Education

Masters of Library & Information Science  UCLA, Los Angeles, CA  2008
BA, Sociology  Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY  2002                                                                         Connect on LinkedIn

Accomplishments

◦  Provided DIRECTV stakeholders with new models of engagement/entertainment experiences, helping to debunk common 
    assumptions and provide departments across the enterprise with a common vocabulary and guiding 
    principles for incorporating customer behaviors and attitudes into current and future products
◦  Delivered a cross channel online chat strategy for DIRECTV, taking into consideration the customer experience and front 
    and backstage operational processes and stakeholders, resulting in a successful launch of online chat, 
    increases in customer satisfaction, and providing a product roadmap for future customer care products and 
    services
◦  Organized successful Los Angeles Service and Gov Jams (50+ participants) for the past 3 years, providing the local  
    community with both fun and low cost professional development events focused on gaining hands-on 
    experience with service design, design thinking and creative tools for problem solving and collaboration
◦  Lead the UX strategy and information architecture for the redesign of the Walt Disney World Special Offers 
    and Resort commerce flows, resulting in significant lifts in guest satisfaction scores and increases in 
    conversion and overall revenue

Work Experience

Experience Strategy Lead  /  DIRECTV Digital Innovation Lab  /  Los Angeles, CA  2012 - Present

Responsible for leading customer-focused innovation projects across DIRECTV, using the process and tools of service design and design thinking. I help teams and stakeholders build empathy for the customer, and I use research insights to translate business and customer needs into engaging product and service opportunities, concepts and prototypes.

◦  Determine project approach and strategy, accounting for goals, scope, budget and timeline,  
    working closely with the Project Manager
◦  Lead and collaborate with cross functional team members and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle, 
    guiding them through research, synthesis, concepting, prototyping and delivery
◦  Use a variety of research methods to learn about the customer experience, including ethnography, 
    contextual inquiry, diary studies, remote interviews and surveys
◦  Distill research, insights and opportunities into effective and digestible communications and deliverables
◦  Envision, test and validate concepts using a variety of research and prototyping methods 
◦  Effectively communicate with stakeholders and team members throughout the project, in order 
    to promote engagement, understanding of the design thinking process, and continually building 
    empathy for the customer
◦  Design and facilitate collaborative brainstorming sessions, workshops and participatory design sessions with 
    customers and cross-functional groups across the enterprise
◦  Contribute to the Experience Strategy team’s learning and development by providing project  
    feedback and direction, as well as staying current on the use of new tools and techniques

Information Architect  /  Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Online  /  Los Angeles, CA  2008 - 2012

◦  Worked closely with Product Managers to define project requirements, balancing user needs, 
    complex business rules and technical capabilities, and turning them into engaging and usable digital 
    experiences; focused on e-commerce and content heavy sites
◦  Created wireframes, interactive prototypes (Axure), process flows, detailed functional 
    specifications and sitemaps to facilitate project team discussions, communicate designs to creative 
    and tech teams, and for usability testing
◦  Collaborated with visual designers, copy writers, content strategists, developers, project 
    managers and product managers throughout the project development lifecycle
◦  Brands included Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Disney Parks/What Will You Celebrate,  
    Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, Innoventions/Great Piggy Bank Adventure

Human Factors Engineer  /  AT&T Interactive  /  Los Angeles, CA  2008 (February-October)

◦  Lead UX designer for Yellowpages.com projects, including homepage and business detail page 
    redesigns and site updates on a bi-monthly basis
◦  Balanced user experience with advertiser needs, SEO interests and business requirements
◦  Collaborated with user research team on usability and exploratory design research sessions to 
    learn about our users’ behaviors and goals, and to test concepts, design direction and usability of 
    our websites
◦  Advocated and helped implement adoption of UX process into the project development lifecycle

Professional Activities

Los Angeles Service Jam  Organizer, Speaker, Facilitation, Mentor  2012, 2013, 2014
Los Angeles Gov Jam  Organizer, Speaker, Facilitation, Mentor  2013
World IA Day Los Angeles  Closing Plenary Speaker, Facilitation  2013
Emerging Career Paths for Tech Savvy Librarians (California Library Association)  Speaker 2013
IA Summit Poster Session  Case Study: Implementing a Cross-Channel Online Chat Strategy   2013

Skillset

Ethnography                           Customer Journeys                  Interactive Prototypes (hi/low fi)       
Contextual Inquiry                  Service Blueprints                    Concept Videos
Facilitation                               Storyboards & Scenarios         Personas
Frameworks/Ecosystems       Guiding Principles                    Wireframes & Process Flows

Interests

Maps and Wayfinding              Urban Planning
Behavioral Economics             Travel
Pop Culture Geekery               Improv and Comedy