My experience ranges from designing effective digital engagements for a top marketing agency to making multi-platform apps for Fortune 500 companies to creating enterprise software for the world's leading network for global supply chain orchestration.
I believe in design thinking and user research and testing. I'm familiar with modern design ecosystems and what it takes to give effective client-facing presentations as well as smooth developer handoffs and collaboration. A great designer should be a facilitator at heart who strives for the alignment of everyone involved in a project.
I have certificates in Human-Computer Interaction, Design Thinking, Mobile UX Design, and Information Visualization.
My First User Experience Job
My first real, “adult” job was in the fitness industry. It was with an Austin based company that owned three large, sales driven health clubs and eleven tanning salons. I LOVED selling fitness memberships and coaching people. This translated into me being the most successful, highest grossing salesperson in the company(If you’re intelligent and passionate about something, success is far more likely). Within three years I had moved from a part-time, weekend salesperson to General Manager of the most profitable location, and Sales Director for the entire company.
This was my first UX job, long before that term was common. Part of my obsession with sales excellence was the belief that my employees were also customers(users) and needed to be treated well and given the tools to maximize their chance at success. You can’t have happy ownership/management and an unhappy salesforce and expect the customer to have a positive experience.
One of the mainstays of the training program I developed was a sales flow model. This was the structure of how I wanted our salespeople to tour potential members through the club: what questions to ask, when to ask them, and which areas of the facility to emphasize during their interaction. I felt that establishing an optimal set of actions would actually increase their creativity and the ability to think on their feet(customers in the fitness business will voice concerns and ask questions you would never imagine!).
I developed personas based on our most common customer types and developed strategies on how to serve them best. I taught my staff how and when to deviate from their standard methods by understanding with which persona that customer aligned. I even went so far as to move equipment around to optimize the flow of the sales tour(this wasn’t easy, those machines are heavy).
The results of my efforts increased sales of the three health club locations upwards of 50%. Defining user flows, for both the salesperson and the potential member, was a key factor in this increase. It also mandated a consistency of product and what our members could expect from our brand.
Since then I've transitioned into visual design and front end development and of course, user experience in the digital realm. I'll always contend that my first design job was as director of sales for a chain of health clubs.