About – Ethan Leonow

About Me

I’m an end-to-end designer driven by curiosity, process, and holistic problem solving.

With an agency + retail background, I thrive on collaborating with business, technology, and creative thinkers, plus users themselves, to evolve digital products.

Principles

01 Always have an objective.

Writing the goals and outcomes of a project in one’s own words guides thinking throughout the process.

02 Use research to uncover user value.

Find out what users are trying to get done, what they hope to gain as a result, and what's getting in the way.

03 Correlate design with research.

Distill research findings into principles and recommended actions for easy reference.

04 A prototype speaks a thousand words.

Prototypes are great communication tools; use them to demonstrate and stimulate ideas with stakeholders.

05 Have an opinion.

Designers are expected to be opinionated, so have one and express it thoughtfully.

06 Test... more than once.

Assess prototypes designed with real information and real tasks with real users.

07 Styling should be purposeful.

Visual design and copy are part of the UX too. Thus, design them according to standards and then test.

Experience

UX Designer at DSW, Inc

Feb 2019 - Present. Columbus, OH

I work on DSW’s Digital Experience team, a multi-disciplinary, data-driven team dedicated to building digital shopping features that balance the needs of customers and the business.

The most impactful projects I’ve worked on are redesigning the bag and checkout experience, leading the creation of a design system, and developing a framework for regular concept testing with customers.

Takeways:

Freedom to mature a product over time
Intimate collaboration with business, strategy, and technology disciplines
Ability to envision impact of design work through business analytics

UX Designer & Researcher at Dive Creative

Sep 2015 - Jan 2019. Columbus, OH

At Dive, I provided end-to-end design services focused on producing user insights, developing practical design strategies, and creating intuitive, enjoyable interfaces that enhance the way people get things done.

I collaborated with clients in B2B, insurance, education, energy, and retail, most notable Grange Insurance, IGS Energy, Bob Evans, and Battelle For Kids.