The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is the automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. – Bill Gates

My experience working in the US federal government and with regulated industries – Such as finance, education, and healthcare, gives me an understanding of policy, business rules, and politics has taught me to understand and work with constraints, and still come up with a successful solution. All present different challenges to juggle in creating a solution that is compliant while depicting the warmth of the brand/organization.
Futures + Foresight POV: The impact of metaverse technologies on healthcare 2023
Led the expansion of a previous effort to include the impact of metaverse technologies, academic research government statistics, and all phases of the patient journey as well as future patient scenarios to drive the understanding of the impacts and pivots on patient health outcomes while facilitating the conversation with different facets of the healthcare industry.
Project Breakdown - Coming Soon
Research - Divergent | Futures + Foresight | Human-Centered Design | Remote | Meta-Analysis

Contract Customer Experience: Competitive Analysis, Opportunities, and Vision for US Cellular 2019
Explored the competitive space of the cellular retail experience - both offline and online as well as the industry trends to identify the baseline cross-channel customer experience to inform a proprietary mobile product.
Research - Formative + Generative | Strategy | Brand | Service Design | Cross-Channel | Remote | On-Site
Contract User Research and Validation for Genentech's Physicians' Marketing 2016-2017
2 Ethnographic Studies to inform online | Fall 2016
.Com and communications) and offline (conference booth) experiences for 3 different specialists - Rheumatologists, Retinal Specialists, Ophthalmologists  to inform acquisition and retention strategies 
Research - Formative + Generative | Strategy | Brand | Service Design | Field Research

Cancer Immunotherapy Foundations | Winter 2016-2017
Exploring Cancer Immunotherapy + Getting to Know Oncologists with generative research to empower physicians' marketing teams to best serve and connect to Oncologists as Cancer immunotherapy evolves. Conducted validation study of Promise Statements, Card Sorting, Interviews, and Surveys to gain an understanding of mental models, expectations of pharma, and attitudes within the space.
Research - Formative + Generative + Evaluative | Strategy | Card Sort | Concept Validation and Exploration (Positioning statements) | Brand | Personas | Omni Channel | Acquisition + Retention  | Remote
Contract User Research for Toyota Financial Services 2016
Formative Research - Explored the pain points of financing a new car after Toyota Motor Sales identified that the finance portion of the customer experience is the most painful.  Conducted User Interviews, Card Sorting, and TMS Customer Research Meta-Analysis to inform .Com redesign content strategy. Topline report empowered marketing in their pending .Com and email campaigns, and prepared them to collaborate with TMS in redefining the showroom experience.
Project Breakdown coming soon
User Interviews | Card Sort | Service Design | Brand | Web | Omni-Channel Experience Blueprints | Personas | Acquisition + Retention | Remote
Head of User Experience/UX Competency Manager | Renaissance Learning | 06.2015-04.2016
Brought in to lead the newly established User Experience Practice after the organization converted processes to Agile to improve the integration of UX and improve the skillset and morale of the UX people.
The regulation around research and testing presented an interesting challenge when defining the Informed Consent process for students. I worked collaboratively with our external counsel to define our process to ensure it worked for all 50 states.
Project Breakdowns coming soon
Education k-12 | Leadership | Team Management | User Research | Usability Testing | Project Management | UX Strategy |  Agile
Contract User Experience Analyst and Interaction Designer | Cisco Security | 04.2015-06.2015
Contracted to work collaboratively with the innovative product team to bring their ideas to fruition including iterative design and testing.
Cisco took a refreshing turn to offer an enterprise product that targeted a new, specific-type of customer that was slightly out of reach to increase their reach, while empowering those who have not had these types of tools and offering their latest security advancements.
Security | Leadership | Strategy | Creative Direction | Project Management | Interaction Design | Data Visualization | Dashboard | Agile
Contract User Experience Analyst and Product Designer | Cisco – CSTG | 04.2015-06.2015
Cisco took a refreshing turn to offer an enterprise dashboard that targeted a new, specific-type of customer that was slightly out of reach to increase their reach, while empowering those who have not had these types of tools and offering their latest security advancements.
Contracted to work collaboratively with the innovative product team to bring their ideas to fruition including leading iterative design and testing of the product concept to detail design.
