Punchcut

UX Design
UI Design

Front-end Development

Punchcut is an agency focused on future-forward design for a range of clients. I'm a Senior Immersive Designer who is also part of the Design Engineering community. What that means is day to day, I focus on interaction design and prototyping, but also think about how to push that work further. This is an overview of my time at Punchcut.

Responsibilities

Project Archetypes

Consumer-facing Products

Implement updates on large-scale products, often for the general population

Enterprise Tools

Design next steps for high-detail, complex tools for small teams or a specialized industry

Vision Projects

Foster new ways of thinking by telling the story of how a potential idea could manifest

Punchcut tackles a range of projects for all kinds of clients. I’ve been able to exercise and refine my broad skillset of interaction design, prototyping, and sometimes even research.

Out of all the different types of work, the one that gives me most energy is prototyping. Over the years, I’ve evaluated many different tools and methods. Whether I’m using a dedicated prototyping tool, animation, or full-on code, I’ve worked to make our prototyping methods work best with the project at hand.

Takeaway Lessons

Build on what you have

No project is exactly like another. While Punchcut has a large repository of tools and techniques, I aim to adapt and evolve everything to best work with each project.

Stay open to changes

Constantly plan, prioritize, and adjust course to land at the best possible end product.

Fit others’ communication style

Each person you talk to has a different way of communicating. Find the balance of explaining in-depth design decisions vs just enough to sell the idea.

Move farther with a team

Be aware of who can give you valuable feedback. Leave space early on to involve stakeholders or anyone who might have expertise.

Passion Projects

Most of my day is spent on client work, but there are pockets of time for internal R&D. A few of my experiments have turned into full-fledged projects.

Figma Plugins

The most notable plugin is Punchcut Audio Player which has over 30,000 users. This started from a want to include demonstrations of sound design in Figma. It’s not perfect, but it is an easy and straightforward way to start.

view plugin

Here’s a more in-depth look into the features plus dreams of a suite of multisensory tools.

view project

Timesheet Bot

Our operations director has a very large to-do list. This is an effort to help him save a little time. Using Google Apps Script, the bot integrates with Google Sheets and Google Chat to amplify his reach in reminding people to submit their timesheets.

Metaverse Prototype

A group of us were exploring how to design for the Metaverse during its peak hype. Everyone created their own personal project. Mine explored a community gallery for Arduino hobbyists, with the main deliverable being a quick Unity prototype using a Quest VR headset.

more details

Most of Punchcut’s client work is confidential, so I can’t share a lot of the process here. But you can find a bit more detail on some of the projects I've worked on in these links.

conclusion

My experience at Punchcut so far has been so valuable. I get to see such a variety of designs, ideas, people, and learn things I’ve never even thought about with each experience. I’m very grateful to be in an environment that’s focused on learning and where everyone is passionate about design.