Background
I’m a UX designer with 10+ years senior level UX/UI design experience starting in graphic design but transferred those skills to my passion for visual interaction. What this did for me was develop a deep knowledge of user-experiences and explore how people interact with processes that range from purchasing products to video publishing and data analytics. I have worked at Amazon, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.
Teamwork
I love collaborating with teams that include of a project manager (PM) and engineers. the main partnership is with the PM to understand the business requirements which includes, user needs, benchmark goals, pain points, technical limitations.
The other partnership is with the team of software engineers. My projects in the past have included working with front-end and backend developers. Some of the best solutions come from my collaborations with engineers. Now that the project is being coded, this is my favorite part, I work closely with the frontend engineers to tweak and refine the build to the design specifications.
Process
My process involves several stages. The first stage is research, where I gather information about the user's intent, needs, goals, and preferences. This involves conducting surveys, understanding business requirements, user interviews, and usability testing.
The second stage is defining the problem, which involves synthesizing the research and identifying the primary user pain points, understanding all new and old workflows necessary to set design strategy.
The third stage is developing strategy, concepts, where I brainstorm ideas which can involve white board sessions, sketches, wire framing.
The fourth stage is testing, where I validate the design solutions through user-testing and feedback. This iterative process continues until the design meets the needs of the user and the goals of the project.
Finally, the design is ready for build, During this stage I work closely with engineers to refine the build to make sure it adheres to design specs. Once final implementation and launched, I again gather user feedback and user data to continuously inform future updates and improvements.
Personal
I live in Seattle where I like to hike, walk my dogs, go skiing, read, and travel. I am also the President of the West Seattle Lacrosse Club.