Jamie L. Sawczyszyn- UX Design
I'm a UX researcher & designer based in Philly with 5+ years of experience helping small businesses and nonprofits deliver better experiences. Lately, I've been contracting with law organizations at University of Pennsylvania and Temple University, both focused on public interest tech and social impact. Together, we've been using user research insights to improve their current systems, build accessible, scalable, design solutions, and (verb) impactful digital presence.
I am also on the board of the local chapter of a nationwide nonprofit called PhillyCHI, as their community coordinator, speaking on panel discussions, running workshops, and building partnerships with other organizations to provide seasoned and budding UX professionals with community, career networking, workshops, and opportunities to gain new skills.
In my spare time, I love gardening with my cat, Bean, cooking elaborate meals, and doing martial arts. I am also building a community resources platform for the city of Philadelphia, aimed at providing the people of Philly an intuitive, user-centric, accessible, and highly filterable community connection resource.
Ask me about it
When I joined iLIT, I saw an opportunity to make their digital presence as impactful as their mission—helping law students and professionals navigate careers in public interest law and technology. I uncovered a need for improvements in design, usability, and accessibility and came up with a strategy to meet user needs while adhering to Temple University’s style guide and branding. A key focus was conducting in-depth user interviews to uncover pain points and drive data-informed design changes.
I also implemented a project management system to improve collaboration, produced strategic UX reports, and supported their initiative, The Everywhere Border Project, by enhancing WordPress (Divi) integration. debugging, design improvements, and usability improvements, coming in at a crucial moment before they presented the site to a conference, Rights Con, in Taiwan. Additionally, I provided support and consult on another of their initiatives, a national-level legal visualization project, helping translate complex, multi-national data sets into digestible visuals for advocacy and policy work. Ultimately, my work transformed iLIT’s digital experience, making it easier for users to engage with the resources that support their social justice-driven careers.
From the start, I was deeply inspired by the mission of the Access to Justice Tech Fellows program (A2J)—a national program, currently operating out of Penn Carey Law, dedicated to equipping law students with the tools & technology to help expand legal access for underserved communities.
Brought in at the prototype stage, I worked to refine the design, making sure the platform was not only functional but truly intuitive and accessible across desktop and mobile. I cared deeply about creating a seamless experience so that host organizations and fellows could easily navigate resources, connect with mentors, and become excited and motivated to join the program. Beyond UX improvements, I also managed multi-channel visual assets, ensuring brand consistency across digital and print media.
The final iteration, shaped by real user feedback, significantly improved usability and inclusivity—helping advance ATJ Tech Fellows' incredible work in supporting the next generation of justice-driven lawyers. By improving the design and user experience of the Penn Access to Justice initiative, I helped showcase the initiative’s success and alignment with its mission, ultimately strengthening the case for leadership to continue the fellowship for another year.
I had the opportunity to work on Explore PIT-Law (Public Interest Tech), a project designed to bridge the gap between law and technology, and help law students connect with professionals and explore careers that focus on public interest and social justice. The site faced challenges with navigation, accessibility, and engagement due to a lack of user research during its initial build. My role was to enhance the user experience, re-imagine the brand and delivery of the website, and find a way to better encapsulate the incredible mission of this initiative. In my research, I learned from students, tech and legal professionals, and PIT partners to understand how I could really improve the platform's impact.
To further understand the roots and vision of the initiative, I facilitated a multi-university branding workshop with the four law schools that sit at the helm; Temple University, Villanova, University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University. With this, I was able to refine its tone and visual direction. Additionally, I researched ethical considerations in Public Interest Technology to guide digital rights advocacy. My work empowered Explore PIT-Law to better serve its community and inspire future lawyers dedicated to social justice.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your UX research, design, service design, and consulting needs!
