As part of a reorg, managed the teams, budget, and strategy of the Research, CX (customer experience and service design), XD (user experience, user interface, accessibility, and creative services), and Portfolio (project management, security, scrum) verticals for the Human Experience Practice.

Evangelized strategy, governance, and new ways of working to federal clients, healthcare initiatives, and practice areas, driving Bixal's mission and vision.Led successful growth of HCD team from 13 to 32, expanding capabilities in UX Research, UX Design, UI Design, Creative Services, and Accessibility. Managed 31 direct reports, including managers, leads, and directors.Established and championed a management structure to foster growth and balance freedom with expectations for employee success.Collaborated closely with Project Managers and Client Engagement leads to accurately scope and plan projects.Partnered with Practice Leads to continuously evolve methods, enhance collaboration, and strengthen practice areas.Guided the team in embracing a culture of critique, empowering them to provide actionable feedback and insights.Improved team velocity and knowledge sharing through standardized templates and adaptable processes.Created cross-functional spaces for collaboration within the practice and wider Bixal team, fostering learning and strong relationships.Led and collaborated with multidisciplinary teams, ensuring high-quality outcomes, objective achievement, and optimal team utilization.Cultivated an open environment where every voice is valued and positive collaboration thrives.Oversaw team management activities, including performance reviews, feedback, and career planning. Translated People & Culture initiatives into everyday employee experiences.Managed staff utilization, allocation, hiring, and forecasting, addressing resource overages and shortages proactively.Leveraged employee capabilities and interests to make informed staffing decisions aligned with career pathing and professional development goals.Ensured compliance with resource management and timekeeping policies, effectively communicating and integrating them into daily work realities.Managed the yearly budget for the HCD team, including procurement of essential tools and resources.

I do freelance work to keep myself busy, or to work with clients I care about—the oft spoken "side hustle." Often this involves either brand design and systems, or heuristic analysis and recommendations for UX/CX design.

Creating UX systems and data visualization for government data products, primarily in Power BI. Supporting the CIO and internal offices in creating user focused data products that easy to understand at all levels, from employee creation to end user consumption. Focused on process, data structures, and user needs.

Lead the creative discovery and design process, establishing standards and systems for projects.Manage a small creative team, providing inspiration, creative direction, and constructive feedback to ensure all of the creative work is up to best practices and standards. Build the department and organizational ladder, providing context and clarity for career development.Work with clients during the discovery process to help define requirements and the business goals behind them.Pitch new clients, write RFP responses and generate new leads.Conduct UX research and analysis.Define strategic direction for creative projects, marrying the UX and creative direction with business needs and outcome metrics.Present—and help the team present—the craft, strategy, and solutions we create.Act as lead designer on projects, either solely or with the team.Define process with other senior team members at an organizational level, integrating feedback and implementing systemic changes to increase efficiency, clarity, and ease.

Embedded experience designer in the ITA helping with human factors and user experience design. I lead long workshops and get disparate offices to understand and agree on how they impact and help their clients. I collect business requirements from a user-needs perspective and advocate on behalf of the user. Currently working to update the digital presence of the ITA, as well as improve internal tools. I conduct usability studies, user interviews, and workshops, as well as act as SME for interaction design within strategy meetings. I work across all platform teams, but am primarily focused on Salesforce.

Joined a small product team as the first and only designer, taking ownership of the brand direction, design standards, and implementing a structured design process. Created all marketing assets and redefined the brand. Engaged customers as a UX designer by conducting interviews, surveys, and ethnographic research, then interpreted the data to find and prioritize pain points and needs as feature implementations. Set up userflows and personas, worked through customer experience mapping, and created presentations to explain and disseminate findings. Created consistency between online and offline experiences and translated brand language across all channels and touchpoints. Helped lead marketing on concept and advertising. Ran workshops to explain and uncover brand elements. Acted as a user advocate to vet product and brand decisions against real needs and data.

Adjunct Faculty: Design for User ExperienceTeaching a class of junior and senior Graphic Design undergrads the fundamentals of user experience design by focusing on effective UX practices, methodologies, and presentation structures. Created lesson plans and projects to teach and test skills, while trying to impart lateral thinking about how current skills such as typographic hierarchy can be applied to things like navigation structures. Focused on user-centered design.

Joined a struggling social team for Michelob Ultra and increased user engagement by ~70% through effective content strategy and strong campaigns. Solved usability problems for AutoZone’s internal marketing apps by creating more coherent experiences and intuitive interfaces, drawing on user feedback. Created a streamlined and consistent onboarding process for TD Ameritrade by implementing a structured content and deployment strategy, as well as adjusting the hierarchy of communications. Mentored junior designers in UX standards, client presentations, and tool skills.

Worked with clients and account to create websites, print and digital advertisements, ad campaigns, and interactive apps. Worked with development team defining UX and design for websites and applications. Created integrated campaigns including traditional and social advertising for clients such as Astra Zeneca (Seroquel™ and Nexium™ brands), YKK AP, Redken, PowerBar, and STIHL products. Organized and managed design interns. Lead creative concept and directed production on social media editorial calendars.

Created website editorial and advertising graphics - banner ads, takeovers, charts, graphs, illustrations, and photo research on a daily news schedule of tight deadlines. Art direct the Slate Interactive Editor, as well as produce assets for interactive elements. Supervise and train interns and non-art staff. Manage and organize daily art needs and long term projects such as micro-sites and the Slate Book Review. Assist development team with design and implementation of new site features. Devise new custom ad units within the site to increase sales and integrate harmoniously with current interface. Act as consultant for the sales team on large scale events that go beyond the website, with the mantra that “the content is the advertisement.”

Created print collateral and websites for various clients, including Sylvan Learning Center and Microsoft. Worked closely with smaller clients to seamlessly bring rebranding efforts into new websites, and worked as part of a team for larger clients and complicated websites. Created illustrations and visual solutions for campaign imagery, while keeping with UX best practices to craft websites that are both interesting and usable. Co-supervised a junior designer, teaching design programs and giving feedback on her work.

Crafted print design, identity systems, animations, mailers, infographics, websites, logos and campaigns for clients including: Goldwell North America, HairCuttery, Polk Audio, SmartBalance, Haribo, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Wall Street Journal, the International Consumer Electronics Show, Genesis Healthcare, and TBC. Directed the interactive department on various projects, while also creating assets and setting typography. Implemented ideas and executions for smaller clients; directed mechanical operations for packaging and print design for Goldwell. Established concepts, illustrations, and storyboards for SmartBalance flash animations, and oversaw their production. Co-directed on-site scouting and photography, helped art direct the TBC rebrand, worked directly with clients, account executives, and creative directors.

Worked with professor and students to help facilitate learning Adobe Flash. Wrote teaching briefs and in-class demos as well as helped students on an individual basis with all aspects of Flash, from design to keyframes and actionscript

Organize and coordinate student trips and events around Baltimore and campus, work with agents and school to book performances, create and utilize a systematic workflow for a new venue space, create advertisements for events, collaborate with other program managers to plan, realize, and staff large-scale campus-wide events

Worked to create sound concepts through ample research and effective design. Created logos and identity systems for various organizations including Events at Independence Seaport Museum, set typography for books, college mailers, and feature articles. Worked with databases and CSS.