Category:
Web Design
Role: UX Designer
Duration: May 2025 – Present
Team: UX (me), UI Development and Project Management (Melissa), Backend Development (France), Content Strategy (Hugh, Matt), and Marketing (Alex)
Tools: Figma, Hotjar, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Asana, Slack
Project Overview
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a leader in bird science, conservation, and public engagement. One of its platforms, All About Birds, helps millions of people learn about bird species through articles, photos, sounds, and ID tools.
While All About Birds offered a tool to search species, users increasingly wanted a more personalized way to explore birds — specifically, by where and when they could find them.
This insight sparked the creation of Birds Near Me. This interactive browse feature allows users to filter species by location, date, behavior, and visual characteristics, making discovery more intuitive and tailored to real-life birding experiences.
My Role
When I joined the Lab in May 2025, our UI Developer, Melissa, had already drafted some initial wireframes. From there, I led the ongoing design direction — creating new mockups to refine usability and visual design — while continuing to collaborate closely with Melissa as the concepts evolved.
Key responsibilities:
Reviewed and reworked existing wireframes for usability and flow.
Iterated on multiple design versions through weekly cross-team discussions.
Collaborated closely with developers to ensure technical feasibility.
Finalized UI for launch and defined post-launch UX tracking plan.
The Design Process
Research & Review
I began by reviewing what had already been developed by the team — including early wireframes, user feedback, and design concepts. To better ground my design decisions in user needs, I also studied an existing audience report from the Lab, which outlined key personas and audience segments based on Forrester research. This helped me understand our users’ motivations, birding experience levels, and what they valued most when exploring bird information online.
From this research, I learned that many of our users are casual or early-stage birders who want quick, location-based answers and approachable ways to learn — while more advanced birders look for accuracy, taxonomy, and data-driven tools. These insights guided how we structured and simplified the Birds Near Me experience to make discovery both intuitive and educational.
Iteration, Redesign & Collaboration
I created new mockups to refine usability, which were presented and discussed each week with the team. I started by focusing on smaller interface details — refining the Date and Year-Round dropdowns to make them more intuitive — before expanding into deeper discussions about functionality and the overall structure of the first screen.
As the designs evolved, I also built interactive prototypes to help the team visualize how the feature would function end to end. These prototypes sparked productive conversations across design, development, and content, helping align everyone on the user flow and interaction details before implementation.
Launch & Results
The feature soft launched in August 2025 after multiple rounds of internal testing. Rather than promoting it as a full campaign, the goal was to quietly roll it out and observe how our natural users discovered and interacted with it on their own.
This approach allowed us to gather authentic behavior patterns and identify areas for refinement before a wider announcement. So far, feedback from across the Lab has been very positive, with staff noting the smoother filtering experience and fresh visual design.
Iteration: Observing Real User Behavior
After launch, I began monitoring real user behavior through Hotjar heatmaps and recordings to understand how people were engaging with the new feature.
Early findings showed a few usability pain points, such as users experiencing errors when entering locations and occasionally missing the main “Update” button within the filter panel. These insights led to targeted design and functional refinements that are currently being implemented.
By pairing this behavioral data with direct feedback from upcoming testing, we’ll continue to refine Birds Near Me to ensure it’s intuitive, accessible, and engaging for birders of all experience levels.
What’s Happening Now
We’re preparing for user testing sessions to gain qualitative insights into how people understand and use the filters. Recruitment is underway through Lab members — intentionally selecting users with different birding experience levels for diverse perspectives.
