Hi, I’m Ben. I Build, Break, and Bend the Internet.
My name is Benjamin Ferreira, and I'm a User Experience Designer.
What do I actually do?
Really good at UX Design
No Joke, I’ve got a knack for this.
I build digital products that solve real world problems. Skilled up and ready to go, I bring a cross-disciplinary mindset to each new challenge.
Problem solving is a team sport, and I play ball. I can join any team, Whether its working with the usual players or breaking roles. I’m not afraid to “pitch in” where other UXers’ stop.
Designing, running workshops, conducting user research, working with customers, supporting strategic user experience, and helping define business outcomes and products that create them.– I’ve done it all, but the focus is solving problems, making products better, and getting feedback faster.
You’re in good hands.
Well practiced in UI Engineering
I focus on front-end web applications development. Building with the web fundamentals, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, I can create your apps UI. Always learning the latest techniques, and remembering the best practices.
I work with a lot of talented full-stack devs, and when they need an css expert they reach out to me. I’m brought in to make sure each UI component, text block, icon, and styling choice, both works and looks good.
- I write the latest css for modern browsers.
- I know how to structure stylesheets using Atomic CSS or BEM methods
- I love Tailwindcss, but if your shop rolls their own, that’s fine too.
- I really know CSS. I can write you a custom stylesheet that won’t suck.
- Always building my vanilla JS chops. I can work with all the modern frameworks including Vue, Angular, and React.
My promise is this: you get from me a trained and practiced visual designers who can code his own UI’s.
A Real Researchers, with a smile.
I’m an experienced researcher. One trained to understand why your users can’t use your app or why your “perfect” product didn’t work out. I can help you and your business understand how to achieve positive outcomes for real people.
Trained to move beyond tactical research, to help shape your organizations longterm approach. Helping you solve the right problem. Turning uncovered data into actionable research insights, all for your team and leadership.
Research isn’t a phase, it’s something that is done all the time. I can help you make it continuous.
A real maker of Products and digital tools.
At the end of the day, your customer wants to use the thing you’re selling them. But in a sea of apps, websites, and software offerings, how will your product shine?
Beats me. Let’s figure that out together.
I consider every aspect of how a product works, feels, and looks, so you can focus on all the other important stuff. No more wondering why something looks bad without knowing why.
I can partner with your existing team, and help refactor your UI. Or I can help you start from scratch, defining the very bones of your product, what each part should do, and how your users will use it.
Then I test, test, and test, to make sure what we build actually gets the job done.
Web Typography specialist and skilled graphic artist.
Ems, Rems, Pixels, and Points, I’ve spent more than 10 years deeply studying typography for the web. Helping you with type legibility, and typeface selection. Or how to best use variable fonts and other loading tricks.
I’m good because I started in the print and graphic design industries. I spent years managing brands and creating thousands of printed media. I learned a lot. It’s the value I bring to a project.
I spent a lot of time creating information graphics, various charts, and illustrations. Well trained in the proper “data-ink” needed to solve complex visual communication problems.
I design, build, and test apps like
this one…
I’m a flexible problem solver.
Code
I’m a Front-end Designer. I design and build my own UI’s, with performant and scalable HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
Craft
Because I know how UI is built, I craft the details of my designs, making every em, rem, and pixel count. Each aspect of my design is tested.
Care
I have conducted hundreds of interviews and talked to a lot of people about the problems they face. I care what they say and need.
I’m a Designer with a balanced set of skills and tools, helping me ensure I get the job done right.
I am a User Experience Designer. 👨🏼🎨 Designing great user experiences, 👨💻 user interfaces, and 🎯 front-end systems.
I do this work with teams around the 🌆 United States, 🌃 Europe, and now the 🌎 world. Making sure I help companies interact with their customers better.
I create value 💷 for some of the world’s best companies, 📚 learning institutions, and 🧪 research leaders. My strong visual design skills span multiple 🏭 industries and 🏗 mediums.
