DESIGN EXECUTIVE, MBA

Currently, I am building The Makery, a mission-driven User Experience Design firm in Minneapolis. 

Previously, I was the Vice President of User Experience Design for Shutterstock in New York City and a Design Manager for Expedia in Seattle. I have won a Webbby Award for Best of Use of Artificial Intelligence in Design as well as a UX Magazine Design for Experience Award for nonprofit design work.

I've been a keynote speaker at industry-leading gatherings including: Creative Week, The Art Director's Club, The Digital Summit Series, BitCon and the Design Thinkers conference. I'm also a contributing writer for tech and design publications, including Smashing Magazine.

I've earned a Masters of Business Administration from St. Thomas University and a Bachelor of Arts at Gettysburg College. I am an Adjunct Professor of Design at the University of Minnesota. 

FEATURED CASE STUDY

SHUTTERSTOCK DESIGN SYSTEM

As the Vice President of Product Design & User Experience, I led a 25 person User Experience Design Organization that shaped overall company design and innovation strategy for Shutterstock digital experiences. To get a sense of the scale, Shutterstock is publicly traded company in NYC with revenues of nearly $500MM, and over 75M monthly visitors. Faced with a un-scable UI infrastructure and a user experience that was unable to achieve lasting product market fit, I led a company wide initiative to research, design, test and  rollout an award-winning Design System. 

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FEATURED WRITING

SMASHING MAGAZINE

If great design can imbue customers with trust, so removed from product management and the larger business strategy? Largely, it's an educational gap - traditional BFA, MFA and career pathways for UX/UI designers lack business and financial education. 

​Very soon, I found a workable solution: a part-time MBA program where I would study and learn actionable skills of business frameworks and best practices of management. 

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