Work Experience
Engineer by degree, designer by practice, and user advocate at heart. With 20+ years in UX and Product Design, I specialize in building intuitive applications, leading design teams, and driving measurable business outcomes through user-centered solutions. I bring a rare perspective, having seen the evolution of UX from early-stage concepts to a driving force in enterprise and consumer application design.
Varis
Oct 2021 - Aug 2025
Head of Design, Product Design Manager
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Helped build and scale the design function from the ground up, mentoring a high-performing team and establishing design standards that significantly increased usability across the platform.
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Defined and executed the creative vision for Varis’ eProcurement B2B administrative platform, cutting the time for customer onboarding and marketplace stand-up in half
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Partnered with product & engineering to embrace an AI-native software development life cycle, redesigning workflows that cut feature release time from years to months.
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Delivered design outcomes from system-level architecture to polished UI, creating a seamless customer experience that boosted adoption.
Office Depot
Mar 2021 - Sep 2021
Senior Lead UX Designer
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Redesigned the business accounts' search experience to clearly highlight in-contract items, guiding end-user buyers toward compliant choices and decreasing rogue spend.
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Led the adoption of a modern search engine, aligning technical requirements with user needs to deliver a seamless interface.
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Established the first customer design feedback program, generating insights that directly influenced product strategy.
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Extended design impact beyond B2B, with solutions becoming the foundation for Office Depot’s consumer eCommerce site.
Meridian Knowledge Solutions
Feb 2015 - Feb 2021
Senior Product Designer
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Spearheaded UX strategy, aligning product design with growth goals and lifting customer satisfaction +15%.
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Translated user insights into solutions by integrating research with PM requirements, accelerating product evolution.
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Executed end-to-end user research, validating designs with real data and increasing adoption.
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Launched UX requirements framework, cutting rework and streamlining cross-team delivery.
Blackboard
Nov 2007 - Jan 2015
Design Strategist
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Shaped long-term vision for cross-platform education technology as part of UX leadership team.
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Drove design strategy across cloud applications, delivering consistent, intuitive experiences for students and instructors.
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Influenced product roadmap by embedding design priorities from feature inception through launch.
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Championed accessibility standards, enhancing usability for diverse learner populations across Blackboard’s suite.
Xythos Software
Aug 2001 - Oct 2007
Manager, User Experience
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Owned UX for server and client applications as sole designer, shaping interfaces for admins and end-users.
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Designed and prototyped UI, authored functional specs, and partnered with PM to deliver feature-complete solutions.
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Maintained technical documentation, ensuring help content aligned with design and functionality.
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Drove adoption across enterprise and higher-ed clients through intuitive designs for both novice and expert users.
Core Competencies
Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision
Research & Strategy: Usability testing, Customer research programs, Usertesting.com, Userlytics.com, Journey mapping, Responsive design
Collaboration & Dev Tools: Jira, Confluence, Cursor, Slack, Teams
Technical: HTML, CSS, Accessibility Standards (WCAG)
Professional Strengths: Cross-functional collaboration, Stakeholder communication, Relationship-building with engineering teams, Strategic thinking