Jeff White

Stepladder

Our work focuses on improving outcomes for medical technology companies and the patients and healthcare professionals they serve.

Healthcare brands we've worked with:

Baxter
Hillrom
McClurg Healthcare Advisors
Premier
Trially.ai


Before specializing in healthcare, Stepladder provided UX and visual design services to clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to seed stage startups in a variety of industries.

Clients included:

Amazon
Microsoft
Motorola
Citrix
Remitly
BabelBark
Cvent
Trupanion
Bamboo Learning
Code.org
Panopto
Woot!

Founder and Head of Design

Rebls

Design & Product Management Executive for seed stage startup.

•  Developed overall product vision, brand, visual language, and
product requirements for a v1 responsive web app
•  Designed all aspects of UX, directed visual designers through
development of visual language and brand
•  Translated market insights into product requirements
•  Managed engineering team including CTO
•  Involved in all aspects of business from recruiting to fundraising

Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer

Creative Director

Designer

Amazon

Lead a team that designed & delivered 27 applications for
the Amazon Fire Phone.

•  Managed a team of 6 UX Designers
•  Established and communicated application design processes
vertically and horizontally across many Amazon teams
•  Created and evangelized OS and application-level patterns
•  Presented to executives including CEO

Interaction Design Manager, Fire Phone

Designed applications and OS experiences for the Amazon Fire
Phone.

•  Designed Phone, SMS, Email, Calendar, and Contacts
applications
•  Established process and documentation standards adopted by all
application teams
•  Created patent-pending application design frameworks

Sr. User Experience Design Lead, Fire Phone

Design Lead, Kindle for iPhone and iPad.

•  Collaborated with stakeholders to define requirements for
cross-platform experiences
•  Lead team of internal and external visual and UX designers to
deliver Kindle for iPad and several versions of Kindle for iPhone

Sr. User Experience Designer, Kindle for iOS

Designer of Kindle for iPhone v1.0 - 2.7 and Kindle for BlackBerry.

•  Designed the UI architecture, interface, and interaction flow of
applications and experiences
•  Developed conceptual diagrams, wireframes, visual mockups,
click-throughs, and prototypes
•  Designed and conducted usability tests
•  Contributed the first mobile design pattern to Amazon’s existing
pattern library
•  Presented design to the UX team, product team, and executives

User Experience Designer, Amazon Kindle

Jewelry TV

Design lead for multiple teams building enterprise web applications.

•  Guided overall product development for several internal web
applications
•  Responsible for interface and interaction design of rich internet
applications
•  Developed methodology for conducting agile user-centered
design
•  Conducted usability tests, interviews, and contextual inquiry

UI Engineer (Interaction Designer)

Premier, Inc

Business Analyst

Web Specialist

Web Content Consultant

Improving Medtech software ➤ Advancing UX careers with storytelling @ uxstorytelling.io/course ➤ UX Consultant ➤ UX Designer & Educator

In 20 years as a UX/UI designer I've shipped hundreds of apps, websites, and features for big tech companies like Amazon and Motorola all the way down to tiny startups being run from a garage. 

5 years into my career I co-published an article about Agile UX work a colleague and I were doing at a broadcast retail company.

That led to several speaking engagements, and 1.5 years later I was in Seattle presenting the design for Kindle for iPhone 1.0 to Jeff Bezos.

I worked at Amazon for 6 years where I:

→ Designed and shipped dozens of Kindle reading apps used by millions
→ Got promoted 3 times
→ Managed and lead teams
→ Worked on highly visible "special projects"
→ Presented to Jeff Bezos and other execs more times than I can remember
 
And then I got burned out. 

So to recover I co-founded a tech startup. This is not a joke. This is also probably not advice I would give to anyone. 

The startup fizzled out quickly but it was my first exposure to entrepreneurship and I was hooked.

I didn't know what to do, I just knew I wanted to continue being out on my own.

With the help of others I started contracting. Over time that grew into a 7 figure design firm called Stepladder. 

Things about Stepladder that I'm proud of:

→ Short but impressive list of long time clients. We form partnerships.
→ 100% referral based
→ 100% of clients are repeat clients
→ Experienced designers come here to have more freedom in their life
→ Younger designers come here to get started and learn

I never dreamed that I would speak at conferences, work at a big tech name, or start companies. Yet here I am 20 years later incredibly fortunate, full of gratitude, sometimes a bit tired, and having learned:

→ You can't do it alone
→ Helping people is the best part of this job

I share what I've learned over the years here on LinkedIn and work with clients at www.stepladderUX.com.

Thanks for reading.

Steven Sommer

Making stuff for people who make stuff. 

My philosophy:
- We owe it to each other to treat people like humans, not resources. 
- If you care about what you’re saying, so will others.
- Follow your process only as far as it will take you.
- Follow your ego only as far as you can throw it.
- Balance conviction with adaptability.
- Humor makes most things better.
- Do work you're proud of.

My background is in Marketing.
My foreground is in Design. 
My future is in Gardening.

taplio

The Battle

Jeff White

Steven Sommer

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