Aaron ButlerCreative Design
I start from the intent behind the problem, whether it's mine, the company's, or the customer's, then choose the best tools to design the solution, or figure out how to build new ones if they don't exist yet. Intent first, tools second.
My background runs across product design, AR/VR, 2D and 3D simulation, and 12 years of AAA game design, for console players, HoloLens and VR users, mobile and web users, and military planners.
I design solutions for apps, tools, and websites, and when the need arises, I can build them too. When I build with Claude Code, I'm always the human in the loop: it writes the code, and I own the product, the UX and visual design, the testing, and knowing when an answer is wrong or needs to be challenged.
Aaron Butler Creative Design (ABCD) is my independent practice. I help clients figure out which problems are worth solving for their product and their users, then design the solution: apps, tools, and websites. I approach each project as a human-centered, creatively technical designer. When a client wants the solution built too, I can build it, using Claude Code to close the gap between designing a solution and shipping one.
Owned simulation UI/UX for Project STORMBREAKER, a next-generation warfighting planning tool. Collaborated directly with the end users: military planners and leadership from all branches of the U.S. military. Relocated to Oahu to work with planners in person. Held in-person and remote design sessions, created detailed prototypes in Figma, and worked with engineering to make sure the intent behind the designs was carried through.
Owned UI/UX and Unreal Engine design for the simulation half of Project STORMBREAKER after SMX moved the contract from Studio Alpha to Microsoft Federal. Brought the SmartCard and the Fluent-based design system with me and rebuilt the card as the basis for the unit planning interface: a modular, data-driven card that let planners build unit hierarchies on a live map. Designed the map interactions for placing, grouping, and embedding objects at scale. Worked directly with military planners at Technical Exchange Meetings, sketching in the room and returning with prototypes.
Joined a 60-person Microsoft org building a general-purpose simulation engine that let any customer load their own data and interact with it in real time. Designed the real-time visual language for reading thousands of moving objects at a glance, on an extended Fluent design system. Created the SmartCard, a customizable entity card, and built early UI directly in Unreal Engine for engineering handoff. Modeled a 3D asset library in Blender whose top-down views became custom icons. Became the dedicated simulation designer when the org narrowed its focus to Project STORMBREAKER.
NeighborNET, our first project, is a mobile app enabling location-based resource sharing to build resilience in communities before and after disasters.
Took a client's early concept through research, ideation, and user testing to a tested high-fidelity prototype. Assisted two Smashing Ideas leads running a two-day design-thinking session with the client, then drafted the high-level solutions we took into a day-long user research group. Ran the IDI sessions remotely, updating the prototype between participants so each session built on the last. Also produced an internal marketing video for the client.
Worked across disciplines on feature and UI development for the Vreal desktop app, a platform for recording and watching VR gameplay. Designed in-VR interactions alongside the desktop experience, exploring wrist-mounted menus, quick-access controls, and notification systems. Created feature specs, wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and motion studies, and ran user testing.
Reworked the UI and UX of Cats In Mechs, a mobile game already in development, covering mission select, combat, upgrade, and level-complete flows. Brought a game designer's eye to the gameplay itself alongside the interface work.
Hired on contract as a level designer to prototype in Unity for HoloLens. When the lead designer left, stepped into product design for the app that later shipped as Dynamics 365 Layout: designed the 3D model catalog and object placement, wrote product one-pagers, ran user research, and demoed builds to customers.
Spent six weeks with a team of Innovators conducting user interviews, brainstorming, and creating prototypes to help Autodesk find new use cases for their photogrammetry software, ReMake, and experience creation software, Project Play.
Designed levels, mechanics, quests, and enemies from concept to completion, and ran playtests to refine them with feedback from players and every discipline on the team.