currently
Capital One, New York
I was hired in to support design operations as one of the original 3 designers to scale up our team to 125+ within our Commercial/ Business design agile transformation. I cannot speak enough to how much inclusion, diversity, belonging, and mentorship means to me as a people leader.
Senior Design Manager | Strategic Projects, Commercial Business Strategy (2023-Present)
Design Manager | Smart Pay Product Launch, Card Spending & Payment Intelligence (2019-2022)
Navigated my team through the complexities of Card Spending, by optimizing our customer's spending habits and equipping our operational associates with intelligent data insights to deliver quality experiences for our business, resulting in a 0-to-1 product launch of a software product called Smart Pay. I enabled us to:
Principal Lead Designer | Intellix Mobile & Login/Authentication (Aug 2016-2019)
I was hired in to support design operations as one of the original 3 designers to scale up our team to 125+ within our Commercial/ Business design agile transformation. I cannot speak enough to how much inclusion, diversity, belonging, and mentorship means to me as a people leader.
Senior Design Manager | Strategic Projects, Commercial Business Strategy (2023-Present)
- I currently hold a horizontal design strategist role to provide value by embedding a human-centered design strategy approaches, mindsets, and methodologies at the portfolio/tower levels. I bring forward foundational customer needs and marry it with market insights to deliver on strategic narratives to senior leadership and drive evolutionary vision that gives direction to our suite of products/services and data/associate enablement support.
Design Manager | Smart Pay Product Launch, Card Spending & Payment Intelligence (2019-2022)
Navigated my team through the complexities of Card Spending, by optimizing our customer's spending habits and equipping our operational associates with intelligent data insights to deliver quality experiences for our business, resulting in a 0-to-1 product launch of a software product called Smart Pay. I enabled us to:
- Create a spectrum of personas, journeymaps, and blueprints across our customers, their vendor relationships, and associate/operational enablement touchpoints within the broader ecosystem
- Generate themed insight buckets through user research to define the root problem space gaps and surface actionable POV's
- Facilitate ideation exercises and co-creation jams with product/tech/design partners to collaborate. Yes, and!
- Employ prioritization frameworks with business/associate stakeholder leaders for our strategies and roadmaps
- Paint the North Star destination state vision and MVP for how we equip our customers and operations team with machine learning data insights and intelligence they need to enable them to simply do their jobs with ease, reliability, and trust
- Launch Smart Pay, a new 0-to-1 bill pay software from inception to market – customer strategy, discovery/research, testing/implementation through to go to execution, delivery, and go to market launch
- Instruct and coach 50-100+ colleagues in design thinking bootcamps and engaged in external public speaking engagements
Principal Lead Designer | Intellix Mobile & Login/Authentication (Aug 2016-2019)
- Iterative Product/Feature Delivery and Strategy: Integrated design team directly into the Intellix mobile app agile feature delivery pods to work directly with product, tech, operations, and implemented features such as remote direct deposit capture, money transfers, international wire capabilities, and enrollment, onboarding and login/authentication security.
- Pioneered and formalized our first ever design research and testing practices in Commercial by establishing tight relationships with our Sales/RM and Servicing teammates as well as on site interviews with clients and in house touring mixers.
fueled & inspired by community
Brooklyn Product Design Meetup
Owner and Lead Organizer: 2017 - Current (5+ years)
My joy and side passion project is leading the Brooklyn Product Design meetup group – spearheading initiatives for my local design communities and providing a platform for 4.3k+ curious minds to use their voice, teach, learn and connect with each other in a safe space through monthly speaker talks, design hackathons, and social mingling events in Brooklyn, with expansion to establishing sister chapters globally in Singapore and Los Angeles.
Owner and Lead Organizer: 2017 - Current (5+ years)
My joy and side passion project is leading the Brooklyn Product Design meetup group – spearheading initiatives for my local design communities and providing a platform for 4.3k+ curious minds to use their voice, teach, learn and connect with each other in a safe space through monthly speaker talks, design hackathons, and social mingling events in Brooklyn, with expansion to establishing sister chapters globally in Singapore and Los Angeles.
