Career Experience

  • Rocket Communications

    Staff UX Designer

    Designed impactful user interfaces that made data more fluent and easier to understand that solve user and business needs based on user-focused research and supportive qualitative and quantitative key metrics. Worked closely with Designers, Engineers, and Product Managers to effectively communicate, analyze and deliver userflows and interfaces.

    (July 2021 - Present)

  • City National Rochdale

    Sr. User Experience and Interaction Designer

    Developed a user experience team to target user interface design and research. Conducted and managed stakeholder interviews, determined objectives and streamlined cross-team communications from inception through launch.

    (September 2017 - July 2021)

  • Walt Disney Animation Studios

    Sr. Software Engineer Web Technology

    Provided innovative tools for artists whom create animated feature films such as ‘Frozen’, 'Tangled' and 'Wreck-it Ralph'. Supported applications for image/video-clip management, production tracking, personnel assignments, and document management. WordPress plugins and UI designs for internal networks.

    (August 2013 - September 2017)

  • CityGrid (IAC)

    Marketing Print/Web Designer

    Design lead for Marketing/Sales teams strategizing print campaigns and generating graphics for web, mobile & sales teams. Project management and development on WordPress, company branding and various marketing collateral materials.

    (October 2012 – August 2013)

  • Disney Interactive Media Group

    Web Designer / Developer

    Front-end visual designer for Disney’s Fairies PixieHollow.com online gaming website. Support for print and web graphics during email campaigns and Playdom tracking, dynamic calendar designs, mobile accessible/responsive designs and documentation.

    (October 2011 – October 2012)

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

    Web Designer and Technologist Specialist

    Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) Web Team liaison for staff and external vendors providing print and web designs, UI/UX mobile wireframing, and lead visual designs for several corporate and internal websites.

    (January 2009 – October 2011)

  • NearUSearch

    Marketing Web Designer

    Developed business and consumer marketing presence for NearUSearch, including website development, print collateral and promotional materials.

    (July 2008 – January 2009)

  • MTV Networks (Social Projects)

    Web Designer

    Responsible for creating over 40+ website-community environments that mirror the online branding: 50Cent, GoNintendo, Pussycat Dolls, MTV, The Hobbit, The
    Daily Show, Disney Radio and other celebrity profiles.

    (November 2007 – July 2008)

  • LoanToolbox.com

    Web Designer / Producer

    Lead print and graphic designer for over 250 animated tutorials, master of seminar speaker slides, printer designer for LoanToolbox marketing and branding.
    Designed email newsletters, templates and member’s marketing materials (including CD labels, Booklets and Postcards).

    (September 2002 – November 2007)

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL/NASA)

    Graphic Designer

    Provided production support and workflow for Documentation Services Section 2745. Met administrative and institutional requirements of JPL. Mastered interactive web application products and multimedia designs. Demonstrated excellent communication and verbal skills with group members and customers. Maintained flexibility and adaptability to work with new environments and surroundings.

    (May 2000 – May 2002)

Summary

I am a Sr. User Experience Certified Designer specializing in user research, design thinking, and implementation.

Responsibilities

  • Designing compelling product experiences based on customer needs.
  • Working closely with the product and engineering teams to design awesome customer experiences based on user and implementation feedback.
  • Managing significant and complex design projects from start to finish.
  • Maintaining consistent visual standards and keeping the living style guide up to date.
  • Partnering across teams at every stage to deliver the highest level of quality.
  • Reviewing features implemented by engineering and providing guidance to ensure pixel-perfect experiences.
  • Conducting and coordinating usability interviews to gather feedback and insights into customer needs.
  • Mentoring other designers through design reviews and proactively providing feedback and answering questions.

UX/UI Technical Skills

  • Conducting stakeholder interviews to determine and understand business needs.
  • Performing UX audit reports, user journeys, and task flows to learn users’ product expectations.
  • Analyzing research and producing multiple solutions based on importance and feasibility workshops.
  • Translating findings into wireframes, mockups, prototypes, infrastructure strategy, and UX writing.
  • Establishing UI guidelines and component styles.
  • Adhering to design compliance in accordance with application and web standards.
  • Quality assurance for responsive/fluid designs for cross-platforms.
  • Coordinating communications with UI designers and developers within Agile environments as Scrum Master.
  • Managing user testing and iteration processes.
  • Presenting and defending design decisions from qualitative research, quantitative metrics, and supportive evidence.

Industry-Specific Skills/Tools

  • HTML/CSS/Javascript (Front-end web coding and development)
  • Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD/InVision/Zeplin/Mural/Abstract/Axure RP/Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/InDesign (UI design tools)
  • Confluence/JIRA, PowerPoint/Keynote, Word/Pages, Excel/Numbers  (Documentation applications)
  • Slack/Zoom/Teams/Google Hangouts (Cross-team communications)
  • PC/MAC proficient (Hardware)

Recent Achievements

  • Staff Designer –  Rocket Communications, Space Force (2021-present)
  • Certification –  User Experience Designer (2020)
  • Winning – Young Story Tellers (2016)

Career Interests

  • Augmented and virtual reality
  • Marketing strategy, company branding/campaigns, social networking
  • Iconography, typography, photography
  • Graphic/Print design, illustration, motion-animation
  • Visual storytelling and film production design

My Skills

UX Design (user research, wireframing, prototype)

95%

UI Design (visual, high-fidelity comps)

95%

Interaction Design (prototype, animation, human-machine interaction)

95%

Front-End Dev (HTML / CSS / JS)

95%

Web/Mobile/Print Design

100%

Responsive Web Design/Development

90%

Marketing/Branding

95%

Education / Certifications


Nielsen Norman Group, Certified (2020)

Field Of Study: User Experience and Management
Title earned: UXC, User Experience Certified

The Interaction Design Foundation (2017)

Field Of Study: User Experience and Interaction Design
A range of user experience and interaction design related skills, focusing on user research and user-centered design.

California State University of Northridge (1999 – 2002)

Field Of Study: Computer Science
Degree Earned: Bachelor’s of Science
Major: Computer Science, (C++, Java and HTML)