About me



Over the last 20+ years in the design industry, I've had the opportunity to work with all types of companies and products that have helped me understand business, design, and human beings at a deep and multi-faceted level. I’m proud to have helped generate millions in revenue for corporations, launched flagship products for startups, and aided fledgling charities pro bono. I specialize in simplifying and streamlining internal processes and optimizing interfaces based on data and empathy. My current goal is to focus on Product Design, with a secondary focus on user testing, research, and copywriting — and to work for a company that has learned how to make design a priority in their process and culture.

My heart beats for all things design and human behavior. To me, making simple and useful experiences based on real human need is the proverbial cat's pajamas. Speaking of pajamas, I primarily seek (at least partially) remote roles. Speaking of cats, hiring me is hiring a cat lady of epic proportions so be prepared for cats to make an appearance during our Zoom calls.

My professional traits

• Myers Briggs - ENTJ "The Commander". I'm a candid extrovert (think Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Margaret Thatcher, Jim Carrey) and I have a leader personality. I believe that a great leader will always teach, and more importantly, will always learn.
• Clifton Profile - My primary business strengths are restoration, strategy, and learning. This basically means I strategize the restoration of a big mess, and then learn about how to improve it through optimization.
• Expressive
• Curious
• Organized
• I like to dip my brush in all the paint
• I like to watch the needle move

What I look for in a professional environment:
• Being on a team of honest, open, courageous people with great communication skills  
• Collaborating with a visionary and practical leader (and/or UX team) who genuinely understands design systems and strategy
• Quality and data-driven results
• Working with a company who aligns with my mission

My mission

My job has an affect on the world and is an extension of my ethics. So, I've focused my skillset towards causes that I believe make the world a better place, like promoting knowledge and positivity, animal welfare, health and wellness, and travel. My hope is that I'll create some joy, because, in the end, that's what matters when we go.

My specialties

Data-driven workflow optimization, visual design, and copywriting are my first loves. Though I have successful relationships with all the following disciplines.

NATIVE & WEB

Specializing in native app including iOS and Android, print and web including responsive from desktop to tablet to phone to in-store.
Sketch, Figma

UI & BRAND DESIGN

Creating and applying brand and UI through typography, imagery, color, iconography, accessibility, and more. Branding specialties include finding internal vision/mission, persona workshops, and finding external brand - creating all visual design from brick-and-mortar to digital platforms to internal company direction.
Sketch, Figma, Webflow, Photoshop, Illustrator

INFO ARCH. & INTERACTION

Visual communication of abstract concepts through sketches, rapid prototypes, low-fi and high-fi wireframes and prototypes, conditioning, card-sorting, create behavior expectations through interaction specs and examples.
Axure, Invision, Balsamiq, Figma, JustInMind

COPYWRITING

Create engaging and relevant copy in support of UX/UI. Good copy is the difference between meh and yay.
InCopy, Proofme, Google Docs

USER FEEDBACK

Uncover usability issues and validate design decisions based on actual user reactions through moderated and unmoderated usability tests and focus groups, creating test plans itemizing what we want to learn and how we're going to learn it, to making action plan from our results.
UserTesting, Lookback, DScout, Guerilla

OPTIMIZATION TESTING

Analyzing qualitative data from sources like usability testing and interviews and quantitative data from Heatmapping tools such as Clicktale, Crazy Egg, Hotjar, Lucky Orange; In-app analytics; A/B testing with Optimizely and home-grown testing platforms. Integrate testing strategy into process as well.

IDEATION

Collaboration, ideation through brainstorming sessions with internal stakeholders and teammates and anyone else who's interested.
Whiteboard, pencil, Proofme, Miro, FigJam

MAPPING

Capture user behavior, pain points, motivations, and needs from contextual inquires. Group into logical pillars. Map out product features for each pillar to identify gaps, opportunities, and feature bloat.Journey mapping aligning user paths and emotions with the stakeholders needs, day-in-the-life exercises.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

Learn challenges, context, history, requirements, etc. Apply techniques in order to add context and insight into the design process. Competitive evaluations, heuristics, surveys, personas, psychographics, use cases, emotion mapping, and more.

DOCUMENTATION & QA

Create process around builds, house ideas, and plan feature production and prioritization, and QA the results - through user stories, product log, JIRA tickets and management, Confluence, Trello, Airtable, Google Docs, ProofMe, optimization plan docs, and more.

WEB CODING

This is a secondary skill:
Code in HTML and CSS languages using home-grown code or Bootstrap, with knowledge of Javascript, and many CMS platforms such as Webflow, Wix, Wordpress, Magento, and more.

PHOTOGRAPHY

This is a secondary skill:
Photograph for projects as support for UI and photography projects as standalones.
Nikon, Photoshop
Take a look at my Resume >

My UX philosophy

A good experience is weaved into every touchpoint of a product. A UXer worth her salt pays attention to quality and how it affects the product, and understands how the details affect the bigger picture. At the same time, she understands which refinements can be sacrificed to keep the wind in the sails. I believe that a product is never "done" but sometimes has to be shipped in order to learn, fail, improve.

The other stuff

What do I do when I'm not face-down in a device? I own and operate a business for which I draw/paint pets, with proceeds going to charity. I love skiing, hiking, archery, and studying human behavior; and I volunteer in animal rescue and conservation.

If I've piqued your interest or you have questions, please reach out. Unless you're a bot, in which case, please do not.

Let's Chat