Empowering Designers: Data-Driven Insights

I believe great design starts with informed decisions. To help designers make knowledgeable choices, I focus on equipping them with the right tools, frameworks, and strategies to connect their creativity with meaningful data.

Building Data Literacy: I provide hands-on training in data interpretation, empowering designers to extract valuable insights from metrics, user research, and analytics.
Storytelling with Data: Through initiatives like Storytelling Hour, I guide teams in crafting compelling narratives that link design solutions to measurable outcomes, capturing stakeholder attention and driving alignment.
Metrics Mapping: I introduce frameworks like Metrics Mapping to help designers understand key performance indicators (KPIs) and align their work with both user needs and business goals.
Encouraging Experimentation: I foster a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging designers to test, measure, and iterate on their ideas based on both qualitative and quantitative feedback.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: By working closely with product managers, researchers, and analysts, I ensure that designers have access to diverse perspectives, enabling them to approach problems with a well-rounded view.

UserTesting: To gather qualitative feedback through usability tests.

SurveyMonkey or Typeform: For collecting user feedback and conducting surveys.

Google Analytics: To track website performance and user behavior.

Hotjar: For heatmaps, session recordings, and quick surveys to understand user behavior.

Tableau: For creating interactive dashboards to visualize data.

Optimizely & Pendo: For A/B testing and multivariate experiments.

Google Optimize: To run A/B and personalization experiments.

Make room for the experts to lead

Foundational Research & Personas

Secured Line Design Sprint 2.0 Workshop

Foundational research led by research expert Lauren, allowed Bluehost to uncover critical insights that directly informed the creation of valuable and authentic user personas. By prioritizing thorough qualitative and quantitative research, we ensured our personas were rooted in real user behaviors, motivations, and pain points, rather than relying on assumptions or surface-level data.

Key Highlights

Authentic Personas: Developed personas grounded in extensive user research, ensuring alignment with real behaviors and needs.
Avoiding Assumptions: Countered the risks of generic personas by conducting thorough foundational research to validate insights.
Bridging Gaps: Provided teams with clear user understanding, creating solutions that met both user needs and business goals.
Impact on Prototypes: Ensured that prototypes reflected true user challenges, avoiding misaligned designs and saving valuable resources.
Team Empowerment: Equipped teams with actionable insights that inspired focused, user-centered design strategies.

Secured Line Design Sprint 2.0 Workshop

The Secured Line workshop at Bill.com, led by Senior Staff Designer Kirby, exemplified the power of collaborative design and foundational research in solving real user challenges. By bringing together cross-functional teams, the workshop delved deep into the needs of small business owners seeking a pre-pay spending solution.

Key Highlights

Collaborative Design: Unified cross-functional teams to align on a shared vision for the Secured Line product.
User-Centered Insights: Identified pain points and opportunities for small business owners through deep exploration of their needs.
Actionable Prototypes: Ensured prototypes were grounded in authentic user challenges, avoiding misaligned solutions.
Leadership in Facilitation: Kirby’s guidance created a structured and impactful workshop environment, driving meaningful collaboration.
Strategic Alignment: Connected user insights to business goals, providing clarity and direction for the product’s next phases.

Decision-Making tools and Methodology

Tools that Make a Difference

Analytics Tools: Google Analytics, Pendo, Mixpanel, Amplitude.
Prototyping Tools: Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, InVision.
Research Platforms: UserTesting, Maze, and Dovetail
Collaboration Tools: Miro, MURAL, FigJam
Project Management Tools: Jira, Trello, Asana, Airtable, Notion, and Slack

Methodologies that Align Goals

Design Thinking: Employing a human-centered approach to solving problems creatively and effectively.
Metrics Mapping: Aligning user goals with business KPIs to track the impact of design decisions.
Storytelling with Data: Turning insights into compelling narratives for stakeholder alignment.
Journey Mapping: Visualizing user experiences to identify pain points and opportunities.
User-Centered Design (UCD): Ensuring that user needs remain at the forefront of every design decision.
Workshops: Facilitating ideation sessions, design sprints, and collaborative problem-solving activities.
Usability Testing: Conducting iterative testing sessions to refine solutions based on real user feedback.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnering with PMs, engineers, and stakeholders to integrate diverse perspectives into the design process.
Experimentation and Iteration: Utilizing A/B testing and MVP launches to validate ideas and improve outcomes.
Behavioral Data Analysis: Leveraging quantitative data to understand patterns, trends, and user behaviors.

THE EXTRAS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Championing Woman in Tech

Advocating for Women ERGs: As a strong proponent of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), I’ve led initiatives like LeanIn Circles, a mentorship program designed to support women in tech by fostering collaboration, professional growth, and networking. These efforts have helped create safe spaces for women to share experiences, gain confidence, and build valuable connections within the industry.
SheTech Workshops: I’ve proudly facilitated workshops for SheTech, an organization focused on inspiring the next generation of female leaders in STEM. Through hands-on activities, interactive discussions, and mentorship, I’ve helped young women explore their passions in technology, build critical skills, and envision their future careers.

By championing these initiatives, I strive to create opportunities that empower women to thrive, break barriers, and lead confidently in the tech world.

Maintaining Momentum is Essential

During the pandemic, maintaining momentum and team morale became a priority as remote work transformed how teams connected. To keep spirits high, I organized engaging virtual events that fostered collaboration and camaraderie, even from a distance.

These included online murder mystery parties, where team members embraced creativity and problem-solving in a fun, lighthearted environment.
Holiday celebrations featured interactive scavenger hunts, virtual cooking classes, and festive games, giving everyone a chance to relax and bond outside of work.

These activities not only brought laughter and energy to the team but also strengthened relationships, ensuring that even during challenging times, we stayed united and motivated.

Culture Matters When Driving Innovation

Culture is vital to creatives because it shapes an environment where ideas can flourish and innovation thrives.

A strong culture fosters collaboration, trust, and psychological safety, enabling creatives to take risks and explore new concepts without fear of failure.
It provides a shared sense of purpose, aligning individual efforts with team and organizational goals.
Culture nurtures diversity of thought, which fuels creative problem-solving and leads to more impactful solutions.

For creatives, an inspiring culture isn't just a nice-to-have—it's the foundation for producing meaningful, original work that resonates with audiences and drives success.

Team recognition

I enjoy working with teams to co-create guiding principles that align with our collective vision. This practice promotes a culture of appreciation, strengthens team values, and highlights everyday contributions.

Recognition Cards Initiative:

Introduced recognition cards to reinforce guiding principles in action.
Encouraged team members to acknowledge colleagues who embodied specific principles.
Promoted a culture of appreciation and celebrated everyday contributions.
Strengthened team values through meaningful, personalized recognition.

Empowering Designers: Data-Driven Insights

JJ empowers us to be ourselves, meets us where we are, and always encourages us to grow. She doesn’t pretend to know everything or act infallible... she demonstrates how to adjust methods to get the intended outcome, like how to take a step back and pivot.