I am a user experience and product designer and visual communications expert with over 20 years of experience designing, prototyping, and implementing. I explore problems to develop solutions that work for users and stakeholders.

Work experience

Shopify Designer, Wavebrain

Remote, July 2023–present

Wavebrain is my independent Shopify store design service, where I focus on helping small businesses unlock their brand's potential with superb Shopify experiences.

Senior User Experience Designer, The Standard

Remote, November 2022–present

The Standard is a leading provider of financial products and services. My focus at The Standard is on creating a cohesive and positive online experience for the users of The Standard's retirement plans.

Managing Senior UX Designer II, Ad Hoc

Remote, October 2018–October 2022

Ad Hoc is a digital services company that helps the federal government better serve people. Federal contracts include VA.gov and HealthCare.gov.

  • As lead UX designer, I redesigned, built, and maintained public websites to elevate and differentiate brand, including creating mockups, prototypes, and code, to take projects from idea to launch.
  • I introduced company-wide internal microsites to facilitate information sharing within and across teams and enhance the employee experience.
  • I led the initiative and processes to remediate customer-facing PDFs for accessibility, including marketing materials and proposal submissions, to ensure inclusivity and equitability.
  • I created persuasive graphics, fully accessible documents, and videos on quick-turn multi-million dollar contract proposals, with a win rate of over 50% in 2019.
  • I was promoted from Senior UX Designer to Senior UX Designer II in January 2021, then promoted to Managing Senior UX Designer II and Team Lead in August 2022.

Lead UX Designer, Trintech

Addison TX, June 2016–October 2018

Trintech provides enterprise financial software solutions to over 3,500 clients across 100+ countries, including a majority of the Fortune 100.

  • I led effort to convert legacy product UX/UI with low SUS scores to modern and attractive user interface proven to increase user efficiency and eliminate user frustration.
  • I established user research program and user pool sufficient to fill usability sessions within hours of invitation. I conducted research including focus groups, usability testing, and surveys. I reported and presented results with evidence-backed recommendations.
  • I introduced design system, including pattern library, content guidelines, and accessibility recommendations, to lead new era of user interface for products.
  • I built UX practice from one individual contributor to team of three UX designers.

UX/UI Designer, OrgSync

Dallas TX, Oct 2012–May 2016

OrgSync was a startup offering cloud campus engagement software for colleges and universities, with over 5,000,000 users and 450 campus partners. Acquired by Campus Labs (now Anthology) in 2016.

  • I designed product interfaces and experiences to allow students and campus administrators to create events, forms, rosters, to-do lists, and over 25 other core features of the software.
  • I worked directly with developers on cross-functional teams to implement product layouts in Rails views and controllers.
  • I gathered user requirements and presented product designs to customers for actionable feedback.
  • I presented to customers at annual conferences to educate customers about design best practices they could implement to integrate their branding and enhance engagement. Sessions were the highest rated by attendees.
  • I wrote and edited content for feature announcements and blog posts.

UI Designer, AllPlayers.com

Irving TX / Remote, Aug 2010–Sept 2012

AllPlayers.com was a startup building a group and league management web application focused on sports with over 75,000 users and 1,000,000 monthly page views.

  • I managed print and web design team.
  • I analyzed needs and reconciled with data to develop wireframes, comps, and layouts to improve product interface of web application and marketing pages.
  • I built front-end CSS and HTML within Drupal CMS.
  • I wrote and edited marketing, email, and website content; feature announcements; and blog posts.
  • I developed and produced brand standards guide.

Additional experience

Prior to 2010

Freelance print and web design and production for Dallas’ top agencies, design studios, corporations, and small businesses.

  • My clients included Temerlin McClain, TracyLocke, Rapp Collins Worldwide, Eisenberg & Associates, J.C. Penney, Mary Kay, Exhibit Group|Giltspur, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Texas, Big Feats Entertainment
  • My account experience included Dallas Galleria, DFW Airport, La Madeleine, Nokia, Nortel, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, 7-Eleven, Stanley Korshak, Subaru, Zales

Associate Professor for college courses in the Applied Graphic Design Technology program at Collin College.

Skills and tools

Research

  • Heuristic evaluation
  • Usability testing
  • Focus group facilitation
  • Survey design and implementation
  • Reporting and recommendations

Design

  • Wireframes
  • Interactive prototypes
  • Visual design
  • User stories
  • Design systems
  • Component libraries
  • Style guides
  • Voice and content guidelines
  • Personas
  • Typography
  • Responsive sites
  • Accessibility practices

Software/languages

  • Expert in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat PDF accessibility remediation
  • Comfortable with Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Axure, Sketch, Keynote, PowerPoint, Google Suite
  • Comfortable with HTML, CSS/SASS, Ruby on Rails, Jekyll, Drupal
  • Exposed to React, Angular, Gatsby, JavaScript, jQuery

Certifications

Google Project Management Certificate, 2021

Deque University, 2020

  • Basic Web and Document Accessibility for Content Contributors
  • Accessibility Fundamentals – Disabilities, Guidelines, and Laws
  • Designing an Accessible User Experience
  • Semantic Structure and Navigation

SAFe Certified Product Owner/Product Manager, 2017

SAFe Certified Practitioner, 2017

Conference Presenter

Vista UX Summit, Dallas TX, 2018

OrgSync Connect, Dallas TX, 2013, 2014, 2015

OpenCamp, Dallas TX, 2010