My name is Patrick Slawinski.

I'm a product designer with over a decade of professional design experience, and a systems thinker focused on solving problems for people.

My career has been dedicated to design in media. First, designing for the Army Public Affairs site Army.mil and its custom content management system. After working my way up to the role of Creative Director, I took on a new challenge at U.S. News & World Report — designing interface elements, ranking lists, and infographics while refining my front-end development skills.

In 2014 I accepted an opportunity to lead design for Gannett's custom content management system, which is used daily by hundreds of journalists across the USA TODAY Network. Working with product managers, developers, editorial staff, and fellow designers, I worked to completely overhaul Gannett’s CMS.

After six plus years at Gannett, I decided to move on to a new position at The Washington Post. At The Post, I first worked to establish a cohesive and collaborative pod of designers focused on in-house publishing tools. With the Content Creator Experience Group established, and some enhancements to the story and image editors complete, I'm now focused on fixing the Washington Post's planning tools and processes."

Photo by Myles Katherine
Photo by Myles Katherine

Washington Post Planning

2021 - Present

Project

Newsroom planning at The Washington Post was a mess when I started researching the situation. Planning activities were spread across many different tools with different levels of access and transparency. Reporters and editors wasted time on redundant coverage and prime promotional opportunities were missed due to lack of visibility. The Post already had a custom planning tool, but it was meant for a simpler goal and hadn't been updated in years. My task is to update that tool to fit the needs of the newsroom today and into the future.

Work

Following months of research into the newsroom's planning practices, I established a strategic direction for the future of the Post's planning tools. I wrote vision documents for review and organizational buy-in, then presented early work to the newsroom to see if I was on the right track. With my direciton confirmed and the newsroom excited for the future, I moved into high fidelity design and testing working toward a version one release.

twp design montage of design work
twp early planning 2.0 design
twp early planning 2.0 mobile designs
twp early planning 2.0 prototype connections
twp updated search designs
twp chip ideation
twp story card updates annotated
twp space in column view
twp space in list view
twp space on mobile
twp space story modal

Gannett CMS

2014 - 2021

Project

Gannett's custom CMS powers over 100 news sites visited by more than 100 million readers per month. Sites range in size from small local operations to the large national footprint of USA TODAY. The CMS enables cooperation and coordination across the network as editorial resources are shared across the country and content is seamlessly adapted across sites.

Work

I was the lead designer for Gannett's CMS, shepherding the tool's user interface through a long transition from legacy technology platforms and front-end frameworks to the fully updated position it's in today. My work included: user interviews and surveys, persona creation, style guide development, prototype building, SASS stylesheet implementation, rebranding, working within Agile processes, and iterative modular UI design throughout.

CMS design montage of design work
CMS alerts editor design
CMS just-in-time cropping flow
CMS mobile planning calendar design
CMS image editor design
CMS newsroom planning design
CMS story editor screenshot

The Wall VR

2017

https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/usa-today-network-border-project-about-vr-podcasts-map/

Project

The virtual reality component of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning USA TODAY Network report The Wall. This story brought together reporters, editors, photojournalists, designers, and developers from across the country to tell the story of life on the border between the United States and Mexico.

Work

This project involved a lot of sketching and concepting to figure out how best we could tell a story given the expected content and technological capabilities. The team executed a successful experience through multiple pivots as reporting content turned out differently than anticipated. I focused on the user interface while also remaining deeply involved in the VR presentation of the reporting.

VR Wall design and screenshot montage
VR Wall menu design
VR Wall menu spec
VR Wall concept design
VR Wall map concept

U.S. News

2012 - 2014

https://www.usnews.com

Project

U.S. News & World Report is an internationally known news publisher and producer of ranking lists.

Work

I spent two years at U.S. News as a Senior User Experience Designer. I collaborated closely with fellow designers, analysts, editorial staff, and engineers to help keep the success of U.S. News growing. My work with U.S. News involved every part of the site. I prototyped an updated header, footer, and site navigation structure. I created infographics, designed rankings pages, prototyped article templates, and created HTML/CSS buttons. I visually unified the U.S. News social media presence, designed advertising campaigns, performed usability tests.

U.S. News design montage
U.S. News Best Online Programs design
U.S. News Olympics infographic
U.S. News nursing home profile design
U.S. News Best Online Bachelor's Programs ranking design

Army.mil

2006 - 2012

https://www.army.mil

Project

Army.mil is the news outlet of the United States Army's Office of the Chief of Public affairs. Beyond news, Army.mil regularly features special microsites around events, awards, and anniversaries.

Work

I worked my way from the bottom to the top of the Army.mil design team. My tenure included designing and building a multide of microsites as well as creating a shared home for said microsites. I led the design team and worked with clients directly. In addition designing countless microsites, I redesigned the home page, mobile article presentation, and search experience. I also led the design of the UI for Army.mil's custom CMS, an experience that would point me toward most the rest of my career thus far.

Army.mil design montage
Army.mil homepage design
Army.mil mobile design
Army.mil CMS design
Army.mil Features page design
Army.mil microsite design