Hi! My name is Charlotte Wittels.
I seek to explore, innovate, and learn how to untangle and solve people’s problems.
At IBM, my focus is on the UX of enterprise solutions to bring the Maximo Application Suite vision to life. I work along side designers, product managers, and engineers to translate complicated technical and business requirements into uncomplicated product experiences that allow our users to achieve their goals. I’m excited to continue working on projects with people that drive me to think, learn, and question through new perspectives.
Outside of designing, I’m vinyasa flowing on the yoga mat, testing fruit crisps and crumble combinations (lastest is my berry basil crisp), chanting ‘Go Blue’, chasing down the best burrito joint, or snapping pictures of restaurant bathrooms…I think they say a lot about a place (see below).
Get in touch! cwittels98@gmail.com
Engagements
Design coach for the Developer SLAM program. Led and mentored early career developers through design thinking activities with a focus on user based outcomes. Team received the Judge’s Choice Award!
Facilitator for IBM Developer Day. Guided newly onboarded developers through design thinking activities (personas, empathy maps, how might we statements, etc.).
Facilitator for P-TECH students. Organized five design thinking workshops to develop, structure, and plan a P-TECH alumni association.
Co-founder of the Women of Sustainability Software organization to share experiences, network, and provide training and educational opportunities.
Participant of the service design bookclub.
I don’t only like C’s because my name starts with one. Here’s a framework I’ve crafted (and coined as the 5Cs) for how I often translate ambiguous requirements into user focused experiences:
Context — What is most important to our users at the time of the experience and what are their goals? How do their goals fit within the larger system? Are there related goals? Are there dependencies with other goals? Other users and stakeholders? What are the environmental factors?
Cases — Have we considered all of our users’ cases? Think: happy path, edge cases, error states (oh my!).
Concept — Is there a standard for this design interaction(s)? Are there existing patterns within internal or external products that we can leverage?
Are there existing mental models that can be leveraged; software or otherwise?Content — Is this content necessary or can/should we modify the UI interaction to guide our user? Is it clear? Does it provide enough information in the context of how the user is utilizing it? Will users know their next steps and have enough details to make informed decisions? How can we help them get unstuck?
Constraints — What is technically feasible and realistic given our time frame for execution? Are there limitations that may impact a design implementation?
Restaurant bathrooms