Leadership | Strategy | Creative Direction | Project Management | Product Design | Data Visualization | Dashboard | Agile | Cloud | SAAS | International | Remote
UX Lead and Management Consultant | Toyota Financial Services | 01.2014 – 03.2014
www.ToyotaFinancial.com: login required/secure site (Release of Strategy + Design 11.2014 and over next year)
Contracted to redesign a secure-site feature, I expanded my contract within 1 week to include working with technical department to define User Experience within the organization, lead other redesign efforts in progress, and manage other UX contractors.
Worked with business, marketing and technical leadership to educate and empower them with an understanding of UX/UCD. Worked with leadership to integrate UX into existing processes.
Engaged multi-discipline team members in UX/UCD methodologies to mentor and empower  them within the context of the secure site redesign. Directed and mentored contract interactive designer in redesign of desktop and mobile experiences.
Defined, recruited and interviewed candidates for UX Lead and Visual Designer/Developer positions, defined requirements and criteria for testing and supplementary design and testing vendor(s).
Produced UX Strategy, and completed detailed design for desktop and mobile site and apps. short-term updates to experiences.
Financial | Leadership | Strategy | Creative Direction | Interaction Design | Participatory Design | Mobile App + Site | Desktop | Retention
Contract User Experience Lead | Elavon for POSSIBLE Cincinnati | 10.2013 – 01.2014
Lead the UX Strategy to establish a unified vision of what needs to be built and how they will be used to ensure the iterative redesign is cohesive no matter what the time period of the B2B site targeting all size businesses. The approach and the strategy inspired the client to add two small projects including a new B2B Customer Portal for Small Business Owners. Also designed a new section for .Com – Mobile, Tablet, and Desktop.
Finance | Leadership | UX Strategy | Creative Direction | UX Architecture | Interaction Design | Content Strategy | Participatory Design | Responsive | Mobile | Desktop | Tablet | Remote Work | Business Development | Acquisition
Information Architect/Content Strategist/Analyst CTIA for Fleishman Hillyard | 02.2013 – 03.2013
With only a budget that allowed for 100 hours of User Experience work, I assumed the Content Strategy and Information Architecture facet of a redesign started by another firm. I conducted gorilla Card Sorting and Cluster Analysis of CTIA team members, evaluated content for ROT and usability, and then proposed a new IA and Content Strategy with guidance for the Visual Designers and editors.
Lobbyist | Strategy | Content Strategy | Information Architecture | Remote Work | Retention | User Research
Contract Associate User Experience Director | Fortune 50 – Regulated Industry 09.2012 – 12.2012
Management Consultant to industry-regulated client providing strategic solutions for phases of foundational enterprise CMS and design system implementation. Managed relationships with 3 clients and provided UX Direction for 12 projects. Created efficient and effective user experience strategy for franchise sites (produced concepts and presentation).  Identified positioning to harness known usage and current successes, brand relationships and behaviors to meet business drivers for a more competitive product. Facilitated concept and design sessions.
Leadership | Strategy | Account Management | Systems + Applications | CMS
Director of Information Architecture  |  George Washington University  |  11.2010 – 08.2011
Responsible for the usability & usefulness of sites; direction for site projects; directed staff and contractors; and established relationships with stakeholders. 
Project Breakdowns – CMS Selection | Design System
Higher Education | Research | Leadership | Strategy | Project Management | Information Architecture | User Research | Usability Testing | Design Thinking | Creative Direction | Systems + Applications | CMS | Mobile | Mentoring | Team Management | Client Management | Interaction Design | Visual Design | Participatory Design
Functional Lead/Project Manager  |  EPA’s CDX for CGI Federal | 04.2009-12.2009 
Led a facet of a government contract transition of help desk operations, and establishing supporting processes and staffing. Managed 3 client relationships and relationships with other contracting firms, facilitated daily control calls to ensure a cohesive effort, and budget review sessions throughout transition, monitored burn rates of staff and contractors and scope of work. Led the definition of processes for tier-3 help desk calls. Responsibilities were expanded the oversight of contract implementation across multiple contracting firms. Left at the end of the contract transition to return to creative environment.
