Product designer with ten years of experience in user experience design and research. Leads design projects with a keen eye for detail and a passion for quality. Classically trained as an interaction designer with the ability to take on additional roles as needed throughout the product lifecycle. Excellent communication skills across disciplines with developers, managers, customers, fellow designers and researchers.
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PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Senior Product Designer, mPath
Apr 2014 - Present, Palo Alto, CA
At mPath I wear many hats – interaction designer, visual designer, customer project lead, researcher, quality tester, project manager, and sometimes developer. Primarily I lead the design for our Studio and Web Client products, with occasional design work for Android, iOS and marketing.
- Conduct research with both current and potential customers.
- Design new features through sketches, flow diagrams, and mocks.
- Drive design reviews across engineering, design, and product teams.
- Develop visual design skills by owning visuals for each design (excluding icons).
- Participate in engineering discussions for new and changing features.
- Lead multiple customer projects. Help define app requirements, build and maintain apps, gather feedback and answer customer questions.
- Co-lead QA efforts across the platform. Test branches, smoke test builds for release, log and prioritize bugs.
Principal Interaction Designer, Intuit
Aug 2012 - Apr 2014, Menlo Park, CA
- Design lead for the redesign of the iPhone, Android Phone, and online bill pay experiences.
- Creator and manager of an interactive mobile branding tool for 500+ Financial Institutions.
- Worked with agile development teams locally and remote in both the US and India.
Senior Mobile Interaction Designer, Intuit
Aug 209 - Jul 2012, Mountain View, CA
- Design lead for the v1 launch of the iOS/Android app suite for Intuit's Financial Institutions Division.
- Prototyped phone, tablet and web designs for interactive usability testing.
- Guided multiple cross-functional/multi-site development teams to bring designs to fruition.
User Experience Designer, Intuit
Sep 2006 - Jul 2009, Mountain View, CA
- Designed web-based online banking applications for users of 1400+ financial institutions.
- Ensured designs solved real customer needs through iterative user research and design.
Design Lead at Carnegie Mellon for Google
Jan 2006 - Aug 2006, Pittsburgh, PA
- Conducted user centered research in the field of social networking.
- Lead design iterations and tests of prototypes for usability.
Research Lead at Carnegie Mellon for Microsoft
Jan 2006 - Aug 2006, Pittsburgh, PA
- Innovated a next generation product for a ubiquitous high bandwidth world.
- Lead exploratory and generative research stages driving product creation.
- Designed and tested prototypes for usability on mobile and desktop platforms.
Graphic Designer, Freelance
Summer 2005, Winona, MN
- Designed an educational book for the historical Winona, MN photo collection.
- Restored and edited 19th century photographs included in the publication.
Research Intern, Graphics and Visualization Laboratory
Summer 2004, University of California at Santa Cruz
- Developed interactive map navigation software for the blind and visually impaired.
- Programmed a force feedback gaming mouse for tactile recognition of map properties.
Research Intern, Virtual Environments Lab and Center for Advanced Imaging
Summer 2003, West Virginia University
- Created virtual animation movies for use in neurobiology research.
SKILLS
Interaction & Visual Design
Sketches
Mockups
Flow Diagrams
Specifications
Style Guides
Customer Journey Maps
Personas and Storyboards
Research
Follow-me-homes
Usability Tests (lab/remote)
Competitive Analysis & more
(based on project needs)
Prototyping / Code (limited)
Principle (Animated Design)
Xcode
HTML & CSS
JavaScript & React
+ currently learning more
Applications
Sketch
Balsamiq
GitHub
Adobe suite
Axure (limited)
WordPress (limited)
PLATFORMS
iOS (iPhone & iPad)
Android (Phone & Tablet)
Web (Responsive Design)
EDUCATION
Master of Human-Computer Interaction
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
August 2006 | GPA: 3.87
Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Computer Science & Spanish, Minor in Art
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona, MN
Magna Cum Laude, May 2005 | GPA: 3.842
Study Abroad Semester in Spain, Spanish Intensive Courses
Center for Cross Cultural Studies, Seville, Spain
Spring 2004 | GPA: 4.0
OTHER EXPERIENCE
Volunteer, Dorothy Day House
2004, Rochester, MN
- Helped homeless individuals in need of community support.
- Designed structure of database software for volunteer and visitor record management.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Michele is a thoughtful, detail-oriented designer that I would want on my team every time. She excels at solving complex design problems, building consensus among team members, and advocating for the customer. Michele also goes the extra mile and contributes beyond design. When we were pressed, she volunteered to take on additional QA and customer relationship tasks to fill resource gaps on our team.
Aaron Sagray, Director of Product Design at mPath, 2016
Michele is one of the most skilled UI designers I have ever worked with! We worked together for a few years at Intuit and during that time she really impressed me with her design chops, strategic abilities, and skill at working so closely with cross functional team members (she was very tight with our engineers!). She is very detailed oriented and extremely user-centric. She was also someone who could EASILY jump in to conduct user research as needed. I will miss working with Michele and would jump at the chance to work with her again.
Jennifer Van Riet, Principal XD Researcher at Intuit, 2014
Michele is one of the most capable designers that I have met. She goes above and beyond with everything she does. From work to her everyday life, Michele is a very pleasant person whom it is always a pleasure to speak with. She works closely with every member of the team and knows all aspects of the project she works on. I highly recommend Michele for any position she pursues.
Logan Anderson, Software Engineer at Intuit, 2014