RAY POHJANHEIMO
DESIGN
I'm a triple master in Human-Computer Interaction Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Psychology. I completed my upper secondary education at the Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts and graphic design has been a prominent part of my life ever since. I kept the practice alive out of passion and since discovering the field of UX through psychology, I've put my skills to work.
VIRTUAL, AUGMENTED, AND MIXED REALITY
My recent education in Human-Computer Interaction Design (MSc.) has allowed me to indulge in the most cutting edge knowledge and technology for mixed reality. The projects I've been involved in range from VR to AR, with a keen component for human-centred design. I develop VR apps for Oculus and AR for Android using Unity3D.
Undisclosed Psychological Product (VR)
2020
I researched, designed, and developed a new prototype for a psychological therapy application. The project focuses on introducing immersive and interactive elements to the existing product in order to enhance user experience and make the experience human-centred.
Think Aloud
What do the users think when they use the product?
Planning
What's the roadmap for the new design?
HCI Evaluation
How does the product vet against industry standards?
Ideation
What design choices could be made based on the results?
Implement
Build a hi-fi prototype with interactive elements in Unity
Mockups
Rough draft of the design and user workflow.
Validation
Does the new design meet design goals? How do the users experience it?
CorpusOmnia (AR, Mixed Media)
2019-2020
For our creative design project, we made an imaginary company concept that sells cybernetic and real body parts. The project implemented AR elements, video, and web design. The aim of the project was to highlight exploitative consumerism. The artwork was displayed at an exhibition in the Paris metropolitan area in France.
Implement
Edit the videos, implement AR in Unity, design catalogue and website
Ideation
What topic do we want to address and with what techniques?
Mockups and Script
What does the artwork look and sound like?
Evaluation
How was the message received by exhibition goers?
Fashionaptic (VR, Haptic Reality)
2019
We developed a product idea about implementing Virtual Reality in fashion design. Our product combines a Haptic Reality glove with a VR headset to enable the user to feel the fabric of the clothing they are designing.
User Personas
What kind of users would use our proposed product?
Ideation
What new business opportunities are there in VR?
Market Research
Is there a need for a VR solution in the fashion industry
Business Model
How to build a business around our solution?
User Research
How do fashion industry professionals experience our design?
Design
What features does the product have?
MVP
Our prototype to display how it looks like (see above video for the pitch)
DESKTOP, MOBILE, AND WEB
Both technology and psychology have been an integral part of my entire adult life, hence my keen interest towards user experience. My first touch to the field came in 2015 through a Master's course titled 'Human-Computer Interaction Design'. Since then I've taken every opportunity to learn more about UX and apply my skills in practice.
My favourite tools for design are Sketch, InVision, Photoshop and Wix.
Ameliate
2018-
I researched, designed, and developed a web-based app to provide accessible self-administered Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for individuals. My product's free version is available for consumers, while a more advanced commercial version is offered for health care professionals.
Wireframe Prototype
How would the user go through the steps?
Ideation
Could a self-administered software-based CBT solution help people?
Research
What components of CBT could be viably implemented to an application?
Diary Study
Does the prototype help the user in their daily life?
Think Aloud
What does the user think while using the application?
Interview
What does the user think of the product?
Visual Design
Make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Private Beta
What other improvements can be made?
Public Release
... and continuous development. Nothing is ever perfect.
Blossom (Mobile)
2018-2019
Blossom is an app for meeting new people when moving to a new city. It implements features to stay in touch with people you've met, to keep your relationships growing through gamification, and to explore nearby locations with new acquaintances.
Our project started by studying what improvements could be done for Tinder to accommodate for a more Human-Centred experience for expats. The project blossomed (pun intended) into Blossom, our design for a Human-Centred meet-up application.
Dilemma-based Design
What dilemmas do users have to deal with and how to resolve them?
Ideation
How could Tinder be more Human-Centred as an application to meet people?
Emotion Capture Research
What emotions do users go through when they use Tinder?
Storyboarding
What is the target user's story that brings them to use our proposed application?
Cooperative Evaluation
A dialogue between the user and the researcher over the prototype.
Prototype
A functioning prototype prepared for cooperative evaluation.
Final Prototype
Adjusted based on feedback.
Kalarannan Savustamo (Web)
2018
Complete website design for a West Finland fish smokehouse. The smokehouse had gained significant traction among tourists both internationally and within Finland, creating a need for a website. I provided the design, the photography, content, set up hosting, secured the domain, published the website, and offered guidance to keep the site up-to-date.
Co-Design
What should the site look like?
Customer Needs
What are the goals and wanted content on the site?
Hosting Selection
What is the best option for the customer?
Content
Photography, text, and information
Publish
Hand over the keys.
Logistics and Admin
How to get the site up and running.
4LifeSupport
(Desktop)
2017-2019
I made the foundational wireframes and user journey for a data storage product at 4LifeSupport, a Leiden-based start-up. I also supervised a quantitative research project investigating attitudes towards online privacy legislation.
Alpha Version
First release
Ideation
How would a user want to store and share medical data?
Wireframe
How would the product look and interact?
Consumer
Research
Do people need protected data sharing tools?
New Design
New look based on new requirements
User Journey
How do the users flow through the application?
Stax (Mobile)
Wireframe
How would the user go through the steps?
Ideation
How to gamify productivity?
Research
Procrastination is caused by lack of immediate rewards.
Java Prototype
A working MVP of the application.
Development
Build it.
New Design
Make it look better.
2016-2018
A productivity tool I've been designing and prototyping in Java. The concept dawned in late 2016 to help people focus on task completion. I completed the MVP, as well as the the first design for the next step.
PRODUCT DESIGN
Physical product designs or products that span multiple medias.
WeRoute
2019
We designed a haptic-powered navigation app based on cutting edge design principles as a result of our HCI Bootcamp. WeRoute enables collaborative trip planning and route updates via touch interaction.
Target Group
Who do we target the design for?
User Interviews
What critical issues arise when using navigation apps?
Interaction Mapping
What interactions take place while using the app?
Video Brainstorming
What design ideas can be done to solve the user's problem
Storyboard
What situations do the user personas use the product in?
User Personas
What typical and extreme users would use the product?
Video Prototype
How the story looks like.
Eco-Tunnel
2019
Our team designed a multisensory product experience that encourages healthy food purchase decisions. We based our concept on psychological research behind healthy eating behaviours and consumer behaviour.
Research
What kind of multisensory experiences promote healthy behaviour?
Ideation
How to make people eat healthier with a multisensory design experience?
Mapping
What is the current experience of buying food in a supermarket?
Design
How to implement the multisensory experiences in a viable product?
ColourSphere
2015-2016
Our team created a prototype for a user-friendly and fun to use microtonal instrument. The process started from product research, moving to design and two usability tests before the final prototype, all of which you can read in our paper:
Paper Design
How would the design look and feel?
Ideation
How to improve the user experience of microtonal instruments?
User Research
What features would musicians want for a microtonal instrument?
Usability Research
How do the users experience the proposed design?
Prototype
How our solution looks and feels in action (see above video).
GRAPHIC AND OTHER DESIGN
I've made a variety of print designs for posters, flyers, and tickets while being an active member as a Promoter at the English Activities Committee of my study association VIP and as a volunteer for a charity fundraiser.
I've also made logo and cover art designs for my musical pursuits and run a side-business selling designs on RedBubble.