Samples are not available due to contract NDA
Government | Environment | Leadership | Strategy | Account Management | Business Process Refinement | Client Management | Budget Management | Team Management
Contract User Experience Architect | USPS for AKQA | 09.2008 – 04.2009
Six-month contract collaborating with internal stakeholders, other contractors, and creative team to refine requirements, establish experience vision, and defined user experiences for B2B and B2C applications, systems, and portal. Established new Information Architecture/Content Strategy for USPS B2B site. Produced wireframes, site architecture and user task flows and user requirements. Facilitated cognitive walk-throughs.
Samples are not available due to contract NDA
B2b eCommerce | Leadership | Strategy | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Enterprise Systems + Applications | Government/Regulation | Cognitive Walk-throughs
Creative Lead | NDAR/NIH for Sapient Government Services | 08.2007 – 12.2007
Hired for a systems project that lost its funding on my second day, I was reassigned to a new project as a trainer/instructional designer for the NDAR portal (which had critical usability issues).
Successes included significantly improving the relationship with the client’s client by redesigning the training program approach by using User-Centered Design methodologies, and defining a national training strategy for its roll-out.
Activities included interviewing the target audience to understand user needs, mental models, and tasks; researching, and then applying training and instructional design heuristics; and facilitating initial training sessions. I designed a Self-Guided Training Workbook structured to align to the targeted users’ tasks. Then I designed a classroom session that aligned and used the self-guided workbook. I defined a national training strategy that would include video, webcast and classroom sessions. Happily recruited away by Kadoo for more relevant work.
Healthcare | Research | Leadership | Strategy | Client Management | User Task Analysis | Print Design
Information Architect/Usability Analyst | EPA Energy Star and other EPA groups for SRA International | 03.2006 – 04.2007
In an agency-type environment I was charged with enhancing usability of, and designing, systems and microsites designed for clients using UCD heuristics and activities. Presented and pitched additional design work to existing clients (Business Development). Produced presentations, wireframes, user task flows, site architecture, personas and scenarios, use cases, and requirements. Left to complete undergraduate degree on time-off, and traveled.
Environment | B2C | B2B | Leadership | Strategy | Heuristic Evaluation | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Business Development | Enterprise Systems + Applications | Dashboards | Acquisition
Senior Subject Matter Expert/Staff Augmentation | SSA for Lockheed Martin Information Technologies | 05.2002 – 03.2006
Taking a step back in my career for the opportunity to learn UCD formally, I worked in a supporting role my first year learning the business process behind the SSA Disability Program, how to maneuver a federal agency, and UCD methodologies.
After a year, my responsibilities were expanded to include leading projects, in addition to supporting design teams assigned in the effort to modernize the SSA Disability Program – browser-based enterprise system, as well as smaller application projects – both inter- and intranet products.
UCD work included: Research, design, and testing activities to establish, refine and/or validate requirements and designs. Research included leading the user and task analysis of Psychiatrist and Psychologist as well as the DDS's supporting task to inform policy and system design decisions.
Championed UCD methodologies throughout the agency to better support system and application design/refinement.
Mentored and directed college graduates in their first year on contract.
Design Thinking projects included defining requirements for GOTS products, business process refinements, and policy definition.
Special projects included: exploring the usability and usefulness of our documentation using UCD methodologies.
Samples are not available due to contract NDA
Disability | Retirement | Leadership | Strategy | Mentoring | Participatory Design | Usability Testing | Interaction Design | User Research | Design Thinking | Heuristic Evaluation | Dashboards | Applications + Enterprise Systems | Usability | Government/Regulation
Web Manager | MedStar Health | 09.2001 – 05.2002
Directed enterprise projects including CMS and Payment system for the hospitals’ and corporate websites, and ongoing efforts to drive overall corporate success. Ensured consistency and coordinated Cross-Channel marketing efforts. Developed internal relationships to improve the brand consistency and the quality of hospital sites, as well as reducing the costs of common support services. Established and managed vendor relationships to ensure on time/specification delivery of all tasks and achievement of all organizational needs. Redesigned Harbor Hospital Site working collaboratively with the hospital’s PR team and Visual Designer. Recruited away by LMIT.
Healthcare | Leadership | Information Architecture | Vendor Management | CMS | Cross-Channel | Acquisition + Retention | eCommerce | Mentoring | User Task Analysis | Client Management
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