Designing a more accessible building materials database for Project Quartz

Role: Lead UX/UI designer; Brand creator; Strategy & writing contributor

Quartz Project was a collaborative open-data initiative designed to help owners, architects, and designers plan better buildings, backed by Flux, thinkstep, Health Building Network, and Google(x).

My role was to help shape the site's content strategy, website UI, and interaction design. I also worked with the client to craft an appropriate brand identity and to provide visual design assets. 

The launch date for the website was tight: four weeks until a major industry conference. We collaborated swiftly with Flux to determine who the audience was, what design would be most impactful for the conference, what the brand should look like, and how the site and database could be scaled up at a later date.

The compressed timescale and close collaboration drew from a more agile work cycle, as Flux's developers were working while we were designing. We used several Goal-Directed Design® techniques to move the design forward, including personas, scenarios and workflows.  

Our work made it easy for visitors to browse for ideas, explore commonalities, conduct comprehensive analyses, and offer feedback.