CORE COMPETENCIES

Project Leader, Mentor, Team Builder

• Discovery (Qualitative user experience research, analysis and synthesis) – Interviews, survey design, contextual inquiry, competitive 
analysis, participant screening (MS Office)
• Ideation – Sketching, brainstorming, affinity diagraming
• Interaction design / wireframing – Balsamiq, Omnigraffle
• Functional prototypes – Axure, InDesign, Keynote
• Usability testing – Remote and one-on-one, card sorting, user 
profiles, report creation (Morae, Camtasia)
• Web development – Proficient with Dreamweaver, WordPress, TextWrangler
• Book and graphic design – Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Introduced and implemented new UX processes to a traditional web team within one quarter.
• Grew a collaborative UX research team with motivated participants.
• Increased the UXPA LA chapter membership tenfold within 2 years.
• Improved setup success rate from 60% to 95% for an award-winning document set.
• Managed all print and presentation projects with over a 95% on-time rate.
• Consistently generated highest profits of all departments, with staff cutbacks.
• Proactive, energetic strategic thinker who solves design, communication
  and process problems.
• Team player with 10 years steering projects and 5 years as lead.
• Adaptive worker on diverse projects within range of companies.

Experience

UX Designer & Researcher     VCA-Veterinary Centers of America    Santa Monica, CA             Sept. 2016-Present

I conduct user research and am responsible for the UX design of Patient Treatment Management (PTM)—a new web-based feature for WOOFware, VCA’s enterprise medical records software. It’s game changing tools allow doctors and technicians to order, schedule and complete treatments from their desktop and iOS tablets to provide cage side patient care. We have begun piloting with specialty hospitals.

UX Designer & Marketing Manager     Verisurf Software     Anaheim, CA             Nov. 2015-Sept 2016

Wearing multiple hats within an established metrology software development company I work with developers and marketing to implement the evolution of the software and growth of the company.

User Experience Designer | Researcher      ALEKS/McGraw Hill Education     Irvine, CA       Jan. 2014-Jan. 2015

Design lead and researcher for students of all levels. Solved interface design problems; responsible for researching issues, creating solutions and delivering to developers. Worked with content managers, technical product managers, UX manager, researchers and developers. In dual role also developed and established best practice research processes that informed the UX team. Tools: Axure, PowerPoint, CS Suite, MS Office, WebEx, Morae, Survey monkey.

UXPALA Board Member (elected volunteer)       Director of special projects & Social media             Oct. 2012-Nov. 2014

Helped grow new Los Angeles area chapter: with 4-6 activities a year, grew from a few hundred members to several thousand. Responsible for the website, social media, recruiting volunteers, recording minutes, and event activities.

Web & Software Interaction Designer         Extron Electronics     Anaheim, CA Oct. 2012-Dec. 2013

Led new UX efforts as the first UX hire in the web marketing department, and later moved to the software UX design team. Planned, recruited and conducted user research, analyzed the data, collaborated with product managers, and created annotated wireframes for developers to create user-centered design solutions. Tools: Balsamiq, PowerPoint, CS Suite, MS Office, Join.me, Camtasia

UX Researcher          Hilary User Experience      Los Angeles, CA 2011-2012

Assisted with qualitative user research projects, activities included brainstorming/ideation, In-depth interviews, usability testing and research synthesis. Clients included mobile navigation, mobile bank, collaboration software, and online real estate. Tools: PowerPoint, CS Suite, MS Office, WebEx, Morae, Camtasia, Survey monkey

User Experience | Project Management | Marketing              UCLA Marketing & Special Events 2011-2012

Conducted remote usability studies of beta video portal. Performed client management, planned task-based research, screened and recruited prospective students, conducted remote usability tests, edited session videos, analyzed the data and delivered findings report.

508 Communications, Inc.      Los Angeles, CA 2011-2012

Conducted user research for a startup fitness company website including; competitive analysis, survey design and reporting, and synthesis of existing research.

Titansan Engineering, Inc.       Newport Beach, CA 2009-2012

Worked closely with the CEO, product manager and developer of technology startup that created iPhone apps for the metrology industry. Responsible for all print and web materials and app visual design; helped guide usability and user experience. Tools: PowerPoint, CS Suite, MS Office, Basic HTML tools-Dreamweaver, WordPress

Production Art Director        N Magazine     Sacramento, CA 2005-2008

Managed production and produced layouts for startup community magazine. Responsibilities also included ad creation, scheduling/tracking & file management, budgeting/billing, photography, website updating and community communications. Tools: PowerPoint, CS Suite, MS Office, Basic HTML tools-Dreamweaver

Senior Information Developer        Gateway Computer Company     N. Sioux City, SD 1997-1999 As member of User Experience team, created award-winning (STC) startup documentation. Paired with technical writer, worked closely with human factor engineers and marketers to create content and graphics. Iterated designs by understanding users with OOBE studies.

Education

UX Training / Teaching Assistant
Ithakai – Irvine, CA

Interaction Design Workshop
Cooper U workshop

User Experience & Usability Testing Certificate
California State University – Fullerton

Bachelor of Industrial Design Pratt Institute   NY, NY