Page for Paul

Qualifications

Hi again! My name is Jana (pronounced Yah-na), and I am a UX Designer with a background in visual design, and a Czech music Youtuber. I am passionate about design and graduated with a BFA from Parsons the New School for Design, the best design school in the US. With 7 years of experience in UX Design, I have worked with (but not limited to) the following companies:

  • Meta

  • Safelite

  • NCR

  • StoryFile

  • Wolf & Shepherd

  • BCBGMaxAzria

Projects

Meta

The social media company Meta partnered with my team at StoryFile to create an artificial intelligence VR experience on their Oculus platform. The experience tells the inspirational story of holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher, and allows users to talk to her as if she were sitting in front of them. The experience was created in German and English, and presented at a Meta event in Berlin in June 2023. Below is a video detailing the experience, and my proposals for layouts of the experience and landing website.

My Layout Proposals

Landing Page

The team at StoryFile was responsible for designing a desktop landing page to host information about the experience. Here is the layout I proposed to the team.

The Experience

StoryFile partnered with Meta to provide key visuals and direct the experience. Here is a still image of a suggested layout for the experience itself.

Safelite

I worked with the Safelite design team and our StoryFile developers to create an interactive chatbot for the Safelite Help Center. The goal of this project was to create an interactive, easy experience for users to locate answers within the Safelite FAQs. My responsibility was to create a prototype of a StoryFile plugin, using Safelite’s branding, that could fit into their existing website.

This project highlights the ability to keep designs clean and true to the language of each client.

The company I currently work for, StoryFile, is full of heart: Their mission is to use video and artificial intelligence as a tool for preserving and communicating stories. The company transformed recordings of historical figures into AI videos you can speak to—as if the person were sitting in front of you. StoryFile has been able to capture the firsthand stories of multiple holocaust survivors, figures from the black history movement, and notable figures today such as William Shatner. Their AI is featured in museums and used in partnerships with other companies to communicate impactful stories.

StoryFile and the story behind their UI

However, the team was focused on keeping up with their fast-paced success and not on their UI. When I joined the team under the Head of Design, the focus was to create quickly—3 products in one year. Having few resources, a lack of clear branding, and a lack of direction for their UI language, the foundation was built on shaky ground. Now after many proposals on my end, I am working with the new Head of UX to move the company forward visually, but keep the same branding the leaders of the company stand behind.

My biggest question:

How do you push a company’s UI forward with few resources, while making sure the new designs fulfill the stakeholder’s vision?

See my suggested UI revisions for one of StoryFile’s web applications:

Before

After

My updated design pushes the company’s UI forward, while retaining the branding the company’s leaders stand behind. The goal is to continue pushing the product forward visually in segments, as resources allow.

Before

The old record screens were designed by a former Head of Design at StoryFile. The company asked me to revise the old designs to keep the same core functionality, but to move them one step in a more modern UI direction. However, they wanted to keep the same branding, fonts, and color scheme. My responsibility was to redesign both the UI and UX of these screens.

After

My updated Record screen designs keep the process of recording simple, with a more modern UI. Although not as minimal as I prefer, it walks StoryFile’s web app in the right direction, while keeping the branding that the company stands behind.

Additional Skills

Photography and Photo Retouching

My skills range from UI/UX Design all the way to photography, photo retouching, and visual design, website design, and branding.

Newspaper graphic design, photography, and photo retouching for Wolf & Shepherd

Website Design

I also have an understanding of HTML and CSS, and updating and managing websites across the ecommerce. I have worked on websites with teams of developers, but also sites based in Wordpress, Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix.

Click to view my website redesign of Wolf & Shepherd

Marketing Design and Email Strategy

Please note: all photography, photo retouching, email design, and email strategy was created by Jana Kotysan

Visual Branding

I have directed brand guidelines and visuals for companies, such as Wolf & Shepherd. See below, a digital book I created for the brand:

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Dear Paul,

I would appreciate your feedback on my work and how I can better stand out as a designer, as well as an opportunity to show you my design capabilities at Spotter.

Look forward to hearing from you

— Jana