Dan Turner | Senior Service Designer ft. User Research
I bring a solid track record of thoughtful, user-centered work as a Service Designer, User Researcher, Team Lead, and UX Designer. I aim for work that helps real people solve real problems. I’ve led a project that helped VA.gov significantly reduce times to deliver digitized forms, and worked with HHS ASA to modernize budget and operational processes, both of which improved the ability to deliver support and services.
I have over 10 years of experience helping teams, government agencies, and companies deliver products and services while centering the voice of the user both at the development level and to leadership. My practice has taught me how to work across disciplines and specialties and teams.
If you want a quick overview of my past positions and education, there’s a resume (PDF) for download. For more details and case studies, feel free to download my portfolio (PDF). If you digest your information more in LinkedIn format, here’s my LinkedIn profile.
None of the content on this site was created by or with the aid of any generative AI.
Full-Project Case Studies
As Senior Service Designer, I helped improve departmental compliance with Executive Orders, de-siloed process communications, and helped de-risk budget thinking.
As Senior Service Designer, I co-led my team to surface paint points and slowdowns due to the lack of shared knowledge across teams. Our publishing of the Guide to Digitizing VA Forms led to months cut off delivery of digital, accessible, mobile-first forms, improving Veteran access to health care and services.
Google needed a new internal system for administering a two-day delivery service that included customers, Google, and third parties. The service had to monitor the status of items and alert when problems arose.
Our research showed that the existing system was overwhelming users with manual tasks, leading to failures to address time-sensitive issues. Our new design, based on an object-oriented approach aligned with top user needs and tasks, reduced delivery issues by 35% and reduced stress for users.
Open Garden’s mission was to enable distributed, democratized internet access, enabling any phone to become an access point or connect to one. The company grew to 30 people with international investors and reach after shipping products to Google Play and the App Store.
I built the first design process at the company, working with leadership and developers to increase alignment, streamline workflow processes, and reduce design and technical costs and debt.