WILL  AUSTIN

UX/UI designer • Graphic artist • project design leader

SummAry

I am a user-centered design leader with 15+ years of industry experience delivering 30+ released projects  focused on engagement, accessibility and innovation. These product s were designed across web, desktop, mobile, XR, and interactive platforms. My work has been recognized for excellence in UX strategy, visual storytelling, and accessibility with 19 industry awards. These include Fast Company’s – “Most Innovative Companies in the World (VR/AR)”, the Edward R. Murrow Award – “Excellence in Innovation”, and INMA’s – “Best Use of Visual Journalism and Storytelling Tools”.
I am a user-centered design leader with 15+ years of industry experience delivering 30+ released projects focused on engagement, accessibility and innovation. These products were designed across web, desktop, mobile, XR, and interactive platforms. My work has been recognized for excellence in UX strategy, visual storytelling, and accessibility with 19 industry awards. These include Fast Company’s – “Most Innovative Companies in the World (VR/AR)”, the Edward R. Murrow Award – “Excellence in Innovation”, and INMA’s – “Best Use of Visual Journalism and Storytelling Tools”.

Expertise

Skills

UX/UI Design | Sprint planning | User research & usability testing | Animation | Graphic Design | 3D Modeling & Texturing | Photogrammetry | AR/VR/XR | Marketing | Outsource Management | Design leadership | Team management | Cross-functional collaboration | Wireframing | Prototyping | UX documentation | Feature specification | UI Component design | Design systems & libraries | Production pipelines

tools

Figma | Sketch | Unreal Engine | UMG | Unity | Photoshop | Illustrator | After Effects | Audition | Premiere Pro | 3D Studio MAX | UserTesting

Work Experience

Lead UI/UX Artist , Jackalyptic games | Austin, TX

January 2023 - Present

Reported to the Creative Director and CEO to lead the planning, design and implementation of UX/UI features for the project.

  • Led cross-functional UX/UI team, delivering 2000+ UI assets and 30+ feature docs, reducing review cycles from weeks to days
  • Spearheaded sprint planning and multi-department collaboration, increasing on-time delivery by 30%
  • Built reusable UI components in UMG, cutting engineering workload by 3 days per sprint
  • Integrated new UI/UX solutions, boosting development speed and simplicity by 50%

Senior Designer ,  Gannett, USA TODAY NETWORK | Tysons Corner, VA

January 2018 – November 2022

Reported to the Senior Director of Emerging Tech to lead the design and creation of an XR news platform, as well as the UX/UI for every interactive news story added to the platforms content sections.

  • Designed UI/UX for AR news platform with 40+ projects, reaching 200 newsrooms and earning 19 awards
  • Led 0–1 onboarding UX improvements, tripling user time spent
  • Created interactive storytelling scripts, audio assets, and 2D/3D visuals, enhancing engagement and accessibility
  • Delivered marketing collateral that increased brand recognition

eLearning/Online Game Developer  ,  Gannett, USA TODAY NETWORK | Tysons Corner, VA

December 2016 – September 2017

Hired to collaborate with SMEs to create educational visuals and interactive media for educational coursework.

  • Designed 3 interactive learning modules, as well as visual assets for accompanying slide decks to increase participant engagement and knowledge retention
  • Developed visual assets and learner personas through focus groups, informing instructional design

Artist , Broadsword Online Games | Herndon, VA

August 2014 – December 2016

Hired to maintain and update the studio’s live mobile game, as well as design promotional material and modernize their product’s website.

  • Created 2D/3D assets supporting product UI and marketing
  • Improved UI/UX and mobile design consistency, using design systems and libraries
  • Revamped product websites, increasing UX and brand modernization

Artist , Mythic Entertainment (An EA Company) | Fairfax, VA

August 2007 – August 2014

Hired to maintain and update the studio’s live mobile game, as well as design promotional material and modernize their product’s website.

  • Created 2D/3D assets supporting product UI and marketing
  • Improved UI/UX and mobile design consistency, using design systems and libraries
  • Revamped product websites, increasing UX and brand modernization

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts , The Art Institute of Washington | Rossyln, VA

August 2003 – June 2007

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