Aj Joplin Email & Phone Number

Austin, Texas, United States

I work with clients to understand their needs related to solving customer experience (CX) related challenges and help them envision solutions through research, coaching, and workshops. I write and speak on a variety of topics related to CX research, tools, practices, and methodologies as well as best practices for collaboration and product organization structure.

Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Working to establish customer-centricity and agile practices with clients through education and coaching. As an advisor and partner to executives at Fortune 500 clients I have influenced these complex organizations through:• L&D program management: facilitation, learning experience design, communications, and train-the-trainer aids • Organizational structure and succession planning consultation• Curriculum analysis and revision of existing materials• Creation of original courses including facilitator and participant guides as well as on-the-job references• Community of Practice design and launch to support the practice of facilitation• Lead facilitator of Design methodologies and Human-Centered Design learning experiences

Austin, Texas Area

Key Responsibilities… Business Design, Internal Business Development, Learning Experience Design, Facilitation, Coaching As a founding member of the core team for USAA’s Human-Centered Design (HCD) team, my work evolved the way USAA approaches the future through creative problem solving and structured collaboration at scale. • Responsible for designing steps to achieve the broader goal of expanding HCD as a means to enhancing the skills of Designers, Product Managers, Engineers and Executives throughout USAA. • Workshops addressing USAA specific target groups using a just-in time approach to ensure stickiness • Multi-channel (live stream, asynchronous communities & spaces) learning opportunities ‘before and beyond the workshop’ to reinforce learning • Coached the expansion of HCD with 1:1, small group, and team coaching to create HCD enthusiasts and leaders resulting in layered educational experiences • Designed artifacts, executed research, and led discussions to bridge the gap between SAFe Agile and Design Thinking methodologies • Scaled HCD knowledge through the design and delivery of HCD 101, a webinar style course, available to all 30k+ USAA employees

Austin, Texas

Key Responsibilities… Business Design, Executive Partnership Development, Studio Leadership Development, Studio Health Assessment, Executive Coaching, Studio Leader Onboarding & Development “Unity, Not Uniformity” was my guiding mantra as I worked to find opportunity patterns across IBM Studios' network of 45+ global design studios. As a leader on the IBM Studios team, I melded design approaches and business acumen to create environments and studio management strategies that enabled user-centric outcomes. I collaborated globally to identify and systematically resolve root deterrents to studio success. As a start-up within IBM Design I was instrumental to the go to market approach our team crafted. It was essential to: • Create light-weight governance and standards to define the look, feel, and approach of an IBM Studios location and their approach to design • Understand the health, challenges, and opportunities associated with each studio using our Studio Rubric • Research and author guidance for studios specific to the challenges studio leaders encountered when scaling learning or making studio management decisions• Design and host a yearly IBM Studios Summit, a collaborative learning experience for studio executives around the globe

Austin, Texas

Key Responsibilities… Program Design, Experience Design, Lead Facilitation, Coaching As an IBM Design Core Team member and Program Lead I developed curriculum and experiences to train seasoned design professionals alongside cross-functional IBMers in the understanding and application of IBM Design Thinking in their context. My work expanded the offering of design thinking education at IBM to consider team dynamics and the intersection of Agile practices and design thinking. My work explored and evolved the Industry Hire Bootcamp prototype into a full-scale, global offering. Key outputs were: • Expansion of participant diversity in terms of abilities, perspectives, and experience • Extension of the Bootcamp’s duration to deepen practice and to extend the topics covered • Multi-tiered learning system and methods for those seeking to become high-caliber design-thinking facilitators • Design Team lead for the reinvention of IBM’s Performance Review process

Austin, Texas Area

Key Responsibilities… Stakeholder Mapping, Executive Alignment, Lever Identification, Project Management, Coaching My work led to improved communication across the design team and stakeholders in product, marketing, and engineering. I worked to identify opportunities to connect work across disciplines to build long-term continuity in our collaborative product design approach leading to my invitation to join the Core Team.

Austin, Texas, United States

Key Responsibilities… Process Mapping, Instructional Design, Project Management, Coaching At Schwab I updated processes for managing complex team and vendor relationships, as well as: • Wrote SOPs for new processes • Created opportunities and experiences for my team to explore personal strengths • Led offsites and retrospectives that directly impacted the direction of the team’s work and approach to communication

Denver, Co

+ Brought Prepaid Product Support and Technical Delivery Development teams together after years of non-communication to overhaul customer call handling processes. Implemented bi-weekly meetings, built consensus around task resolution steps and fought for project prioritization in the development queue resulting in increased customer/client satisfaction and shorter resolution times+ Managed the collective WU Reload+ $25mm collective P&L & marketing budget to cover prepaid product portfolio gaps through improved POS design and targeted marketing partnerships with high volume potential agents+ Launched the national WU Reload+ brand in 48k retail locations. Built out POS collateral, Sales support information, OOH and microsite to align with product strategy; worked with in-house and external design agencies to execute+ Evaluated and communicated technical needs for operational/product developments and enhancements + Redesigned products based on user/customer research while meeting internal goals+ Developed situational financial models with cross-functional teams to formulate service related decisions

Englewood, Co

+ Collaborated effectively with cross-functional teams to represent a holistic view of risks observed, to keep knowledge base current as products launched and evolved, and to understand operational and IT process flows associated with Western Union products+ Researched product operational processes to assess viability and risks associated with operational functions+ Utilized and practiced risk assessment according to audit methodology established by IIA and Western Union

Denver, Co

During my time with the Greater Good Academy I worked with a team of students, professors and industry professionals to develop curriculum that educates mid to lower income entrepreneurs in the business plan development process. The Greater Good Academy places special emphasis on the inclusion of Triple Bottom Line practices in the creation of a business plan.

Denver, Co

+ Secured 4 national real estate asset management clients & maintained business/financial relations while also managing portfolio assignments+ Oversaw Accounting & HR functions, audited business operations for budget compliance and profitability + Designed and implemented payroll structures for 20 employees and 15 contractors+ Established the 1st employee policy and financial operating procedures for payroll, payables, and receivables+ Recruited contractors and created operating agreements with these contractors to execute asset improvements