Core Skills
User Experience Design
User Interface Design
Product Management
Product Design Strategy
Visual Design
Interaction Design
User Research
Usability Testing
Heuristic Evaluations
Accessible Design
Wireframing
Rapid Prototyping
Design Systems
Sketch / Figma / InVision
HTML / CSS
Work Experience
Amazon / AWS
July 2020 - Present
Senior User Experience Designer
Senior design lead for AWS Training and Certification operations and learning administration products. Built operations tools to manage our global network of instructors, a scheduling management tool to optimize coordinating learning activities and resource allocation, an AI sales management tool, and curriculum collaboration and Learning Management System publishing tools. I am also an accessibility ambassador, manage our design system development, and AWS Brand relationships.
I reduced operational time on task by 20% and increased our instructor resource allocation by 20% year-over-year.
Scaled the number of courses delivered annually 4x by creating a network for certified partner delivered learning.
Increased sales pipeline $35MM/$13MM closed by designing system for evaluating AWS customers’ employee skills gap.
Increased customer satisfaction feedback scores 20%.
I function as the advocate for accessible design on my UX team – training twelve other designers on accessibility best practices. Because of this, AWS Training and Certification now builds fully accessible products which open learning opportunities to 15% more people across the globe.
Instructure
July 2018 - July 2020
Senior Product Designer
Lead product design of Instructure’s (Canvas) interactive video-learning and quizzing products for K-12 and higher ed institutions. Collaborated with an outstanding team to rapidly design, test and release products. Developed a certified accessible, open-source design system for Canvas and educators.
Designed and launched Canvas’s interactive video education platform.
Instituted a rapid design, test, development and release process to ensure we were continually connected to users and releasing high impact features.
Grew our sales and users 300% year-over-year for three years in a row via launching Canvas Studio and continual feature development.
Designed an accessible, WCAG AA-certified, internationalized design system which accelerated our build cycles 200% company-wide and expanded our addressable market.
Infogroup
March 2015 - July 2018
Senior Product Designer
Conducted user research to identify opportunities for product strategy. Designed and tested design ideas and prototypes with users to deliver useful tools to users that resulted in business growth. Worked with business stakeholders, engineering and product to bring our behavioral sales insights and automation products to market. Developed a culture of user-centric and data-driven decision making.
Increased product usage 200% through user research and designing new sales insights and marketing products.
Reduced internal operational time on task by 30% via enhancing product usability.
Proxibid, Inc
2013 – 2015
Product Manager
Defined strategic vision for the product roadmap to reach business KPI goals. Planned and designed a complex inventory management system and mobile bidding application. Collaborated with stakeholders and cross-functional teams to execute on product plans. Championed simple, user-centric design thinking within the Product team.
Proxibid, Inc.
2009 – 2015
User Experience Designer
Lead user experience and interface design for all of Proxibid’s products. Increased accessibility to their core product, a live webcast auction platform, by adapting it from a desktop application to a web app. Defined visual design systems for Proxibid and it's subsidiary brands. Designed products to deliver positive user experience and drive business success. Collaborated with users and stakeholders to evaluate requirements, test and refine designs.
Ervin & Smith Advertising
2007 – 2009
Graphic Designer
Graphic designer for in-house work and top financial, education and healthcare clients. Designed collateral to win new client partnerships. Researched and implemented new technologies for clients.
Education & Certification
Creighton University
2003 - 2007
BA of Visual Communication, Fine Art and Advertising
I started my undergrad degree studying fine art, writing and linguistics. As I progressed I focused on functional design and communication systems.
Graduated Cum Laude and Dean’s List with a bachelor's degree in Visual Communication / Graphic Design, Advertising and Fine Art.
Activities and Societies: Omaha Federation of Advertising (past), American Advertising Federation (past), AIGA: the professional design association (current, Nebraska Chapter)
Nielsen Norman Group
September 2015
NN/g UX Certification
Completed User Experience Strategy, Agile Development & UX, Complex Applications & Websites 1 & 2, Usability Testing courses.
Google
December 2016
Google Analytics IQ Certified
Completed Google Analytics Academy courses including Google Analytics Platform Principles, Digital Analytics Fundamentals, Ecommerce Analytics and Mobile App Analytics Fundamentals.
Pragmatic Marketing
March 2011
Pragmatic Marketing Certified
Completed multiple courses and tests to attain my Pragmatic Marketing Certification.