I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Before anyone asks - I wasn’t sure what to do with it either. I knew that I liked to study people, to try and understand why they did what they did. While I was earning my degree at Oklahoma State University, I worked for the IT department. Out of college, I was hired at Qualtrics XM, first as a tech support representative, and later working to empower our users by improving our digital support presence. Most notably, I managed projects across teams, created an efficient process for external customer communications, and ultimately did anything I could to drive people to the award-winning Qualtrics XM Support Site (shameless plug). 

In these roles, I was afforded the opportunity to do my own (informal, but direct) research, speaking to thousands of users about how and why they interfaced with digital technology. This allowed me to develop a strong and empathetic understanding of “the user”. I’ve worked closely with users from many walks of life, from professors at religious universities, to the Director of Customer Experience at a major credit card company. I was paid to guide them through technical issues, but but was also compensated in the form of exposure to user needs, straight from the source. 

With this knowledge, it has become increasingly clear to me that all digital users share the same story: “I have a job to do, and digital technology should make it easier for me to do that job.” That might seem obvious to some, but for me, it reveals the truth at the core of my design approach. Digital technologies are a tool, no more meaningful than a hammer or a stovetop. They are mostly useless without a confident user to wield them. The goal of designing tools should not be for their beauty, novelty, or legacy - but to empower the user to accomplish a task. Those other things come naturally if the user empowerment part is done right.

My career experience has given me the necessary knowledge to understand the needs of any given user, and manage time/people to produce a finished product. Equipped with specialized education in UX research, technical writing, design/prototyping software, and usability testing, I have the hard skills needed to continually maximize my potential as a designer.

Skills

I have over 5 years of experience in the tech industry, with skills in:

• branding (visual & written)

• UX/UI design

  • figma

  • photoshop/illustrator

• website marketing

• illustration

• customer support

• written communication

  • externally- & internally-facing

Fun Stuff

Someone married me in 2018! Her name is Hannah. We are owned by our two cats, Cola and Mitzvah.

I watch and play a lot of tennis. My eyeballs and joints might be sore but it hurts in a good way.

I’m an avid gamer - catch me on PC or Playstation.