I’m Dan Steen. I’m a UX specialist and creative based in Melbourne

I’m passionate about empowering teams and individuals to solve tough problems. I utilise human-centred design in conjunction with storytelling and technology to make impactful outcomes for my users and clients.

In short, I make shiny things to improve experiences.

Beyond this, I make games, I’m designing a tiny house and I love to draw and paint.

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Case studies

View the case studies below to see my processes in practice. Each case-study summarises my involvement, the outcomes and the approach I took to understand my users, and how I created innovative products and experiences to address their needs.

Cloudy: A Resilience Toolkit

Improving the resilience of online students

Mapping the Unit Chair Journey

Research, workshops and UX outputs

Deakin Buddies

Visual design, illustration, motion, UX, UI, Testing

Skills

My hands-on technical skills of design and motion, combined with my UX and facilitation skills, enable me to not only analyse and understand user behaviour, but it also allows me to use these insights to create behaviour-driven tangible tools and experiences. I've led, designed and delivered a multitude of projects, embracing lean UX principles to create rapid innovative solutions.

Facilitation

Design thinking
Design sprints
Brainstorming and ideastorming

User experience

User research and interviewing
Wireframing and prototyping
Testing
Product design

Design and Motion

2D animation and motion graphics
Illustration and live sketchnoting
High- and low-fidelity visual design

Qualifications

Bachelor of Animation and Interactive Media – RMIT
Advanced diploma of Multimedia – RMIT
Diploma of Leadership and management – Deakin

What am I up to right now?

I'm a passionate entrepreneur and creative who always has multiple projects on the go.

Main gig

I'm currently freelancing and consulting on several projects, but I'm actively looking for longer-term positions in organisations where I can make an impactful difference. If you're interested in collaborating or think I could bring value to your organisation, then get in touch.

I bring with me domain expertise in education, user experience, product development, game design, customer experience and design thinking.

I also love to give back to the design, UX and startup community through mentoring and coaching:

I've mentored for SPARK Deakin Accelerator program
I've coached students in the Deakin School of IT Capstone program
I'm currently a mentor in the Hult Prize competition for Deakin University
I participated in the RMIT Activator's LaunchHUB program 2020

Other gigs

I'm the co-founder of FireThrive, a bushfire preparedness startup.

I'm self-developing an addictive mobile game, Muttnik, where you play as a space dog collecting minerals on celestial bodies.

Articles

Reflection is such an important part of any design process. I collect my thoughts about trends in design, my curiosities and my thinking in short Medium articles from time to time. Take a quick read to find out what is making me tick.

Get in touch with me: dan@dsteen.design