Career Highlights
Examples of some of my work, projects, and other fun things I have done throughout my professional years.
Design Operations & Transformation
Brand Development Agency
When my mentor reached out to me about coming to work with her at a busy digital strategy agency and help develop better SOP's, I immediately accepted the challenge. In my role as a consultant, I filled in as a Senior Digital Project Manager on a product launch campaign and other UX design projects while working in the current process. Working in their current process provided me with a clear understanding of the organizational challenges the team faced as well as get an understanding of what worked.
From the start, what was obvious was that the organization had a lot of tools. Most of which did the same thing, but only certain features were being used for each tool. In addition to the tools, each person in the organization had a different process for their workflows.
The final recommendation was to consolidate the tools and develop process standards. Business objectives were also defined to connect the changes proposed back to the big picture.
Operational Transformation
Internal Marketing Department
Cross-functional SOP development, SaaS implementation, expansion and training, workflow automation and scaling strategy for a busy and growing marketing strategy and design department.
Operational Goals:
Increase Visibility (Dashboards & Reporting)
Create Consistency (Intake and Templates)
Reduce Redundancies
Automate & Streamline Workflows
Diagram created to show 1) how Smartsheet fit into the workflow process, 2) where all the key data comes from, and 3) Roles & responsibilities
Diagram created to show 1) work technology tool interactions currently, 2) work technology interactions future state (proposed)
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Product Management
Product School - Final Project
The purpose of my final presentation was to select a company that I wanted to work for and come up with a new feature based on data that I could find and show that I could think like a Product Manager.
I chose Smartsheet, because I love the product and have implemented it in a few places I have worked. However in my industry, it is unfortunately overlooked as a work management tool. The research for my project is based on first-hand experience and feedback from people in my network.
Digital Experience Design
Senior Project Manager just rolling up my sleeves and jumping in where needed!
BBDO Minneapolis
While working on a very large activation project for Columbus Meats, a request for an interactive experience was added on. Resources were tight and the deadline to show concepts was quickly approaching. As a Project Manager who loves UX and had plans to go into Product Management, I sketched out the design on a napkin, shared with with the technology lead to confirm it was doable, and built out the experience in adobe XD.
Shortly after concept approval, I handed the project off to an available UX designer who turned it into a beauty butterfly, while I worked directly with our back-end development team.
This project won Bronze in User Experience at AdFed's The Show in 2019
Information Architecture, Solutions Architecture, and Change Management
Server organization, content archiving and migration, naming convention standards
BBDO Minneapolis
PROBLEM:
When I started, I was tasked to pull files from the server. After only seconds of attempting to locate files and navigate through it all, I had to do something to created a more organized place for all of our work. In addition to the chaos, we had less than 1GB of space left and large files were not being backed up.
My first step was to explore the server, see what folders were in there and find out how everyone used it. I conducted 1:1's with team members to understand the how and determine what to do.
In a second session, I pulled one or two people from the various departments into a working session to go over the proposed server structure.
Using post-it notes, we worked together to design a structure that was intuitive and would provide an easy onboarding experience.
Once I had the structure, my next step was to work with our parent office's IT department to implement not only this new structure, but also a new cloud storage system. For the next few months, I worked on archiving, reorganizing, and created the new folder structures.
The final step was developing a file naming convention. Not only is organization important, but consistency too.
Prior to switching over the new server, this process was taught out to the entire agency to ease into the changes.
Once implemented, the new structure was complimented often and even a few new employees stated that "it was the most organized server they had ever seen".
Just for fun - Understanding personalities and work styles
How to work with Different Teams:
Described as if they were cats
Creative/Designers are those outgoing, silly, but wise cats. They are often playful, fun, and full of energy. Approaching them is easy. Usually they will approach you first and/or be excited to see a new face. When introducing a new toy, demonstrate how to use it. Since most are visual learners, they will appreciate this. However with any toy or fixed process, they will grow bored with it and could lose focus. They usually find a milk ring to be far more interesting. Note: These cats do tend to require a little more herding and management to get them to focus.
Business Professionals are the type of cat that requires a more experienced cat owner. They are wonderful and sweet when they want to be. They are the cats that are almost too smart for a cat. They know EVERYTHING and you can’t fool them by hiding the cat carrier in the shower behind the curtain. It’s as if they can read your mind. This cat personality loves to be seen and heard, but don’t even think about approaching them or petting them! Interaction is only on their terms.
Engineers/Developers are the shy and/or skittish cats. Often found hiding in the dark and as far away from others as possible. These can be the hardest cats to work with and can often seem disconnected. They aren’t disconnected though, just in deep concentration mode- probably trying to solve how to get around without crossing paths. Working with them will require a lot of patience and a different approach. So how do you get these cats out of the shadows and engaging more? Start with treats placed outside their hiding places (workspaces). As they slowly emerge, don’t make any quick movements, eye contact or approach them! - this could scare them away. Repeat this process, moving closer and closer each time until you have gained their trust. Don’t approach them or speak to them first! Wait for them to meow (hello) or slowly blink both eyes (smile). When that happens, you know you are close to good and trusting relationship.
