 as part of the Obama White House, under the Obama Open Data Initiative. Since it's founding, The Opportunity Project has helped created more than 45 digital tools that help solve local problems such as helping families find affordable housing near jobs and public transportation, helping local leaders create economic opportunity in the neighborhoods they represent, and helping local businesses make data-driven investments. All of the tools that have been built so far are powered by federal, state, and local government open data.
The Opportunity Project is facilitated through a 12-week technology development sprint. Throughout this sprint, there are biweekly milestones which bring the government representatives, technologists, and user advocates together for exchanging feedback and questions. Participating tech teams come from private sector companies or civic tech organizations, user advocates come from community organizations or nonprofits, and government representatives come from federal government agencies. By the end of the 12 weeks, tech teams finish the sprint with a prototype of a tool, and work with the user advocates after the sprint to get the tool deployed in various communities.
My Role(s)
I joined the Opportunity Project team from January - September 2017 and took on many roles such as:
Product Manager
Web Developer
UX Designer
User Advocate Coordinator
Partnerships Manager
Public Speaker
Product Manager
As Product Manager with The Opportunity Project, I oversaw the redesign and maintenance of The Opportunity Project brand. The main product was the website through which we communicated information on The Opportunity Project to bring in new participants. Additionally, I created a brand for The Opportunity Project, which included the creation of a logo, color scheme, brand guide for others to follow.
The logo I created for The Opportunity Project.
Web Developer and UX Designer
As a web developer, I redesigned The Opportunity Project website to be more user friendly, follow US Web Design Standards, and utilize cleaner code. The biggest challenge in redesigning the website was the process of getting the live website updated with the latest code. Due to internal government processes, the website took months to update because of the approval process. I worked with technologists within the approval process team to help them streamline their process, create a cron job to directly pull the code from Github, and put the code changes on the live website.
The Opportunity Project website which I redesigned. Click on the image to view the site.
User Advocate Coordinator
The User Advocate role was created to ensure that all products are built with end users in mind. The User Advocate role is filled by community level representatives, and their role within The Opportunity Project was to offer feedback to the tech teams building products and to connect them with potential end users for product testing and product roll-out.
As the User Advocate Coordinator, it was my responsibility to connect with local organizations, nonprofits, and community development programs and bring them into participating in The Opportunity Project. This included directly emailing the leaders of community organizations, speaking on the phone with them, answering questions, explaining their participation, and connecting them with technologists building the tools. In this role, I spoke with organizations such as Great Nonprofits, native/tribal communities like the Chocktaw Nation of Oklahoma, and Promise Zone cities such as Indianapolis, and Los Angeles, Minneapolis.
Partnerships Manager
The Opportunity Project initiative focuses on bringing together people and organizations across private, public, and nonprofit sectors. As a Partnerships Manager, I was responsible for connecting with other government agencies working with open data, and I was responsible for connecting with private sector companies that would be interested in participating in The Opportunity Project. I worked with various corporate partners from companies like Google, Cisco, IBM, and Yelp, government agencies such as the Department of Education, Census Bureau, and Department of the Treasury, and various community level organizations from around the country.
Public Speaker
While I played various roles in The Opportunity Project, I also had to opportunity to speak about the project on various occasions. I gave presentations at places like The World Bank, Department of Education, and conferences. Most notably, I gave a keynote speech at Cisco DevNet Create Conference in San Francisco and sat on a panel discussion at Cisco Live! in Las Vegas, both in 2017.
GTLD Network
Wordpress, Web Design
GTLD Network and AIGA Create-a-thon
I participated in the inaugural AIGA D.C. Create-a-thon, a 24-hour creative marathon which brought together local creative professionals to produce marketing materials for local nonprofits, pro bono. I worked with a team of 2 designers and 1 content specialist to redesign a website for a local organization called GTLD Network.
