What am I?

I'm a Product/UX/UI Director with 18 years of design experience. I currently hold a position as a UI/UX Director.
My background also includes research and strategy which notably aids my design approach.

What are my skills?

I'm skilled at Product Design Direction and Management.

I am also skilled at Product Design, Visual Design, UX Design, UI Design, Sketching & Prototyping, User Research, Interaction Design and Responsive Design .
I have a passion/obsession for the details which lends itself well to solving difficult design problems.

What I get excited about

I get excited about beautiful design flows, remarkably uncomplicated apps & mind boggling new tech.
I also get a “kick” out of improving work processes & have introduced ways of working, project management tools & communication systems.

What is my experience?

My extensive experience focuses on working in an agile environment to execute across a number of design stages, from requirements definition, wireframes and user flows, to working directly with development teams, defining detailed interactions, iterating high fidelity prototypes and final visual design production. Leveraging research, analytics, usability testing, customer insights and other quantitative/qualitative data to advance ideas and the products.

I also get a “kick” out of improving work processes & have introduced ways of working, project management tools & communication systems.

Leadership and Values

I would describe my leadership style as direct, and leading by example. I enjoy delegating tasks and taking the lead on projects, but I also like to stay involved and inspire my team by showing that I'm working hands-on to help them, too.

My role in leadership positions is to bring out the very best in others even when they know more than I do. The learning process never stops and I love leading, learning and working with people. I always make sure I am available to answers questions, be supportive, make sure team members are on track and that deadlines are met.

My Leadership Experience

I am a Director level designer with eighteen years management and direction experience with a proven ability to create teams, lead designers and foster design culture. I have hands-on knowledge of complete product development lifecycle. I am an excellent communicator and able to articulate design vision at any level. I am focused on leading the creation of immersive, memorable experiences and design work that’s visually elegant, modern solves complex problems with intuitive solutions for world-class products and brands across all viewing devices.

As a Design Director I lead through the design process by expertly facilitating collaborative design sessions, planning and leading varied project plans and leading clients and teammates toward delivering beautiful digital design solutions. I have over 16 years of leading, managing, or providing senior experience design leadership on large and/or highly complex client engagements while ensuring high-quality output.

I have over 16 years of leading nationally and internationally, managing and providing senior experience design leadership on small, medium, large and/or highly complex projects.

I have experience building teams as I worked for Apex Systems from 2016 through 2019 on an NDA and trained recruiters on what to look for in Designers and the difference between a UX Designer, UI Designer, Product Designer, Visual Designer, Interaction Designer, etc. I also provided talent screening services as recruiters wouldn’t always understand the clients’ needs from the job descriptions.

My role in leadership positions is to bring out the very best in others even when they know more than I do. The learning process never stops and I love leading, learning and working with people. I always make sure I am available to answers questions, be supportive, make sure team members are on track and that deadlines are met.

My management experience consists of but is not limited to:

• Leading or collaborating with visual experience designers, content strategists, developers and clients throughout a project lifecycle.

• Building and maintaining strong relationships with senior management level of clients and clearly presenting your rationale to those people.

• Planning and expertly facilitating collaborative design workshops with clients.

• Creating and executing a strategic product roadmaps.

• Selecting and utilizing appropriate UX methodologies for projects such as, but not limited to, heuristic evaluations, content/IA analysis, user research tactics, collaborative workshops and user testing options.

• Providing mentorship and coaching to other team members in area of expertise.

• Contributing to process improvement and idea generation.

• Managing new feature implementation including creating wireframes, product requirement documents, and analytics requirements.

• Demonstrating mastery of a given subject area by interpreting trends, identifying opportunities for the company, and collaborating with a wide cross section of internal employees on best practices.

• Expert understanding of experience design best practices and principles such as, but not limited to, accessibility, performance and usability considerations.

• Ability to explain and articulate the connection from research to design decisions through storytelling and effective client presentations Interest in and ability to smoothly facilitate client meetings and collaborative working sessions.

In leadership roles I have noted that the role becomes about fostering the creativity of others, which requires a different skillset than what made me successful as a Designer. Leading designers is not easy. They can be emotional and passionate; over-confident or lacking in confidence. All hell can break loose the moment a project pushes them in a direction that doesn’t match their ideals. To be a successful Design Director, I am good at mentoring. Designers like to progress. They need to be taught how to empathize, design, collaborate, communicate, present and sell. Diplomacy – Design is hard, it’s easy for teams or people to clash. I am sensitive to everyone’s feelings and find resolutions when there are disagreements. Positivity – Life in design has its ups and downs, we can’t afford to get down when deadlines are looming. I know how to refocus the team onto the next opportunity and make sure we all learn from our mistakes and keep pressing forward to deliver the best possible design solutions.

I am a talented, passionate and multifaceted Design Director, Manager and Designer who is excited to take on new challenges with the right culture and team.

My next role

I would like to work with one company in a leadership role and team long term as opposed to several contract projects. I would like to apply the UX processes and learnings I have gained professionally and academically to solve complex design problems.
Once research & solutions have been concluded, I can then apply my Product Design and Visual Design skills to bridge the gap between UX and UI.