Nice to meet you! Glad you’re here. My name is Traci Lawson, and I design digital content for people of all ages. I was lucky to start my professional career at Sesame Street, and have gone on to create digital experiences with some pretty awesome people at places like Microsoft, Penguin Random House, Nickelodeon, and PBS.
Cognitive psychology research is a major influence in my work. I hold a master’s degree in cognitive science from Columbia University.
Motivation
I became a designer because I was frustrated with the amount of stuff that gets made that simply isn’t any good. I love design because it is an opportunity to ask questions and get to the essence of what an experience should be. Then, design becomes about making sure nothing else gets in the way of that essential thing.
We humans are inundated with so many distractions and responsibilities each day. Design is about simplifying your digital fiefdom so people have a moment of focus, clarity, and ease while they’re doing whatever it is they came to do.
Principles
Once you’ve figured out what your experience should be about, make sure nothing gets in the way of that. Defend against clutter.
Understand where your product fits in the context of the user’s life and play that specific role well.
As a user, I shouldn’t have to use much brain power on any single interaction. Design with the user’s cognitive load in mind.
Build the tutorial right into the first actions a person will do. Don’t teach them anything until they have a context for it, and a use or need.
Keep it simple. Ramp up to complexity, one discreet action at a time. Instructions are clear when they are short and direct.
Consider the user’s feelings about your content. A simple design with elegant feedback can go a long way toward helping the user feel competent and get into a flow state.
Community Involvement
The design community is full of terrific folks! I enjoy engaging with people at conferences and in professional organizations, so I have volunteered to help run the show at Game Developers Conference, Games for Change, and the Children’s Media Association.
I also speak on occasion! You can check out talks I gave at Serious Play 2022, and to the Children’s Media Association.
Outside of the industry, I was a Girl Scout troop leader in East Harlem for six years, and I have been on the board of a rock climbing non-profit in NYC for the past five years.
Awards
It feels like bragging, but if that’s what this page is for, then I should tell you I’ve been on teams that’ve garnered some impressive accolades!
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That’s digital team was nominated for a Webby twice! We won in 2019, with the app The Cat in the Hat Builds That.
That app was also nominated for a Games for Change Award in 2019!
My original concept design for an Arkadium company game jam went on to full development, became Twisty Hollow, and was featured as App of the Week at Starbucks and in the iOS App Store! You may have seen it at the register when you bought a latte.
Taptiles was created for the worldwide launch of the Windows 8 operating system, which accommodates mouse and touchscreen simultaneously. Microsoft liked it so much, they selected it to come pre-installed on over a million machines, and they featured it on in-store demo computers! What an honor for our team. I served as the lead designer.
The 2009 relaunch of Sesame Street dot org was an incredible amount of work, but it created an innovative website that won the hearts of preschoolers, as well as an Emmy award and a Peabody award! I served as manager of UX research. We sent our teammate Elmo to collect the awards for us.
