My name is Andy Twomey. I’m a UX designer and developer with a commitment to accessibility.

Class Notes

Problem: Class Notes on the Bentley alumni site used to be a list of names, updated twice a year to coincide with the release of the print magazine. There was no option to search for specific names, explore details about alumni, or access names from more than six months ago.

Approach: I proposed reimagining Class Notes by decoupling it from the print magazine and transforming it into an engaging digital experience. After user research and gaining stakeholder buy-in, I designed and developed the new web application.

The project followed a Lean UX methodology and included a written proposal, user research, personas, wireframes, prototyping, design, and development.

Solution: I created an experience that allows the user to quickly sort notes by both name and attributes. Notes are added within hours of receiving them rather than waiting six months. Within the first three months of launch, user engagement improved and the rate of class note submission increased. The product's early success has inspired a wave of feature requests from stakeholders eager to expand its functionality.

Contributions:

• product strategy
• project management
• UX and UI design
• front-end development

Digital Magazine Articles

Problem: Bentley University's digital magazine is built on a template derived from the university's broader design system. However, for a recent featured article, we aimed to elevate the design to create a more engaging and interactive experience. Our goal was to capture the elegance of the print edition while establishing a library of animated and interactive components, enhancing both the visual appeal and functionality of the magazine.

Approach: Along with print and video designers, I met with the magazine's editorial team to understand the request for additional design options. Given my development skillset, I offered to create a completely customized experience for the main feature. Although custom, there are important nods to the Bentley brand and design system used throughout the rest of Bentley.edu.

Lean UX principles were adapted to the project, which included user research, wireframes, prototyping, design, and development. Feedback from user testing was addressed in additional design and development cycles, illustrating the iterative nature of the project.

Solution: The design serves as an effective new way to promote the magazine as a whole in marketing channels. Feedback from the launch with both users and stakeholders was overwhelmingly positive, leading to a request to create one custom feature per issue of the magazine going forward.

Contributions:

• UX and UI design
• front-end development

Donor Reports

Problem: Existing donor reports were placed into a simple template on school sites using the Drupal CMS. One stakeholder wanted something more, and asked if I could separate text in the template of one particular report.

Approach: For the first report, I met with the stakeholder to understand how the content was developed and what the users took from it. I broke out the major sections of the content and turned them into reusable components loosely based on available print versions of the report, which at the time were the key component in the overall strategy. From there, I created components which could accommodate changes in the content. For example, the "profile triptych" component could show one or more featured headshots and personal interest stories—or variations thereof. Sections could be used multiple times in different ways throughout a report. After designing three reports, I provided content strategists with an ecosystem of components to help them visualize and plan for mapping content to the report. We worked together on content strategy to identify moments where the experience would benefit from the creation of a new component.

Solution: The redesigned report greatly increased the time users spent engaged with the content. Interactivity and strong design provided a sense that this was important information different from the rest of the school site, while the mobile experience was improved to the point where users were spending more time viewing the report in that format compared to desktop. The strength of the new online experience led to a significant increase in the number of click-throughs to adjacent content, such as longer articles and giving forms. Importantly, the content creators felt empowered now that they had the tools and methods to share their good ideas.

The success of the first report led to the stakeholder sharing it with her colleagues. From there, three others asked for similar reports, leading to the creation of a design ecosystem and a second, distinct report design to complement the first. The online report was considered so successful that the university ended up saving money by retiring the print version in favor of the new online version.

Online Donor Reports have won CASE awards.

Contributions:

• product strategy
• UX and UI design
• front-end development

wireframe example

Donor Walls

Problem: To recognize donors during Giving Tuesday, Tufts University needed a way to quickly place names online at the start of each hour throughout a single day.

Approach: When asked to place names into a table on an existing site, I proposed expanding the project into an interactive micro-site. To illustrate the concept, I created a series of wireframes before moving on to design and development.

Solution: I strategized with the team and created an engaging interactive design that donors and users spent considerable time with.

Later, the success of the Giving Tuesday project led to reviving the idea for other giving-focused campaigns and donor recognition initiatives. Eight spin-offs have come to life, leading to the creation of new components and capabilities like progress meters, different segmentation strategies, and more recently, a backend user interface that allows non-technical staff to update the information being displayed.

The work the team did on the Giving Tuesday, including the first donor wall, won a Tufts Distinction Award for the innovative concept.

Contributions:

• UX and UI design
• front-end development

wireframe example

Virtual Commencement

Problem: With COVID-19 preventing large gatherings, a decision was made to hold a virtual commencement ceremony. As part of this, Tufts University needed to celebrate the accomplishment of graduates in a powerful way that could be understood quickly and easily.

Approach: I pitched the idea of recognizing the accomplishment of graduates by sharing well-wishes through videos embedded on a video wall microsite, filterable by school. While we expected 100 videos, we ended up with over 1500 submissions.

Solution: With so many videos, the page would have been impossible to load. I created a solution by using screenshots of the videos instead of the video itself—when the user clicks the thumbnail, it swaps the thumbnail out and loads the correct video through an iframe.

The video wall was well-received and created a memorable moment for graduates having to cope with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

Contributions:

• product strategy
• UX and UI design
• front-end development

Email marketing

design and development

At Tufts, I acted as the primary email designer and developer. From a design perspective, each email offers an opportunity to experiment with different creative approaches over a short period of time. Coding for email presents a unique challenge because it needs to render perfectly across many platforms and devices, yet support for web standards in this space is limited. I work around these limitations to ensure the design and user experience are exactly as intended on any device.

More recently, emails are created as templates using blocks in Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Mailchimp, enabling producers to easily make edits without needing to view the code. Combined with great copy and a well-formed marketing strategy that leverages variable data, these email designs have significantly increased engagement and revenue generation.

Campaign Site

Problem: This website is the face of a $1.5 billion dollar campaign. Originally, the design and development for the site was part of a larger project to combine two large sites into one. Halfway through the process, however, the vendor we chose was having difficulty and it was decided that the design would be done in-house.

Approach: Working with our digital, marketing, and creative teams, I designed series of wireframes and comps incorporating features we needed that weren't easily accommodated by the vendor's template. One challenge here is that the site needed to stand on it's own as a unique experience, yet still be closely associated with a larger Alumni site.

Solution: The design took advantage of block grids in a way that let us create visually interesting collections of related topics. Heavy on white space, powerful photos, use of many brand accent colors tied the experience together. The navigation and layout of the deepest pages of the site shared a layout with the Alumni site, cementing the relationship between the two.

Print

While my primary focus is on digital work, I also have experience in print design. This understanding of print enables me to create a cohesive brand experience across all marketing channels, ensuring consistency and alignment in every medium.

Back to the Future is a series of lectures focused on cutting edge science and engineering. Initially, the focus was on three cities: Boston, New York, and Washington. I designed the branding and creative for the series, including program books, brochures, window shades, and email marketing.

The Dean's Medal brochure was created to promote an upcoming Gala. Many projects I work on are digital-first. This is one example where I created the design for print and later adapted it into an email. The success of this design led others schools to consider the idea of holding their own Galas with a similar theme.