Here is some history of how I've arrived here.

Helping people with disabilities

I started my career working for people with disabilities, providing solutions for them to live independently in their own homes. Through this work, and working for two men with severe autism, I discovered that people with autism who have difficulty using spoken language sometimes have more success with visual language. However, the existing visual aides that are used are just awful. I became obsessed with these visual tools and how how they could be improved, and this led me down a path to graphic design.

Back to school

I studied graphic design in a 4 year graduate program, and learned the technical pieces that in tech tend to be called visual design, such as typography, information hierarchy, and color theory (my grids can go toe-to-toe with anybody!) — as well as human centered design and design thinking principles. My thesis project was on the topic of improving visual supports for people with Autism.

Diverse industry experience and transition to UX/UI

My first job out of grad school was at a consultancy called Smart Design, where I learned user centered product development from the very people who first put a rubberized handle on potato peeler (movie clip link) because hey, it turns out people don’t like it when their hands hurt.

After my time at Smart I went on to work at Best Buy’s new bay area based Design Lab, coming up with new shopping ideas and envisioning the future of brick and mortar shopping.

Next, I went on to work at a digital marketing and technology company called SolutionSet, where I designed websites and marketing campaigns for clients such as American Express, RSA, Hitachi, BNY Mellon, Google, Family Dollar, and Dominoes. In this time, SolSet was acquired by a larger company called Epsilon, and I expanded my role into a UI/UX hybrid, and also started managing a small team. It was a great experience at SolSet/Epsilon to see my role change, and to also work on such a wide range of projects and industries. One project that I particularly loved was an internal tool for Email marketing managers at Google.

Into the realm of AI and product

By 2018 I had learned that I love making tools and conveying large volumes of data, so when I had the chance to work for an AI product I took it by going to Noodle.ai. I started Noodle in the very early, very scrappy days when I would work next to a couple data scientists and a product manager and come up with a new opportunity for AI to address an existing business problem, come up with a solution, design, build, and ship it in a handful of months. There were a lot of misses in this time but also enough hits to build and grow Noodle, and determine where there was actual product market fit.

When I went back to school to study design I never expected to find myself touring steel mills wearing a hard hat and flame-resistant suit!

Much of my time at Noodle has been as the only product designer, and I have led design on both our manufacturing application and our supply chain product (and smaller tools in between). I travelled to manufacturing plants in the US and abroad to see how and why operators use the Noodle app. When I went back to school to study design I never expected to find myself touring steel mills wearing a hard hat and flame-resistant suit, nor did I expect to be discussing how the global supply chain would react if another ship blocks the panama canal, but those are the situations I find myself in at Noodle! I have found that I have the ability to advocate for our users in discussing complex AI methodology, as well complex subject matter like Manufacturing and now Supply Chain planning and logistics that were once completely out of my wheelhouse.

Future Aspirations in User-Centric AI Development

Moving forward from Noodle, I plan to continue to apply a user-centered approach to developing novel products and features that leverage AI within intricate problem spaces

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for your attention! Please reach out if you are interested in connecting👇.