Other Community Engagements
- Public speaker, Instructor and Workshop facilitator for affiliated orgs such as WIT, Pratt, FIT, UXCamp, Global Service Jam, Impact Hub Network, Steam On Conference, and C1 Coders for kids. Additional pro bono projects: Start Small Think Big and Green City Force projects
- 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) Alumni, Advocate, AIGA Mentor, UXPA Pratt Hackathon Judge
previously
Fluid, New York
Senior UI/UX Designer: May 2016 - June 2016 (1 month)
UI design and UX prototype work on an iOS mobile app.
Senior UI/UX Designer: May 2016 - June 2016 (1 month)
UI design and UX prototype work on an iOS mobile app.
Organic Inc, San Francisco
Senior Product/Experience Designer: January 2016 - May 2016 (5 months)
An iOS & Android mobile app to guide and support customers in managing and tracking their savings and spending habits via gamification.
Senior Product/Experience Designer: January 2016 - May 2016 (5 months)
An iOS & Android mobile app to guide and support customers in managing and tracking their savings and spending habits via gamification.
- Iterated prototypes from user testing feedback sessions in agile sprints
- Lead visual UI direction while working in tandem in a core team of UX and Copy to whiteboard ideas with project leads.
Symphony Commerce, San Francisco (Deliverr Inc)
Principal UI/UX Lead, eCommerce Storefront: September 2015 - January 2016 (5 months)
Symphony is a startup with its own SaaS product platform that ties in responsive websites > backend inventory > fulfillment & shipping services all in one cohesive shopper experience – whether in D2C retail or B2B wholesale.
Consumables: Gatorade | Early Bird Foods
Home Goods: Nature's Shea | Cuppow
Principal UI/UX Lead, eCommerce Storefront: September 2015 - January 2016 (5 months)
Symphony is a startup with its own SaaS product platform that ties in responsive websites > backend inventory > fulfillment & shipping services all in one cohesive shopper experience – whether in D2C retail or B2B wholesale.
- Lead numerous responsive website redesign launches for newly onboarded clients via initial site audit & discovery.
- Created wireframe direction for design agency vendors to ensure client sites were well-translated for ecommerce UX best practices and scalability.
- Pushed backend product platform limitations to suggest new features and functionalities in order to drive up customer conversion rates.
Consumables: Gatorade | Early Bird Foods
Home Goods: Nature's Shea | Cuppow
Giant Creative Strategy, San Francisco
Senior UI/UX Designer: April 2013–September 2015 (2 years, 6 months)
Transplanted out to the tech mecca of San Francisco to embark on a new chapter in my career doing fully interactive experience design work, wearing multiple hats in UX, UI, Dev, and Tech for multiple client requests.
Senior UI/UX Designer: April 2013–September 2015 (2 years, 6 months)
Transplanted out to the tech mecca of San Francisco to embark on a new chapter in my career doing fully interactive experience design work, wearing multiple hats in UX, UI, Dev, and Tech for multiple client requests.
- Seeded meaningful UX via discovery whiteboard sessions, IA sitemapping, and wireframes.
- Spit out countless iterations of UX wireframes and UI designs that serve purposeful functionalities with intuitive best practice uses and trends.
- Performed light Github pushes for html/css/json code fixes and perform back-end Salesforce sandbox migrations by setting up login permission settings on their Veeva iRep CRM tablet platform.
CDM World Agency, New York
Senior Art Director: January 2011–April 2013 (2 years, 2 months)
Art Director: March 2009–December 2010 (2 years)
Snagged my first Art Director job in healthcare advertising to bring my hybrid print and digital skillsets to full bloom.
Senior Art Director: January 2011–April 2013 (2 years, 2 months)
Art Director: March 2009–December 2010 (2 years)
Snagged my first Art Director job in healthcare advertising to bring my hybrid print and digital skillsets to full bloom.
- Created full campaign launches, branding redesigns, print collateral, website facelifts, traffic drivers, tradeshow displays and outdoors concepts.
- Spearheaded multiple Amgen and Pfizer brands where I directly advised, partnered, and sold ideas to clients right across the street from us.