GTLD Network is a parent-run non-profit in Montgomery County, Maryland that supports students with learning disabilities and gifted students who learn differently. The GTLD Network, Inc. has been a local and national resource for more than two decades with an active membership including parents, students, school administrators, teachers, and clinicians. The purpose of GTLD Network is to act as a support network for parents, and to offer resources to support the education of the varying needs their children may have.
The Problem
Within the first two hours of the night, we identified what GTLD Network had: a website, PDF documents, and infrequently updated calendar. We also identified what they didn't have: a consistent website, a logo, a brand, or content strategy. My team worked to create a redesigned website, improved content strategy, a logo, and a brand all within 24 hours. I was the developer on the team, so my role was to redesign the website.
The Process
Client Research
Feature Prioritization
Information Architecture
Sketching
Website Build
Client Research
In order to understand the client needs, I sat down with a representative from GTLD Network and interviewed them on their current process, what tools they use, how they communicate with the families they serve, and what their needs are. Based on that, our team identified these improvements that we could deliver to the client:
A website that can be easily managed by multiple people
A logo that is easy to read and understand
A brand that communicates education, intelligence, and compassion
I served as the developer on the team. In order to redesign the website, I had to research the client and their existing product(s). I looked at their existing website and presence they had online. This is what the website looked like when we began the project:
Feature Prioritization
With a 24 hours time limit, I focused on the following improvements to the website:
Create consistent navigation from page to page
Organize the website content
Design a website consistent with the brand
Include imagery of education and children
Information Architecture
I worked with the content strategist to come up with an information architecture that would organize the website content in an intuitive manner.
Website Build
One of the first requirements we identified was that the website will be managed by non-technical volunteers, therefore it was important to build the website in a content management system which people could learn easily. I built the website using Wordpress and built out each page following the content organization the team created. Upon handover of the website, I created a custome step-by-step guide to updating the website.
Final Product:
Mr. Leatherback
UX Design
What is Mr. Leatherback?
Mr. Leatherback is a grassroots education program, run by a conservationist dressed in a leatherback sea turtle suit who travels around the world organizing educational programs about sea turtle and ocean conservation with local communities. Mr. Leatherback is a program, but more importantly, is a character that has come to life through the creators' efforts in creative storytelling. For this project, I worked with the client, Oceanic Society, to identify problems, needs, and goals regarding Mr. Leatherback.
The Problem
Mr. Leatherback is a wealth of environmental knowledge and activism, but not many people know about him. I focused on solving the following problems for the client:
Identifying target audiences for Mr. Leatherback content
Sorting all content into an organized manner
Creating a single platform through which Mr. Leatherback content can be shared with an audience
The Process
Stakeholder Interview
User Research
Persona Identification
Card Sorting
Feature Prioritization
Wireframing and Prototyping
User Testing
Stakeholder Interviews
During the stakeholder interview, I asked questions broad questions to understand the underlying goals the Oceanic Society had for Mr. Leatherback. It became clear to me that Mr. Leatherback was not just a simple character they had created - they believed that Mr. Leatherback had the ability to create actionable change within individuals, which can lead to a better protected ocean. I focused on the following quotes from the client to move forward with the project.
"Mr. Leatherback is a voice for the ocean and marine wildlife"
"We want to inspire people to change their individual actions, and know that they can be the change"
"Mr. Leatherback makes conservation fun"
"We have so many images, blog posts, news, videos, and content!"
"Mr. Leatherback already has a global audience, but no way to communicate with them"
User Research & Persona Identification
When conducting user research, I interviewed 10 individuals from various walks of life. From there, I identified 5 main user groups that Mr. Leatherback would appeal to: students, teachers, environmental enthusiasts, turtle lovers, and kids. For the MVP, I chose to focus on two personas.
I created multiple persona documents to capture the findings from my user research.
Card Sorting & Feature Prioritization
After identifying personas, I conducted an open card sort with the client to identify the information architecture for the site. From card sorting, I was able to group the content the client had, but in order to create an MVP I conducted feature prioritization in order to set the standards for the first deliverable.
