Alyssa Varsanyi

In this episode of Design Futures, I talk with Alyssa Varsanyi, a UX/UI designer, formerly of Oomph, where they worked on high performance digital solutions for mission driven organizations including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, National Environmental Education Foundation, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Columbia Health, and Massachusetts Legal Help. In 2024, they were named a Person to Watch by Graphic Design USA. Alyssa holds a Master of Professional Studies in UX Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is a 2018 graduate of The College of Saint Rose.

We trace Alyssa’s creative beginnings, from Microsoft Paint experiments and Neopets HTML hacks to becoming a tour guide for the Saint Rose art department and fully embracing what they call “graphic design bootcamp.” They reflect on how critique culture, interdisciplinary thinking, and following threads between subjects, including a geology inspired typeface project, shaped their design philosophy.

Much of the conversation centers on their pivot from print focused graphic design to UX strategy. Alyssa talks candidly about feeling stuck while working at a pharmaceutical company, enrolling in graduate school during the pandemic, and discovering a deep love for research, user interviews, affinity mapping, and design strategy. We dig into their MICA thesis project, a theater companion app built through field research in New York City, and how learning to choose the right methodology became one of their most valuable skills.

We also explore their UX work on projects involving suicide prevention and legal aid platforms, designing for users in vulnerable, high stress situations and advocating for accessibility and clarity above aesthetics. Alyssa shares how research, empathy, and strategy guide their process, and why staying curious is the most important trait a designer can cultivate.

We wrap up with Broadway soundtracks, true crime podcasts, Pokémon Go, mini cans of Dr Pepper, and a memorable no shirt user interview story that reinforces the importance of boundaries in research.

Time to get dressed, grab a seltzer or a mini Dr Pepper, and have a listen.

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