- Lead, managed, and tagteammed with designers, illustrators, and freelancers to launch the first ever Viagra iPad selling tool app.
foot in the door
|
Fashion Institute of Technology: Packaging Design BFA
Presidential Scholars Honors Program // Club President of Creative Showcase ICON Magazine Publication Pedone, New York Studio Intern: July 2005–June 2006 (1 year) Spent a year silhouetting out hair strands and retouching wrinkles. Mastered the Xacto knife for comp finishes while running on 4 hours of sleep a night finishing up on projects for school! Clients reached: Disney on Ice | Sweet N Low | Sugar in the Raw | Matrix Biolage | Sawgrass Mills FCB, New York Interactive/Digital Intern, Summer 2006 (3 months) Concepted, executed, and pitched on how to revamp Draft FCB's recruitment program in a group of 15 interns. And we won! The in-house coffee/beer bar was the bomb. Clients reached: Wisk Dual Action | Snuggle | Verizon | Draftfcb Recruitment Revamp spoon+fork, New York Art/Web Intern, Winter 2006 (2 months) Worked on an AIDS awareness initiative featuring Alicia Keys as an ambassador. Sipped Sagatiba rum for the first time. Clients reached: Keep A Child Alive | Sagatiba Rum |
DDB, Chicago
Interactive/Digital Intern, Summer 2007 (3 months) Got into the 4A's MAIP intern program and was flown to Chicago with 15 other interns living and working for multiple agencies... it was like the Real World, but for Ad students. Ate a lot of deep dish, drank a lot of Pepsi (they were our clients) and plastered a 4 walled room with all the route maps for Celebrity Cruises. Clients reached: Pepsi Tava | Quaker Oatmeal Simple Harvest | Celebrity Cruises | Element 79 Film Festival Ceradini Design, New York Packaging Design Intern, Spring 2008 (3 months) Showed multiple renderings of the Jose Cuervo margarita mix lady 10 different ways before clients were happy with the way she looked. Made lots of mood boards and played with boxes and labels. Clients reached: Jose Cuervo | Heineken | Amstel Light | Koleston Matlock Advertising + PR, Atlanta Art Direction Intern, Summer 2008 (3 months) Flew down to Atlanta for the summer and went on a photoshoot for a new Publix campaign where food designers molded okras, spinach and eggplants into a full on tropical bird. Also went to an audio recording and heard lots of stories about Keisha Cole. Learned a lot about black hair products but never got to try them on myself. Clients reached: Publix | Luster's | BMW |
in my toolbox
Conversations, Post it Notes, Googleslides. People who are smarter than me.
Figma, Sketch, InVision, Adobe Suite. Lucidspark, Mural, Jamboards, Frameworks. Service Design Facilitation, Storytelling and Design Thinking Instruction. Agile tools, Airtable, Trello, JIRA, Confluence, Salesforce. And cupcakes to kick off meetings :)
Figma, Sketch, InVision, Adobe Suite. Lucidspark, Mural, Jamboards, Frameworks. Service Design Facilitation, Storytelling and Design Thinking Instruction. Agile tools, Airtable, Trello, JIRA, Confluence, Salesforce. And cupcakes to kick off meetings :)
icing on the cake
Always debating a walk to my local grocery store vs a HelloFresh box for dinner. Can get a little too picky with zoom backgrounds, but am always enthusiastic with 👍 slack emojis – secretly loves pranks, antics, and selfies in the office. Inspired by the freedom of solo traveling and meeting strangers, but loves to piggyback off motorcycle rides to get in a weekend nature kick
portfolio case studies
As much as beautiful Visual UI and Interaction design captures my eye, I am most passionately drawn to the complexities and problems that exist within the end to end ecosystem – to fix the backend servicing touchpoints and gaps that often exist between the people, process, and tools that power a great customer experience in the front of the house. I work extensively with my product, tech, and business counterparts to influence the direction of our north star vision strategy, and to define scope of work to prioritize our roadmaps. I empower my team to take the reigns with curiosity to experiment, test, and learn from our assumptions when iterating on our product and service experiences.
*Reach out directly for additional strategy, service design, and research case studies.
*Reach out directly for additional strategy, service design, and research case studies.