👩🏽‍💻 Hello! I'm Rachel

I shape educational experiences, mission-driven technology, and community-focused design

CoHeart

Fostering friendships for introverted international students via a dedicated social app

UX Research • UX Design

Kaona

Bridging interactive learning with Hawaiian lore with through a role-playing game and digital “Storyteller”

UX Design • Game Art • In Development

Kumu Connect 

Empowering culturally relevant CS education with asset-based AI tools for teachers

UX Research • UX Design • In Progress

UX Design

Capsule

Facilitating cultural (re)connection and exploration through a recipe exchange platform

UX Design UX Research

IODA

Transforming how the public understands internet shutdowns with a dashboard redesign

UX Design UX Research

Crosstalk

Mastering language nuances with an app for learning idioms and slang

UX Design

Pickrick Project

Educating and engaging through AR storytelling of Atlanta’s civil rights history

UX Design

TRACE

Reimagining architectural co-design with a video conference app blending sketching and digital drafting

UX Design

CoHeart

Fostering friendships for introverted international students via a dedicated social app

UX Design UX Research

Illustration & Graphic Design

Kaona

Bridging interactive learning with Hawaiian lore with through a role-playing game and digital “Storyteller”

Game Art UX Design

Veggie Mijas

Elevating the identity of a food justice org through strategic branding and logo redesign

Illustration Graphic Design

Birthing Rights Zines

Distributing critical maternal health information via accessible and engaging zines

Illustration Research

Design Systems

Crafting Consistency

Transforming the U.S. Asylum Office's design system for improved functionality and user experience.

UX Design Design Systems

About Me

I'm Rachel, a UX designer focused on edtech and mission-driven projects, blending storytelling, gamification, and cultural relevance.

With 3+ years of professional design work and two rigorous design degrees, I hold skills in UX and product design, qualitative UX research, and illustration. Soon-to-finish my MS in Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech, I’m seeking a full-time Product / UX Design role for May 2024.

I have a knack for speeding up tasks and smoothing out processes without compromising quality and creativity. This impacts user experiences, as seen by a 30% cut in task completion times at USCIS, as well as my work efficiency, as shown by accelerating permit set fulfillment by 50%-65% at Caddis Collaborative, exceeding firm averages.

What sets me apart? My expertise in community-based projects and co-design. I closely collaborate with users, drawing from a multitude of perspectives and needs, to design solutions that deeply resonate with a diverse user base.

Here are some achievements I am proud of:

📚 Leading Product Design on Ka Moamoa Lab’s EdTech Efforts:

As lead Product Designer on the lab's education projects, I collaborate with cross-functional teams to design culturally responsive educational solutions, such as “Kaona”, an educational role-playing game. I advocate for users, apply human-centered design to the game development process, and create engaging UI elements, design standards, and user flows, with positive feedback from 85% of test users.

🌟 Increasing User Connection Through Co-design:

At Caddis Collaborative, I led participatory design workshops with >24 clients, using user research to inform design enhancements that fostered community engagement. At Ka Moamoa Lab, I utilize co-design methods to include user and stakeholder insights in educational solutions, deepening user connection.

📈 Advancing Design Efficiency at USCIS's Asylum Branch:

As a User Experience Design Fellow, I led the overhaul of the Asylum office's design system. This involved mapping variables and creating Figma components to tackle legacy inconsistencies and heuristic challenges. I took on the role of evangelizing Figma best practices and the use of design variables through presentations and teach-out sessions, fostering shared understanding and application.

✉️ Let's connect! You can reach me at rachelbaker@gatech.edu

Resume

The Archive

Eco-Machine

Landscape interventions informed by runoff, to address flooding and erosion

Architecture

Lloyds: Erosion and Reoccupation

A projection of erosion and reoccupation of Lloyds of London

Architecture

Polaris

Five-day design challenge to design a shelter for celestial observations

Architecture

Eco-Morphology

An architectural study on connectivity, symbiosis, and weaving the built environment with the land

Architecture

Birth Rights: Design Proposal

A birthing community center, focused on dignity and continuous support systems

Architecture

Conservation on Aisle Four

The Rise and Failure of Eco-Commerce in the 1980s and 1990s

Research • History