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.
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