Blake Hicks is a creative problem-solver with a passion for excellence.
Successful products prioritize the end user's needs, preferences, and experiences throughout the entire design process. This requires understanding and involving users at every stage, from initial research to prototyping. I've had the honor of seeing this process result in products and systems that are intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable. Great design ensures that the final experience aligns closely with user expectations and requirements.
The best part of being a designer is that it's a trade in service of all trades. As a designer, my mission is to render gifted service to every aspect of the product experience, to discover the excellence in it, and put in plain sight the most brilliant result possible. It's my ambition to deliver high-caliber, bar-raising work that gives the user a quality experience and the business success and confidence.
“Human-centered design (HCD) is the process of ensuring that people’s needs are met, that the resulting product is understandable and usable, that it accomplishes the desired tasks, and that the experience of use is positive and enjoyable. Effective design needs to satisfy a large number of constraints and concerns, including shape and form, cost and efficiency, reliability and effectiveness, understandability and usability, the pleasure of the appearance, the pride of ownership, and the joy of actual use.”
--Excerpt From The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
Why do we make products? We make them for people to use.
Led and grew a design team working on a complex, confidential, and high-impact project.
Founded and led an event ticketing and management platform for content-rich event tickets. Set the vision for product innovation, and oversaw brand and user experience.
Served as Staff Product Designer on the mobile design team. Worked closely with cross-functional stakeholders to design and shape user experiences of mobile products.
Users are actively engaged and participate in the design process. By involving users from the beginning, designers gain valuable insights into user needs, behaviors, and expectations.
Gathering feedback early and continuously allows designers to identify issues, make improvements, and refine the design based on user insights.
Iterative design enables designers to make adjustments based on user feedback, ensuring that the final product is continuously improved and optimized.
A holistic approach ensures that the design addresses not only individual interactions but also the overall user experience.