Transforming Design

For over 26 years, I have provided design services for dynamic companies around the country. From startups to agencies to global organizations, their industries encompass travel and hospitality, fitness, advertising, mobile app publishing, entertainment, and more.

I have led teams of designers and developers as well as served as the sole designer wearing many hats. My experience includes design operations, process efficiencies, innovative new workflows and tools, mentoring, and full-service creative from concept to completion.

Always Imagining

I’m constantly trying out new technologies, finding ways to use innovative products coming to market. Insight comes from learning about ventures both old and new.

Innovation comes from knowing about people, business, and technology, enabling you to create incredible guest experiences.

The latest Meta Quest VR headset and controllers.

My Personal Life

My family and I love to travel. Our recent adventures include the US national parks, England, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Taiwan, and Japan.

We have a shared thirst for knowledge and adventure in finding 700-year-old European castles, WW2 museums that document bravery against atrocities, art history of the world, delicious global culinary experiences, and more.

I also love photography, snow skiing, creating digital art, and composing music.

Tsai family visiting a 700-year-old castle.

Banners hanging from the Louvre in Paris, France.

The E-commerce department together at a summer BBQ, with some rockin' my t-shirt design.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is a dynamic and diverse company. In the E-commerce department, I’ve served on six different teams: Loyalty Program, Web Content, Mobile Apps, Check-in, Lounge, and In-flight. Each team has its own unique set of challenges involving business rules and federal regulation, technological requirements, and design needs.

My most exciting work came from volunteering my time to bring new creative methods to the organization. For the Creative Studio in Marketing, I provided 3D workflows that enable artists to work in a virtual studio.
Airplane liveries can be designed and visualized before they're applied to the plane. Designs in airports and lounges can be previewed with 3D headsets as if you were actually there.

For the Innovation Team, I created storyboards for concepts, guest journey flows, and first-in-industry explorations of using conversational AI and spatial computing to assist guests.

James with the AGPA Country Ambassadors.

I serve as Country Ambassador to celebrate cultures with my global friends in AGPA and PIA.

Working remotely also means enjoying regular in-person collaborations and events.

Numerous JD Power trophies awarded to Alaska Airlines.

JD Power awards including #1 Customer Satisfaction for our apps and websites.

The Nautilus mission statement, dedicating our work to improve people's lives.

Nautilus

My time at Nautilus focused heavily on design thinking and research. I interviewed fitness experts, existing users, and potential customers to create motivating products and services. My process involved collaborating across Design, Research, Product Management, Hardware/Software/Firmware Engineering, and Marketing. Innovation was at the heart of everything we did, and it was always exciting to see our ideas come to life through rapid prototyping. I was so proud of our teams when we won a Consumer Electronics Show Innovation Award and submitted a patent of our digital fitness platform’s UX-UI.

I also extended the existing design system’s atomic elements, adding many more assets to go from basic app UI to a cross-platform multimedia entertainment workout experience. I established Design Operations processes to optimize workflows, reduce time and waste, and increase output. I ran weekly company-wide design syncs where work and fun went hand-in-hand.

Conference Room sign showing James Tsai's Innovation Fair meeting.

Setting aside time for innovation!

Here I am running my design workshop about using AI assistants in fitness.

Schematic of a kayaking game paired with a conceptual rowing machine.

Testers found our prototype game paired with a rowing machine to be motivating and fun!

Helping guests discover live entertainment and purchase tickets via our mobile apps and website.

Goldstar

Goldstar Events was an online concert and live events ticketing company. It was in the same space as TicketMaster and SeatGeek. When I joined this company, it didn’t have an Android app, and its iOS app was still rooted in skeuomorphism. As the sole mobile app designer, I updated the iPhone and iPad apps with iOS 7’s fresh new UI. I also helped launch the company’s first Android app while educating the product team about Material Design. I also created the org's first design system, migrating assets from Photoshop to Sketch. When Figma came along, I quickly adopted the tool after seeing the benefits of its advanced capabilities.

Much of my work was carried over to the e-commerce website. I also introduced 3D tools to visualize concert and stadium seating, created drone videos, made accessible seating charts, designed marketing visuals, animated social media content, and more. One of the perks of the job was getting tickets to sports events and concerts!

