top of page

RESUME

Skills

Professional

experience
 

Leading user experience engagements since 1999; extensive experience scaling and leading creative teams. I'm a people person—I love collaborating with smart teams to solve big juicy business problems.

Work​

experience​
 

Web consultant — various clients

1999 - 2003 and 2009 - present

User experience consultant for various web agencies and startups, including Phoenix Pop/Liquid Thinking, Hot Studio, and Huge. Led user experience efforts on dozens of projects including health care, financial, and energy apps; intranets; education and community sites; online magazines; and mobile strategy projects. Started Studio Sungo, a user-centered web consulting company, in July 2002.

 

Key clients include

• UC Berkeley

• Blue Shield of California

• Chase

• Medtronic/Minimed

• The Women’s Foundation of California

• InformationWeek Magazine

• James Irvine Foundation

• LeapFrog SchoolHouse

• California Closets

• Sun Microsystems

UX: Interaction design, information architecture, workshop facilitation
Leadership: Creative team management, hiring, proposals & pitches, public speaking, organizational process

Content strategy: Writing, editing, editorial planning, social media strategy
Research: Interviews, ethnography, heuristic & competitive audits, personas, usability testing

Languages

English

Spanish

Principal, User Experience and Content — Hot Studio

2003 - 2009

​Hired and led team of 17 user experience architects and content strategists (10 staff + freelancers) for Hot Studio, an award-winning user centered web design firm. Practice lead for user experience discipline, responsible for research, strategy, information architecture, interaction design, and content for all interactive projects. Responsible for helping develop new business, scoping projects, managing department, recruiting and mentoring new hires, leading client workshops, establishing standards for process and deliverables, promoting the company through networking and public speaking, and overseeing all UX-related work.

 

Key clients include

• Adobe

• Architecture for Humanity/TED

• Barclays Global Investors/iShares

• Charles Schwab

• eBay

• Gap Inc.

• LeapFrog SchoolHouse

• Onceuponaschool.org/TED

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

• United Methodist Church

• University of California at San Francisco

• Wells Fargo

Web consultant — various clients

1999 - 2003 and 2009 - present

(See above.)

Documentary producer & freelance writer

1996 - 1999

Researched and developed stories for Livelyhood, a national PBS television series about the changing nature of work. Wrote, directed, and produced a half-hour documentary, “The Mystery of Rath Pohl,” about children’s rights in Cambodia, with support from the Berkeley Human Rights Center. Show aired on PBS stations in San Jose (KTEH), Philadelphia (WHYY), and San Diego (KPBS). Published news articles and in-depth features for magazines and newspapers including The Honolulu Advertiser, HONOLULU Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Berkeley Voice, Oakland Tribune, Alternative Family Magazine, and The Pacific.

Communications consultant

1991 - 1996

Worked on a wide range of social issue campaigns as a writer, editor, researcher, and spokesperson. Duties included writing press releases, fact sheets, and op-eds, developing talking points, translating campaign materials into Spanish, editing proposals and reports, pitching stories to reporters, and acting as spokesperson in print and radio interviews. Projects include Prop. 214, a ballot initiative to reform health care in CA, SEIU janitor’s union campaign, Bike Aid, and UCSF Faculty Association.

Public speaking

"Maxed Out: Changing the Conversation About Women & Work"

  • TEDx Monterey, 2014

 

"Maxed Out! How Creative Professionals Can Avoid Job Burnout"

  • South By SouthWest (SXSW) Interactive, 2014, Austin

 

"People-Centered Design: Creating Cost-Effective Web Sites for Diverse Audiences"

  • The Commonwealth Club, San Francisco 2008 (also available on fora.tv)

 

"Web 2.0: Making Your Web Site More Engaging"

  • Wallace Arts Foundation 2008, San Francisco

  • James Irvine Foundation Regional Arts Initiative 2008, Stockton

 

"Designing Like We Give a Damn"

  • Web 2.0 Expo 2008, San Francisco

 

"How To Manage a User Experience Team (Without Losing Your Mind!)"

  • Usability Professionals Associations Conference 2008, Baltimore

  • UX Week 2007, Washington DC

  • IA Summit 2007, Las Vegas

 

"Do you know who your users are? The role of research in redesigning SFMOMA.org"

  • Museums and the Web 2007, San Francisco

  • White paper available online

 

"IAs and Content Publishing: Expanding Your Influence to Ensure Design Success"

  • IA Summit 2006, Vancouver (Poster)

 

"Thinking Inside the Box: Using Personas to Prioritize Content"

  • WritersUA 2006, Palm Springs

  • Usability Professionals Associations Conference 2005, Montreal

 

"Architecting Time: Designing Online Events and Other Magic Tricks"

  • IA Summit 2004, Austin

  • IA Summit “Redux” 2004, San Francisco

Education
Completed coursework in organization & relationship systems at work (through CRR Global) - 2014
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Master's in Journalism - 1999
State University of New York at Binghamton
B.A. English/Creative Writing - 1994
bottom of page