Pascale Morneau M.A.

User experience designer (UX)

An intelligent interface

reflects an approach

that is based on collaboration

Services

UX

Exploration and strategy

  • Needs analysis (company and users)
  • Discovery of design and innovation opportunities
  • Creative and collaborative workshops
  • Interviews
  • Observation
  • Surveys

Design

Ideation

  • Brainstorming
  • UX maps
  • Personas
  • Scenarios

Design

  • Wireframes
  • Prototypes
  • Interaction design
  • Visual design
  • Iconography

Information
Architecture (IA)

  • Card sorting
  • Content audit
  • IA Structure

Evaluation

  • Usability tests
  • Evaluation of emotions
  • Questionnaires and UX scales
  • Expert evaluation
Portfolio

CoverVuWall2

Cover_UniLu2

Cover_COS

portfolio_mobilman

Clients

“Par sa démarche structurée et son approche rigoureuse, Pascale a su faire démarrer sur des bases solides notre projet de refonte Web en plus de concevoir un site qui répond à nos besoins.

Sa disponibilité, sa souplesse et sa capacité d’adaptation en font une ressource de premier choix pour bien intégrer l’expérience utilisateur dans le processus de design web. Et puis, son enthousiasme et sa bonne humeur sont contagieux!”

— Martin Guay, Responsable des relations avec le milieu à la Faculté de médecine dentaire de l’Université Laval

“A relentless interviewer, observer and analyst, Pascale will not start any UX design work before she has thoroughly interviewed and understood the target users, and she will not be satisfied with her work until it has been challenged by user tests.

Even though we’re in very specialized markets, each time we have contracted Pascale, she managed to uncover opportunities that we wouldn’t have seen without her systematic approach to UX design.

Hiring her always brings us a high return on investment!

Pascale is a rare UX/UI professional who combines good understanding of technology and business, down-to-earth reflection and an innate sense of balance and esthetics. 

If she has time available for you, don’t let her go!”

— Paul Vander Plaetse, President at VuWall Technology

“I worked with Pascale as part of a working group at the University of Luxembourg. As such I followed the project prepared by Pascale as well as taking part in interviews and workshops around the redesign of Uni.lu’s website.

All of the stages were impeccably prepared by Pascale and her team. They collected a tremendous amount of data, generating numerous reports for the working group. Their work was well carried out and transparent.

Pascale led us through the interviews and workshops with great skill, providing guidance where needed but also leaving free space for the group to develop ideas.

Pascale demonstrated attention to detail and professionalism as well as being friendly and pleasant to work with. Her passion for her work shone through every step of the way and I wish her all the best for any future endeavours.”

— Cordula Schnuer, Communication Assistant at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg

Contact

Luxembourg, Montréal and elsewhere

Photo Pascale Morneau
Blog

Some articles are not translated in English. Consult the French articles to have the full blog.

The Importance of Graphic Design for UX, Article 2 of 2 – The Eight Principles

Par Pascale Morneau

08/07/2015

Design_graphique_en_UX

In my first article, I attempted to explain the importance of graphic design for the user experience (UX). In a nutshell: I think there are still many people, in the field and outside it, who do not understand the importance of graphic design. Of course, this is not a black and white issue. In my opinion, the myths and misunderstandings about graphic design add shades of grey to this situation.

To highlight the importance of graphic design for UX, I tried to identify the main principles underlying the practice.

First, I would like to emphasize the most important principle, which seems to be forgotten all too often: user interface (UI) design is an integral part of UX. User interface design is a means that we have at our disposal to solve UX problems. The following image, from Dan Willis, illustrates this well:

ux-umbrellaNB

Since graphic design is a component of UX, we have to master and understand certain aspects of UX before undertaking graphic design. Patrick Williams, accredited graphic designer and Creative Director at the digital agency TP1, explains:

“For me, graphic design and UX have a common goal: to draw the users in and to assist them. Both practices rely on different means but serve the same purpose. Even with the best UX, if the UI is not aligned, this common goal cannot be reached and vice versa.”

Beckii Adel, who is in charge of user interface design as well of everything UX-related at Dynamo, also shares this view:

“Since I do not agree with the idea that ‘form follows function’, I think that design should be developed hand in hand with other aspects of UX. The idea is to work together to ultimately create a product. “

To demonstrate how graphic design plays a key role in UX, let’s consider the eight principles I have identified:

  •  Graphic design creates visual languages
  •  It connects the experience to the brand
  •  It infuses the product with emotion
  •  It improves the acceptability of interfaces
  •  It emphasizes simplicity
  •  It allows users to skim pages
  •  It supports the information architecture
  •  It supports interface usability and accessibility

 

1  Graphic design creates visual languages

According to Luke Wroblewski, graphic design creates visual languages that help users to quickly understand what is offered, how they can use it and why it is useful for them.

Airbnb excels in this area with its home page. The visual language is efficient, since the three main types of users can find their way very quickly. These three types of users are identified according to the task they want to perform:

  •  It’s the first time I use this site and I want to know how it works.
  •  I am looking to rent an apartment for a trip.
  •  I want to publish an ad for an apartment.

Of course, the decision to remain focused on users and their tasks is not made by graphic designers, but their work can really support this idea. Typographic treatments and colours help users find their way because they create a visual language and delineated zones.

Airbnb3

Full article