Wicked, one of our hottest tickets on Broadway!

Katy Perry's popular multi-city concert tickets.

Watching the Harlem Globetrotters at the Staples Center with my family.

The entire ad agency dressed as Mad Men characters for our Halloween party.

UberMedia

UberMedia is a digital advertising agency and mobile apps publisher, a startup that’s the brainchild of a serial entrepreneur. Located in downtown Pasadena, CA within the Idealab incubator, we were surrounded by other startups, all immersed in the spirit of innovation and fun. When we weren’t dressing up the whole office as the cast of Mad Men and Harry Potter, we were working hard to bring concepts to life. We worked at a lightning-fast pace that would make other companies’ heads spin.

I enjoyed wearing many hats, at times serving as the sole designer for many creative projects from ideation to completion. Numerous products were born here, from social networks to popular Twitter apps. We pioneered interactive online advertising with dynamic content, minigames, movie promos, and many other technologies. Disney, NBC Universal, Proctor and Gamble, and many others were our clients.

Part of a vibrant and expansive startup community in LA.

Promo for an advanced online advertising platform.

I worked on an advanced digital ad platform that provided relevance and timeliness.

Chime.in, Plume, UberSocial, Echofon, and other apps.

I also worked on popular Twitter apps, social networks, and more.

Handmark conference room with lighted sign.

One of the pioneers of early mobile apps.

HANDMARK / ONE LOUDER APPS

Handmark was a successful mobile app publisher, content distributor, and digital advertising agency. Long before iOS and Android existed, Handmark provided multi-platform services for operating systems on Palm, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Nokia, Samsung, and many other devices. These included smartphones, tablets, and PDAs. (Personal Digital Assistants. Remember those?) Handmark acquired many companies to provide an ecosystem of news, entertainment, and advertising.

When I joined Handmark in 2009, Apple had just released the first iPad. I left my prior company and position in web design management to work on Handmark's cutting-edge technology. Convinced that mobile content was the way forward, I learned how to design and create user experiences that adhered to technical requirements for a multitude of technologies. I also enjoyed crafting brand identities and visual designs for every newly published app. I also worked across global timezones to support overseas dev teams, designed e-signage and Marketing materials for tradeshows, and more.

OneLouder Apps (Spinal Tap reference) was a startup launched by Handmark’s founders. It focused on mobile app publishing and development to support Sprint telecom and other major clients. As its sole designer, I worked on many apps that appeared in Sprint handheld devices. Handmark and OneLouder's success led to their eventual purchase by Sprint.

My apps were featured in smartphones, tablets, and Personal Digital Assistants.

Sprint's HTC mobile phone with Handmark apps.

I worked on helpful apps that provided news, productivity, and social networking.

Blackberry, Nokia, and other smartphones featuring Handmark apps.

We published numerous apps for clients on a wide range of operating systems.

The ad agency where I managed over 70 client accounts.

Plattform Advertising

As the web design manager, I led a team of talented web designers and developers at this advertising agency. I managed over 70 client accounts, all with various needs for creative services and media products. I art directed projects, explored new campaign ideas with writers, created estimates, supervised contractors, and more. I also built custom social networks for higher education clients. Imagine an early Facebook platform catered to specific colleges’ needs, focused on learning and connection.

The most rewarding aspect was helping my team members and interns grow. I mentored them and sought opportunities based on their strengths and career goals. I was fiercely loyal to them for their dedication, and I protected them from internal strife. In return, they gave me their best, and I gave them every credit for the positive gains that we brought to the business.

Perceptive Software company photo of KU alumni celebrating the NCAA championship win.

Our company celebrating the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship win.

Perceptive Software (lexmark)

Perceptive Software was a small but mighty company with the heart of a Silicon Valley startup. When I joined in 2006, it was as if I walked into Google. We had a two-story slide, Segway scooters, a league-certified dodgeball court, a gymnasium, catered lunches, company-paid tickets to sporting events and concerts, and more.

Work was even more fun. As Interactive Design Team Lead, I brought my multimedia and interactive design, ActionScript coding, and video production workflows to enhance all Sales and Marketing experiences. I created the in-house studio and ran the setup, scaling it by teaching my processes to all of my team members. I recruited the best talent from my network and from local design schools.