Conducting an open card sort with the client.
Wireframing & Prototyping
Next, I sketched out my ideas, created wireframes using the Sketch App, and put the wireframes into InVision App to conduct usability testing. After receiving valuable feedback from in-person and online usability testing, I iterated on the designs and improved some key features. I created an InVision interactive prototype that I presented to the client.
Sketches
Sketches of the initial ideas for website structure, layout, and design.
One of my first projects when I joined the Commerce Data Service was to better design our own website to include information on who we were, what we did, and what projects we were working on as a team. I served as a designer and developer on this project, and worked with the dev team to implement my designs. I created the design for the website and created custom icons for our services.
Final Product
NIST NetZero
Web Development, UX Design
What is NIST NetZero Housing?
The National Institute for Standards in Technology (NIST) runs a Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) that is a laboratory for conducting research on energy efficiency. The facility is a four-bedroom house that produces all of its own energy while sending excess energy back to the electrical grid, and was built to be a model for the American home of the future.
The goal is to have developers, businesses, startups, and products use Net Zero data to inform and create projects focused around renewable energy. The use of this data has the potential to educate Americans on energy usage in their homes, save Americans money on energy expenses, and improve the energy economy to match the demand for products that are sustainably produced and cost effective.
The Problem
NIST collects valuable data on energy use produced from the house, but did not have a way for the general public to access and use that data for research and product development.
On this project, I served as a designer and developer to help NIST launch a data portal which shared NetZero Housing data with the public. I worked with another developer and data scientist to launch the tool.
The Process
Stakeholder Interviews
Sketching & Wireframing
Front End Development
Stakeholder Interviews
I conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the potential users and use cases of the data. I was able to identify these main user groups: data engineers, developers, and tech startups.
Sketching & Wireframing
These are the sketches I created in order to design the rest of the site.
Front End Development
After going over designs with the rest of the team, I built a page template to serve as the basis for all pages of the website, using HTML, CSS, Javascript, and the Bootstrap framework. I collaborated with my team using Git & Github.
Final Product:
Academy of Science
Web Development
Purpose: For this site, I worked closely with the Academy of Science coordinators and assessed their needs, built a website skeleton, and taught them how to add content within WordPress. I worked closely with the client to ensure their needs were being met, and that they were satisfied with the progress and outcome of the project.
Client feedback:“We’ve gotten lots of feedback on our VJAS/VAS summer conference website from the executive committee members of those organizations. To say they’re impressed with the professional look and feel of it would be an understatement. It is, hands down, the best website any university hosting this event has ever put together.” –Jeremy Hawkins, Assistant Director, JMU Conference Services
Shout Out! JMU, a feminist consciousness raising blog on campus, had an out of date logo and website. In an internship with the Women’s & Gender Studies department, I redesigned the logo and website for the class. I updated the class WordPress account and activated a new theme, and customized the navigation and content structure on the website. I then taught all the bloggers how to best utilize the new theme, and created a guide for future users as well.
Purpose: In SMAD 308, Advanced Interactive Design for the Web, our assignment was to create a mockup for a microsite redesign, specifically targeting college students. I chose to redesign the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance website, a website that contains information on events and happenings in downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia. I created this mockup for desktop and mobile users, and chose to design the website in a way that would appeal to college students within Harrisonburg, and outside of the city.
Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop, moqups.com
Post Meridian
Graphic Design, Branding
Purpose: I designed this logo and album art for the Charlottesville-based band, Post Meridian. Once their album art was created, I customized their Bandcamp and Facebook pages to unify their online presence.
As Graphic Designer with the University Program Board, I was responsible for creating posters, web banners, social media graphics, and handbills to advertise monthly concerts. This is an example poster I designed for the band, Little Daylight, and there are matching web banners and other graphics to match the poster.
Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop
Posters
Graphic Design
These are a few posters I have designed for friends.
