Stephen (Stef’n) Ellis

Stephen (Stef'n) Ellis has a wealth of experience in the field of design. Stephen (Stef’n) began their career in 2012 as a Professor of Digital Arts at Stetson University, where they taught courses in web (HTML/CSS), graphic design, digital video, game development (Javascript), and research methods. Stephen (Stef’n) also designed course curriculum and managed student workers in the Digital Arts department. In 2015, Stephen began working as a UX Designer at Forix, where they provided information architecture solutions, conducted user research, and developed wireframes. Stephen (Stef’n) then moved on to AltSource, Inc. in 2016 as a UX Designer, where they were responsible for the UX/UI design on a mobile app (Android), responsive web application, and inventory management system. In the same year, Stephen began working as a UX/UI Designer at Moda Health, where they led the creation of a design system to ensure consistency and accessibility for all digital properties. In 2018, Stephen became the UX/UI Manager at Avinode Group, where they managed a distributed team of UX/UI designers and was responsible for the resource plan, distribution and quality of work for each team member. In 2020, Stephen began working as a Lead Product Designer at New Relic, Inc., where they completely redesigned the Identity and Access management tools and communicated regularly with key business stakeholders and executive leadership. In 2021, Stephen began working as a Design Instructor at the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF), where they met with students 1:1 to provide timely feedback for their ongoing assignments and capstone projects. Stephen (Stef’n) also ran weekly workshops and critiques, graded student work, and provided critical feedback to help improve their overall experience in the fields of product design and user research. In the same year, Stephen became the Head Of Design at Fauna Inc., where they own the full stack of research and product design. Stephen (Stef’n) is building a design culture that works across the disciplines of Research, User experience, Design, and Language to deliver a truly holistic experience of their product. In 2023, Stephen began working as an Adjunct Professor of Art & Design at Portland State University, where they teach an advanced course in Interaction Design Principles to majors in the school of Art & Design.

Stephen (Stef'n) Ellis has an extensive education history. Stephen (Stef’n) obtained a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Digital Arts from the University of South Florida in 2013, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Digital Arts from Central Washington University in 2008. In 2015, they attended Portland Code School for Fullstack JavaScript Immersion. In addition, they have obtained various certifications from the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF) and the Nielsen Norman Group, including UX Certificate, UX Management: Strategy and Tactics, The Brain and Technology, Get Your Product Used: Adoption and Appropriation, Information Visualization, Affordances: Designing Intuitive User Interfaces, Dynamic User Experience: Design and Usability, Formal Design Methods: Formalism and Design, How to Create Intuitive Products, Psychology of Interaction Design: The Ultimate Guide, UI Design Patterns for Successful Software, Conducting Usability Testing, User Research - Methods and Best Practices, Design Thinking, Human-Computer Interaction, The practical guide to usability, User Experience: The Beginner's Guide, Web Design for Usability, Gestalt Psychology and Web Design, Get Your First Job as a UX or Interaction Designer.