The 2008 financial crisis destroyed a lot of jobs and livelihoods, and it had a detrimental effect on this company. I voluntarily resigned my position to prevent the elimination of my team members. The company was later purchased by Lexmark. On the bright side, one of my final projects won an Addy award for outstanding public service in the interactive category. When an annual charity dodgeball event had its marketing budget cut, my team and I took the work in-house and did it for free. I provided the photography, and I designed + coded the interactive website that won the award. The charity event raised over $20,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Charity dodgeball event website that won an award for public service.

My interactive website and photography won our team an Addy award.

Tradeshow booth featuring ImageNow software.

I created interactive demos and e-signage for many tradeshow environmental designs.

James' camera, lighting, and green screen studio setup.

My in-house video studio with camera, lighting, and sound equipment.

Cerner Corporation World Headquarters sign.

Cerner Corporation's world headquarters in Kansas City, MO.

cerner (oracle)

Cerner was a global healthcare IT powerhouse, later purchased by Oracle. It was a company that enjoyed tremendous growth, and it provided employees with numerous amenities: an impressive cafeteria, a full-service gym with personal trainers, full-size basketball courts, an Olympic-size swimming pool, an onsite health clinic, daycare center, and more. When I joined as Multimedia Designer in 2002, I brought Flash interactivity and ActionScripting to all projects. Macromedia tools helped me bridge the Marketing department’s website content and studio videos.

I produced interactive web and disc media content that featured videos, music, sound effects, and more. My efforts set the stage for the design team by creating new workflows for content while leveraging my reusable custom code. Designers could use my functions without needing to understand code. My work within our in-house studio included lighting, filming, green screening, talent prep and recording, and all of the post-production work involved afterwards. For tradeshow support, I created e-signage and environment designs. We always created an impressive presence with two-story demonstration spaces at major tradeshows and conferences.

The Cerner Health Conference and its many solution demo stations.

Cerner tradeshow double-decker demo booth.

Two-story demos staged real-life healthcare scenarios that benefited from our solutions.

Cerner tradeshow group learning station.

Solution theaters that provided live presentations and group learning.

Invesco Field at Mile High's fireworks and cheerleaders.

Invesco Field at Mile High's opening day celebration.

hntb

HNTB is an architectural engineering company. When I joined, the company was completing its design of the Invesco Field at Mile High for the Denver Broncos. The stadium was unveiled in 2001 with terrific celebratory fanfare.

I created websites and maintained content for large-scale projects. In the office, I had the privilege of sitting next to 3D visualization experts who brought future projects to life. They created photo-realistic images and fly-through videos of stadiums, transportation hubs, and more. This was when I was convinced of the power of 3D some 20+ years ago.

I also saw a huge divide in the workplace between the design-content team vs. the web developers. One side didn’t understand why design and writing couldn’t be built per mockups. The other side was frustrated by the lack of technical understanding and respect for specifications. Since I had learned both design and front-end code, I served as the bridge between the two groups. As the kid fresh out of college, it was incredibly validating to help teams overcome such a big barrier.

Kansas City International Airport aerial view during the Terminal Improvement Project.

During my time, Kansas City International Airport received a major overhaul.

Kansas City International Airport after the Terminal Improvement Project.

KCI airport's interior after its Terminal Improvement Project with HNTB.

CPU, fan, motherboard, and RAM for a high-end gaming PC.

What it looks like inside a high-end gaming PC from Gen-X Tech, LLC.

GEN-X TECH

I held numerous jobs to pay my way through college, including at Gen-X Tech. It was my first experience at a startup, which in this case, sold high-end gaming computers. Professional gamers were our main customers, and each order was overclocked and customized to their specs.

I had a job in almost every aspect of the company, from answering phones for Sales and Support to installing hardware and software for our performance PCs. I applied silicone thermal paste to CPUs, clipped heat sinks and fans, mounted cards on motherboards, set jumpers, installed water-cooling and ventilation systems, etc. Remember CD-ROMs and floppy disc drives? Quake III Arena and other massively popular titles?

I also worked closely with the CEO to design ads and marketing materials for newsprint and digital. I even learned how to integrate a new e-commerce system and wrote custom script to enable online sales.