
A little bit more about me
Hey there, I'm Shar!
I'm originally from San Francisco, CA but currently reside in Denver, CO, where will the future take me? That's up to my next opportunity!
My experience spans across industry; gaming, television applications, digital signage, contact center solutions, and integrated search. No matter the industry the best part of designing products is to take complex experience and complicated user problems and craft intuitive and aesthetically pleasing products that meet both user needs and business objectives.
I am passionate about product design but I am also, an animal lover, avid hiker, art maker, music listener, board + video game enthusiast, sci- fi + fantasy lover, alien believer, world traveler, and most recently "i'm not like a regular mom, i'm a cool mom".
Experience
Algolia
Senior Product Designer, Data Org (L4)
Senior Product Designer, Growth (L4)
2022 - Present
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Supported multiple PMs on Growth, focusing on A/B testing design changes that impact user onboarding, activation and retention.
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Supporting multiple PMs on Data Org, focusing on App Integrations and Data Ingestion.
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Leading a product knowledge and design debt initiative to bring designers and researchers up to speed with various areas of our product as well as document issues with designs components and workflows.
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Leading kickoffs and workshops with cross functional teams, including, designers, researchers, product leads and engineers.
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Conducting foundational research initiatives and usability tests to make data driven design decisions.
Zoom
Senior Product Designer, Zoom Contact Center
2022 - 2022
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Designed features for the Zoom Contact Center.
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Worked on a cross functional team of designers, researchers, content writers, product owners, and developers.
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Lead project kickoffs.
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Document design debt.
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Supported management by defining and delivering process improvements.
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Created and conducted trainings on Problem Statements, and understanding our Users.
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Mentored junior designers and provide feedback.
Twilio
Product Designer, Flex (L3)
2020 - 2022
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Designed features for Flex, a configurable contact center.
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Worked on a cross functional team of designers, researchers, content writers, product owners, and developers.
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Lead project kick-offs and workshops.
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Created research plans for various types of research with internal and external users while documenting findings.
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Created test plans, task scripts, lo-fi wireframes, hi-fidelity designs, as well as prototypes for usability testing.
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Conducted usability tests; document and analyze data for improvements.
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Presented work to VPs of product, and directors of UX research and Product Design.
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Started a weekly meeting with my team to unify our design language and document patterns.
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Lead quarterly trainings on usability testing.
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Mentor and manage Interns and new designers.
Four Winds Interactive
Senior UX Designer
UX Designer
2017 - 2020
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Redesigned 14 year old proprietary software for a cloud based solution.
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Assisted in research for product and app solutions.
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Utilized agile methodologies for collaboration on a cross functional team of software engineers, designers, and product owners.
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Conducted various types of user research including observational, ethnographic, surveying, and card sorting with stakeholders.
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Created personas, user stories, story maps and journey maps.
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Created lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes.
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Created prototypes, task scripts, conduct usability tests and analyze data for improvements.
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Mentored and managed interns and junior designers.
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Created an Industry specific knowledge bank of comprehensive, up-to-date research, information and best practices for all departments to utilize.
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Started a club called The Awkward Lunch Bunch that helps improve public speaking skills as well as communication in the workplace.
Echostar
Designer II | UX & Visual Design
2015 - 2017
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Created applications for television, web and mobile.
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Collaborated with a cross functional team of developers, product managers and designers.
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Interviewed users, created personas, journey maps and user stories.
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Wire-framed, designed, created prototypes and conducted usability tests.
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Created 30-60s animations for a mosaic channel on DISH Network.
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Customized a research and design process for the design team.
Glu Mobile
Graphic Designer
Jr. Graphic Designer
Associate Designer
2012 - 2015
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Created marketing assets for games and in-game advertisements.
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Localized advertisements in over 12 languages.
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Worked with various teams including engineers, user acquisition and marketing.
Skills
Data-driven Design
Figma Expertise
Usability Testing
User Research
Attention to Detail
Multitasking
Decision-Making
Relationships
Building Cross Functional Collaboration
Effective Communication
Mentoring
Collecting and actioning Design Debt
Leading Project Kick Offs
Leading Design Workshops
Leading Trainings
Navigating Ambiguity
Roadmapping
Education
Specialization Certificate: Interaction Design
UC San Diego / Coursera
2015 - 2016
BFA: 3D Animation & Visual Effects
The Academy of Art University in San Francisco
2007 - 2010