Stacey Billups on AI + Sustainable Websites
The Peak talks to the co-founder of YoJonesy about artificial intelligence, sustainable websites, and launching a business during a pandemic.
Stacey Billups is co-founder (with Curtis Jones) and creative director at YoJonesy, a custom software development agency based in New York City, with an office in Great Barrington, MA. Born during the first days of Covid-19, the tech biz has ridden the wave well, steered by the team’s approach to all things digital—a perfect mix of left-and-right-brain thinking as it relates to business, especially the renewable energy sector. Applying rigorous attention to context, processes and details, YoJonesy’s analytical nature sparks creative solutions, transformative products and impactful strategies.
Typically, when we think of “creativity,” we think of Van Gogh swirling paint on a canvas or Mozart constructing a concerto, but in the current moment, the world of data and analytics—numbers, essentially—is often where the true creative thinking is happening. Stacey’s singular approach to creativity and data has its roots in the intersection between design and mathematics.
In the nineties she was a studio art major, but then she got involved in the dotcom world. She was interested in design but wanted to know more about technology. At the time, she didn't really have any concept of computers or the internet. So, she took on a double major in computer science and math, with a minor in graphics. “Math does not come easy to me, and it used to scare me,” she says. “I chose to conquer my fear of math and go after a career in technology.”
That's bold.
Thanks. Looking back on it now, I realize that it was brave. I became interested in the mathematical concepts that are applied in design and why humans innately gravitate toward certain design principles as they relate to mathematics and nature. It turned out to be the right concept for my brain.
My interests were recognized, and I was selected for a research program called the American Sign Language project, which took audio and interpreted the words into 3D animations for the deaf. It is a great tool for hospitals, airports and other procedure-oriented environments. Anyway, one of the professors for that project was the head of the Human Computer Interactions department, and she got me interested in user experience design. It’s design work, yes, and it involves research. What are the intersections between business goals and customer expectations? I found my strength was uncovering ideas that bring business value and being able to communicate those ideas into design concepts and products.
And the right combination of education & training for your career. Where did you work after that and what did you do?
At first, I was building websites for small-to-medium-sized businesses, then I took a position at Cardozo Law School in NYC. I managed their website, worked on a site redesign and helped support the digital communications team. I worked with them for several years and continued to freelance work for other clients, including educational institutions.
Then, I worked in the corporate world for about six years. It taught me a lot about scale. I worked at Thomson Reuters and at Moody's Analytics, on financial services applications for web and mobile. It was very different than the education space—a lot more data driven. In addition to my work on web and mobile apps, I lead the creation of design systems, managed taxonomies, user research and developed the design teams.
How and why did you choose to make the shift to start your own business, YoJonesy?
The shift to starting YoJonesy took time and was a work-in-progress over the course of the past 5 years. At my core, I was motivated by creating and managing the environment I work within.
Leading up to the founding of YoJonesy, I met Curtis Jones and we started collaborating on projects in the energy and climate sectors. Curtis is a top-notch engineer and business strategist and our partnership developed organically. For a couple years we talked about forming a business together and the more we explored the idea, the more sense it made. We work well together and share the same values. We want to work on good projects with good people that make us feel good about ourselves and what we do in this world and that's what drives us. Working in the renewable energy and climate space are areas of focus for us.
We had planned for the launch of the business, and it just so happened that we opened in April 2020, during the first wave of Covid-19.
What was it like to start a business during a global pandemic?
There has been some uncertainty, and a lot of confidence in our team and its abilities. We have a talented team and clients we value, and I feel fortunate to have made it through 2020 with an even stronger team and clients.
When COVID hit it felt like everyone started working the way I have been working for years and friends turned to me to help them transition to remote. My existing network and I came together to support one another, and we saw our connections grow. Turns out that I am good at networking remotely.
How?
Remote networking turned out to be an authentic experience. I’d be thinking about an old friend or colleague, and I'd call to check on them. Many of them are fellow designers, engineers and business owners. Now, we regularly check-in with each other, whereas, before we might have connected once a year, if that. I am constantly learning from these people and strengthening these relationships.
Your work focuses on data management, visualization and product design and development. Can you talk more about what that means? What are your clients looking for?
Many of our clients collect large amounts of data and we specialize in making sense of that data to bring business value. We do this by analyzing their existing data landscape, developing data architecture plans, workflows and data visualizations. We then take that information and design and build custom software, web and mobile apps, which help companies leverage their data.
Does creativity inform your business in any way? How do you approach data and data solutions with a creative mind?
Yes. My most creative moments are typically during brainstorming or in the discovery process. The creative aspect to is figuring out: I've got all this information. What can I do with it? And I am inspired by the flow that happens when organizing a large amount of data or information because new concepts and the value of the data emerge. It is kind of like designing a puzzle as you’re trying to put it together.
You’re helping companies figure out how best to use their data? Is that right?
Yes, we're helping companies leverage their data to effectively execute change.
You do a lot of work with the renewable energy sector. How does that influence your approach to projects?
It’s a space that we’re doing work in now and it is where we are predominately focused. There are ongoing issues with the electrification of vehicles, distributed energy resources (DER) and the challenges involved.
It influences our approach on client and internal projects. Our website (YoJonesy.com) is intentionally sparse, based on sustainable web design and best practices. The site reads quickly and uses as little energy as possible. We also look at our clients’ projects with a focus on optimal performance and security. There are a million ways to develop an application. We try to save as much energy and make them as secure as possible.
How can businesses make their websites more sustainable?
Design Guidelines:
Images – Use minimal images and/or minimize the size of images.
Good UX – Efficient user journeys make browsing a site more efficient.
Use code over image graphics.
Using system fonts for quicker loading.
Using green web hosting.
Good SEO aligns with reducing energy consumption because it allows users to find the information they need efficiently as possible, therefore spending less time browsing.
Copywriting – clear and efficient copywriting shortens user time on site.
Development Guidelines:
Clean Code
Less JavaScript
Optimize Images
Optimize Typefaces
Use AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
Use PWA (Progressive Web App Technology)
Block Bots
Is there a market for sustainable websites right now?
Not really. There have been a few books published on it. And I’ve worked with designers that like this approach. I am hopeful that we'll see more requests for this as it becomes more well-known.
You collaborate with partner agencies on certain projects (including LTL MTN). How does that kind of collaboration work for you?
We love partnerships. We work on large scale projects and partnering with other agencies allows us to scale up and down to fit the clients needs. We are actively researching new opportunities in the renewable energy space and always looking to join forces. We also find that our partner agencies compliment and extend our offerings and we operate as teams.
What kind of products do you develop?
Custom software, web applications, software applications, data stores and data visualizations.
Working in the digital sphere, do you ever have any worries, complaints, or paranoia about working/ living online?
Yes, I have guardrails in place to minimize my screen time. I will stay in front of a screen all day every day if I don't control myself. I gave a talk on AI and ethics a couple of years ago about privacy, ethics and AI, and how it's impacting us. Through my research, I became strict about my own usage. I try to do as much analog as I can and I limit my media consumption. It’s definitely something that I am cautious about. I feel like I can get out of balance really easily if I don't pay attention.
And what do you like best about the web?
There are constantly new challenges and I have to learn new things all the time. I'll never know it all. It feeds my curiosity.
For more on Stacey, visit YoJonesy.com.