“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
― Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being
I have worked in UX design operations for the past 16 years at several large tech companies including: Apple, Google, eBay. and (currently) RingCentral. I am an advocate for users, UX Designers, Content Strategists, Researchers, Product Managers, Engineers, and Organizational Leaders. I remove roadblocks and create an environment where teams can thrive and feel positive about their work.
As part of my mission to broaden and deepen my user experience knowledge and skills, I earned a M.S. Degree in User Experience Design from Kent State University. During the program, I gained both depth and breadth of UX design knowledge and methods. I apply these learnings directly to my role as a UX Design Program Manager.
Finally, I enjoy applying my UX skills to areas outside of my current role through volunteer and pro-bono UX work for organizations that need UX guidance.
projects
Left Brain
Right Brain
design operations
In my 20 years of UX design operations experience in software development, I’ve worked on a number of projects that have improved operational efficiency, transparency, and communication between team members. The projects below showcase new employee onboarding, change management at eBay, and design leadership at RingCentral.
UX design
As a M.S. User Experience graduate from Kent State University, I have worked on several projects that have helped me learn and hone my UX design skills. These projects focus on design thinking, information architecture, interaction design, UX research, as well as creating personas.
Design Operations Projects
UX Design Projects
Blog
experience
summary
Over 16 years experience in UX program management and design operations creating high-functioning UX teams and organizations. I combine Design Thinking techniques and Agile project management methodologies to foster a collaborative culture of innovation and world-class product design.
work history
ringcentral, Director, Design operations
2018 - Present
Act as 'Chief of Staff' to Chief Design Officer to carry out strategic UX org. initiatives and special projects. Lead E2E UX program management initiatives at scale resulting in greater transparency of UX priorities, resources, capacity, and project status. Partner with leaders in PMO, product management, engineering, marketing and company executives to implement and scale new processes, automations, and operational efficiencies across organizations and time zones. Develop and maintain consistent career ladders across UX org. to set up clear career paths to retain and grow UX talent. Partner with recruiting and HR to manage and drive prioritization of our UX talent hiring pipeline of candidates resulting in smooth and efficient hiring process for UX. Manage and mentor a growing team of Senior and Principal level UX Producers. Track and manage budget, talent and resources of UX organization.
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eBay, senior UX program manager
2015 - 2018
Improved team communication and on-boarding experience of new team members by creating web portals for two UX teams. Led JIRA training sessions and coached large UX team on integrating Design Thinking into SCRUM. Increased transparency, flexibility and change management by incorporating new Agile UX methods into team workflows. Successfully led, managed and delivered initiative to redesign and rebrand eBay.com/design. Fostered strong partnerships with cross-functional and UX leaders to establish the UX Design Producer role at eBay. One of four employees company-wide chosen to attend Agile 2017 conference based on strong contributions to Agile transformation at eBay. Received promotion for high performance resulting in increased efficiency across multiple teams.
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google, UX Program Manager (consultant)
2015
Strategized with design leads to coordinate and execute productive UX design sprints. Created new tracking documentation and workflow frameworks for Google Now UX team. Successfully partnered with UX team leads on resourcing and prioritization of new projects. Maximized team efficiency by simplifying processes and minimizing overlapping efforts. Led initiatives to align programs and new features across UX and cross-functional teams.
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electronic Arts, Managing e-commerce producer sims 4
2014
Built and managed roadmap of e-commerce user experience initiatives for The Sims 4 game. Executed project deliverables to create profitable monetization experiences in the game. Applied key learnings from data analysis resulting in greater optimization of purchase pathways. Cultivated strong, collaborative relationships with cross-functional and internal game teams • Supervised and mentored a team of e-commerce producers.
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Apple, senior features producer, iTunes Apps design
2007 - 2014
Contributed to Movie Trailers app enhancements resulting in a 4-star rating in the App Store • Effectively prioritized and delegated ongoing UX design deliverables on iTunes 11 redesign project. Orchestrated front-end launch of TV, Movies, Audiobooks, Music Videos and Pre-orders on iPhone. Reduced design churn by providing effective timelines and clear requirements. Streamlined copy process resulting in more efficient utilization of production resources.
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Senior Producer, Creative Services
2005 - 2007
Provided strong leadership and resource management to a team of designers and copywriters. Accelerated project turn-around times and improved overall track record for Creative Services team. Launched web page redesign resulting in increased merchandising opportunities and conversion rates. Spearheaded and rolled out new business processes with cross-functional divisions • Promoted from Producer to Senior Producer after 8 months of employment.
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Associate Producer, old navy online
2002 - 2005
Contributed to the development of new tools and web site features by acting as a product data expert. Decreased product data errors by writing clear CMS documentation for Merchandising teams. Accurately updated mapping of left navigation categories for brand new data management tool.
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production coordinator, yahoo!
1998 - 2001
Organized and arranged gift browsing sections resulting in consistent and clear navigation. Enhanced and expanded Yahoo! Music features by contributing to the brainstorming of new ideas. Created, edited, and wrote special promotions and gift page content for Yahoo! Music.
Companies
Specialties
Skills
Interest
UX Design
Songwriting
Music
Hiking
Travel
Volunteering
Education
kent state university, kent, OH
M.S. USER EXPERIENCE
Graduated August 2020
wayne state university, detroit, MI
B.A. ENGLISH, MAGNA CUM LAUDE
Graduated May 1998
oakland community college, farmington hills, MI
A.A. Liberal Arts
Graduated May 1995