About Me

Hi, I'm Melissa Boyce.

I'm an ESL educator turned UX designer based in Chicago, IL.

picture of a person

Vector Design created by pikisuperstar - www.freepik.es

A bit about myself...

I am passionate about advocating for and empowering people through empathy-driven design.

Okay... but you might be wondering:
“What does an English-as-a-Second-Language teacher have to offer as a UX designer?”

Thanks to my experience as an educator, I have built up some key skills and understandings as it relates to designing for people, i.e. student user-centered design. For example:

  • Know your students users
    • learn their backgrounds, culture, language, interests, needs, etc.
    • talk with them, build empathy, rapport, & understanding
  • Reading & learning is hard
    • keep it simple, split it into small chunks, progressive disclosure
    • use hierarchy, pictures, audio, & video when appropriate to increase understanding
  • Test your lessons designs often
    • test with your students users, ask for feedback
    • don't just test at the end, do formative assessments usability tests
  • Iterate, iterate, iterate!
    • continue improving & refining your lessons designs
    • have a growth mindset, failures can lead to better learning design solutions

My Extracurriculars

right arrowI enjoy listening to music, drinking coffee, trying out new foods, and watching Korean dramas.

right arrowI also like to spend time learning about different cultures and languages and reading articles on current events, skincare, and UX design.

My Traits

right arrowI'm a very analytical person that loves problem-solving. I especially delight in solving problems that help people.

right arrowI am also extremely detail-oriented. Yes, I am that person that will notice if the picture frame on your wall is not perfectly-aligned.

My Toolkit

  • Adobe XD
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Animate
  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Axure
  • Figma
  • Invision
  • Sketch
  • Draw.io
  • Trello
  • Canva
  • Airtable
  • Atlas.ti
  • Optimal Workshop
  • Qualtrics
  • UserTesting
  • Validately

My Languages

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JS, JQuery
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Korean

My Interests

  • Language & Culture
  • Health & Sustainability
  • Music & Art
  • Design & Technology