Kiera Westphal

I'm a visual storyteller with a passion for
revealing order and beauty in the process.

Working from Berlin, Germany.

Throughout my career, I've been drawn to clarity. A throughline in all my projects is finding the core message so people understand the essence and actions flow seamlessly. Raised in the New York Metropolitan Area, I moved to Pittsburgh, PA, to study Communication Design at Carnegie Mellon University.

I was drawn to breaking down complex problems and explaining them clearly, backed by visual sensibilities and technology. I joined the Chicago Tribune as a Visual Journalist and helped move visual explanations online with early interactive graphics.

From 2009 to 2019, I built user experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. I returned home to the East Coast in 2019 and focused on large-scale banking. Now in Berlin, I'm teaching Data Storytelling to University Students.

Recent work

All work

Apiture Developer Portal

Designed features for the Developer Portal and created a design system library.

  • UX/UI Design
  • Design Systems

Apiture
Service Design JPMC

Service Design Reveals Insights

Utilized a Service Blueprint to Enhance the Campaign Creation Process

  • Service Design

JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase

Increased Engagement in Business Banking

Introduced a tab structure to the platform that resulted in an increase of 400% user engagement.

  • UX/UI Design
  • Design Systems

JPMorgan Chase

More projects

2004–2021
  1. 2019-2021 Interactive Visualization Designer
    • Data Visualization
    • UX/UI Design

    Created interactive graphic displays to help Analysts visualize stories for the Goldman Sachs Research Portal.

    View project
  2. 2018-2019 AI + People Analytics
    • UX/UI Design
    Workday Analytics Platform

    Conceptualized and built a platform that surfaced data for an AI powered product.

    View project
  3. 2018-2019 Chart Accessibility for Workday
    • Data Visualization
    • UX/UI Design
    • Design Systems
    Placeholder image for project 09

    Providing accessibility to Workday's charts.

    View project
  4. 2017 Redesign of Fitbit Help
    • UX/UI Design
    • Service Design
    Responsive design for Fitbit help

    Redesign of Fitbit customer support to encourage users to use the self-service platform instead of calling.

    View project
  5. 2017 UserTesting Competitive Benchmarking
    • Data Visualization
    • UX/UI Design
    The UserTesting benchmark Score Breakdown in a browser window

    A visual way for executives to compare their product's UX against their competitors' over time.

    View project
  6. 2015-2016 Epsilon Marketing Engine Tool
    • UX/UI Design
    The Moment Engine dashboard in a browser window

    Bringing order to a complex marketing engine with a system model.

    View project
  7. 2014 Girl Effect iPhone App
    • Service Design
    Concept map of how girl currency flows between girls, corporate partners, and NGOs

    How Girl Effect could develop a digital currency to fund NGOs that supports girls in developing countries.

    View project
  8. 2013 Google Express
    • Service Design
    • UX/UI Design
    Service map of the Google Shopping Express Experience

    Design the shopping experience journey and wireframes to build the Google Shopping Express Android app.

    View project
  9. 2010 Flipshare for Android
    • UX/UI Design
    Animated prototype of video playback in Flipshare for Android

    Develop a custom Android user interface for the Flipshare platform.

    View project
  10. 2009 San Francisco Panorama
    • Visual & Motion
    The San Francisco Panorama spread with illustrations of Lembi properties

    Illustrating a real-estate exposé for McSweeney's Panorama, a limited edition newspaper.

    View project
  11. 2008 3rst for Merchandise Mart Identity
    • Visual & Motion
    Animated Merchandise Mart Properties mark, built from colored blocks

    A modular logo built from the letters of the name.

    Develop a logo concept in which blocks represent the letters of the company name, conveying the company's modularity.

    View project
  12. 2007 – 2008 Healthcare Software Documentation
    • UX/UI Design
    • Visual & Motion
    Emmi Solutions new program process diagram

    Mapping how a healthcare software program gets made.

    View project
  13. 2007 Darwill Breezeway Visual Explanation
    • Data Visualization
    The BreezeWay prepress diagram for Darwill

    Explaining Darwill's prepress process in six steps.

    View project
  14. 2007 The Deep Book Microsite
    • Visual & Motion
    The Deep Book microsite

    Bringing deep-sea creatures to life online by designing a microsite to market a book.

    View project
  15. 2004-2007 Visual Journalist
    • Data Visualization
    Hand drawn map of Lalapalooza festival map.

    Built explanatory visualizations daily and early interactive graphics in Flash, connecting the print paper and the ChicagoTribune.com.

    View project