Experienced design leader collaborating on successful products & services

Hi, I’m James Young and I strive to work with diverse groups of talented people around the world on business initiatives that include: Research, Strategy, Ideation, Technical Exploration, Creative Problem Solving, and Design-to-Development Implementation.

Podcast Turf War is Inspiring Some Awesome A/V Editing Tools

Podcast Turf War is Inspiring Some Awesome A/V Editing Tools

Big streaming players and upstarts alike are driving the next phase of popularity in Podcasting. These players want to control that coveted position of the go-to Podcast app on people's devices. The ongoing demand is also inspiring some innovative tools popping up to...

Digitizing Your UX Sticky Notes

Digitizing Your UX Sticky Notes

Sometimes the analog approach is a quicker and easier way to achieve a particular task. A classic example is the appropriately stereotypical use of sticky notes by User Experience designers to facilitate various workshop exercises such as card sorting and other...

Mobile Data-visualization has a Y Axis Problem

Mobile Data-visualization has a Y Axis Problem

There is a 'trendy' design pattern, many years in use, of not displaying the Y axis on a chart in some financial mobile apps. I first noticed this in the app Robinhood. But I’ve also seen it in apps such as SoFi. Sadly, despite advocating for a change, these apps are...

“She’s the One” Music Video by The Dogmatics

“She’s the One” Music Video by The Dogmatics

This is a follow on to an earlier post about The Dogmatics latest EP on Rum Bar Records. The band recently released a video for the first single "She's the One". This was another fun effort to participate in. The excellent garage rock aesthetic was the creative...

New Presentation Tools Breaking Boundaries

New Presentation Tools Breaking Boundaries

Updated 02/21/2020 to include additional services. See this twitter thread for details. What is a "Presentation" in the post-PowerPoint era? There's a subtle shift in the Presentation tools landscape that's been emerging lately. Products like Google Slides, Zoho Show,...

Buoymoji Colorways is Second in Series of iMessage Stickers

Buoymoji Colorways is Second in Series of iMessage Stickers

Buoymoji Colorways is our 2nd release of Stickers for Apple iMessage on iOS. It's available now on the Apple App Store. This latest in the series is an expanded set that features emoji in three different colors (green, white, pink) plus a few extras. The mariners...

Collaboration with The Dogmatics and Rum Bar Records

Collaboration with The Dogmatics and Rum Bar Records

Here's a personal-perspective case study on how I had the opportunity to collaborate with the band and their label on both the recordings and design to support their latest release. The Dogmatics have contributed to the Boston rock scene since the early ’80s. Read...

Buoymoji Stickers Now Available for Apple iMessage

Buoymoji Stickers Now Available for Apple iMessage

Excited to announce that you can now download our Buoymoji Basic free sticker set on the Apple App Store for iMessage. Add some seafaring flair to your conversations with Buoymoji! Check out our pack of 80+ buoys turned emoji for messages. Designed near the ocean in a...

The Pros and Cons of Design Tool Plugins

The Pros and Cons of Design Tool Plugins

Figma recently released plugins capability to all customers. It arrived as a marketplace built right into the web app, and with a healthy inventory of options already in place. I see this as an overall positive thing. That said, I still stand by an earlier comment I...

Webinar Recording – UX Design: Prototyping as Process

Webinar Recording – UX Design: Prototyping as Process

Aquent Gymnasium offers a series of Webinars. Dave Rupert and I participated as panelists in their May 14, 2019 conversation regarding Prototyping. Over the years, prototyping has become an integral part of digital product development. Learn the ins and outs of modern...