I’ve worked for some great companies.
Lucky enough to work for fortune 500’s and the many vendors supporting them. Solving problems for Biotech and Higher Ed, and building products for consumer product and leading technology companies.
A decade of experience in working with and within big and small teams.
I’ve gotten to work for some cool people.
He’s enthusiastic and takes responsibility for his work. — I never worried about a deadline or quality when I assigned work to him.
”Chris Jackson
Designer, Product Manager, Strategist, and Mentor
Currently Design Program Manager @ Green Pixel Studios at Citizens Bank
No matter the challenge, Ben always approaches each project with a positive attitude, diligence, and willingness to learn.
”Bertha Kou
Senior UX Designer and Researcher
Ben built my website, I made his logo. He alright.
”Victor Mills
Award Winning Designer
Freelancer in NYC
Learn about my design work, and how I solve real problems.
Explore my latest work.
Case Studies and
specific work samples.
Take a look at some of the projects I’ve worked on. Projects that demand visual design clarity, properly designed research, and many many rounds of user testing and stakeholder feedback. Each project pushed my skillset further and propelled me to where I am today. Have a look. ↯
Some Examples...
Case Study: Berklee Brand Management
Building up and working with a world class music brand from the foundation up.
Case Study: Berklee Notification Center
Berklee College of Music gets smart about students and faculty talking to each other. Designing a better way to hear what's happening today on campus.
Case Study: Boston History Database Prototype
Designing a People's History of the New Boston: a fun pro-bono project to help some of my colleagues at MIT.
Case Study: Big Tech UX Interview Question
An example of a helpful tool for learning and remembering names and faces.
Case Study: FM Global Rapid Prototypes
Researching problems, designing solutions, building prototypes. Showcasing how design can be leveraged to bridge the gap between design and tech.
Case Study: FM Global Strategic Plan Workshops
Helping a 200-year old company modernize its approach to its Strategic Plan.
Case Study: Foundation Medicine UX and UI Work
Cutting Edge science meets modern UI. Contract work with Foundation Medicine was focusing on designing around existing EHR and Healthcare research and...
Case Study: Hasbro Work and Learning
Jumping into a fun adventure as an intern at Hasbro, inc. Working with cool brands like Star Wars and Transformers.
Case Study: Human Centered Design: Bridging the IT Divide
A Case Study in Human Centered Design caption: Focusing on real people to try to solve challenging problems we face in our own communities
Case Study: MIT GAP Usability Testing and Enhancements
Making the Graduate Appointment Portal a more useful tool by enhancing copy and creation of appointments, making data entry and appointment creation faster,...
Case Study: MIT InfoProtect Website
Building a helpful tool for understanding how and why students, faculty, and staff should protect their data at MIT.
Case Study: MIT Parking Systems Service Design Example
Attempting to navigate the heavily political waters of parking at Boston's premier research campus, and maybe make it better too.
Case Study: MIT Police Website UX Audit
Running a series of audits, looking at critical areas such as user flow, content and site structure, way-finding and navigation, accessibility,...
I follow a set of Design Principles.
My process is evidence-driven, tested by experience, and battle-hardened in some of the most challenging enterprise environments today. Learn more about how I solve design problems.
Read more on my design philosophy.
001
Defining a Better Business Need
You need to understand the primary thing about your business that you should improve right now. Whether you’re determining a business goal for your company, ...
002
Feedback and Qualitative Data
Rather than just using surveys to generate ideas, I use them for baselining. Reaching out to folks from all walks of life when you are screening for ...
003
Ideas as a hypothesis
In common usage in the 21st century, a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit requires evaluation. For proper evaluation, the framer of a ...
004
Learning how people solve problems today.
Designers too often work from a place of privilege. One of the best ways to cut thru our bias, is to learn about your users’ goals and needs, especially as ...
005
Making it usable
I only ship validated design patterns, responsive UI, hierarchy that makes sense, and interfaces that consider the details. Nothing is wasted, and nothing ...