Hilton Hotel Corporation

SENIOR USER EXPERIENCE (UX) DESIGN MANAGER

​2018 - present

 

Recruited into a newly established role to strengthen relationships and communication among UX design, project management, and product management teams to elevate the quality and timely delivery of cross-brand solutions for the property management and Salesforce call center platforms. Retained following the COVID-19 pandemic furlough to contribute to the design of user experiences for a portfolio of platforms and mobile applications leveraged by guests and team members. Transitioned into a strategic role to rebuild, expand, and manage the Experience Design Organization in designing user-centered experiences for company-wide team members and guests.
 

•  Collaborate with product managers in defining the UX strategy to drive innovation and improvements while balancing consistency and accessibility across platforms, responsive web, and mobile devices. 
   

• Lead UX design teams through deliverables, from discovery to creation of user journey maps, wireframes, and creative briefs.
   

• Assist product managers in developing and evangelizing new product ideas with a strong customers/user focus to deliver a seamless customer experience across multiple user touch-points on different platforms and devices. 
   

• Build relationships among visual designers and front-end developers in multiple locations to create compelling experiences, test and validate design concepts, and maximize the achievement of corporate, brand, and hotel goals.
   

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and mobilize a growing team of UX professionals in delivering value and enabling business success.
   

• Plan, track and manage the successful delivery of multiple, simultaneous projects. Evaluate and improve workflows to increase efficiency and timely delivery across the agile delivery model.

 

HIGH-IMPACT LEADERSHIP​

• Defined and drove the build-out of the organizational structure for the Experience Design Organization. Created dedicated Lead UX Design (management level) roles, expanded the UX Design teams to 10+ resources, instituted a culture of teamwork and collaboration, and strengthened the alignment of solutions with design, content, technology, and business needs.
   

• Reestablished relationships, collaboration, and trust between UX design and product leadership, project management, and development teams that improved on-time delivery and quality of experiences.
   

• Requested by the Vice President of UX and Director of UX to address issues identified from employee surveys. Developed and implemented the recognition program for the 100-member Experience Design Organization that heightened morale.
   

• Championed the expansion of the User Testing framework that increased the adoption of new technology.
   

• Built partnerships with research and accessibility teams to elevate the usability of property management, call center, Smart Room, Digital Key, American Express Partnership, Payment, and Messaging platforms and mobile applications.

 

STRATEGIC INNOVATIONS

• Directed the user experience design for critical enhancements to the Hilton Honors mobile application that enabled guests to leverage iOS and Android devices to request free room upgrades, and developed design components native to iOS and Android devices that enabled the translation of content for multiple languages.
   

• Contributed to critical projects to allow call center staff to access critical information through a centralized system. Managed the user experience design for new features within the Salesforce platform that allowed the elimination of 4 systems.

• Guided team in supporting the redesign of the Salesforce call center platform to leverage Salesforce Lightning Design System to improve compliance with ADA requirements.
   

• Led build-out of user-centered features for the front desk application that increased the mobility of front desk agents to check in guests, access booking reservations, and process overrides on desktop and mobile devices.
   

• Managed the user experience development to enable housekeeping staff to easily access assignments on mobile devices.

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AutoZone, Inc

USER INTERFACE (UI) DESIGN MANAGER - E-COMMERCE

​2011 - 2018

 

​Advanced to provide strategic direction and leadership to a team of 14 UI/UX designers and external agencies in designing digital products for eCommerce websites, corporate websites, mobile applications, email marketing campaigns, and eBay stores across all brands and touch-points. Defined the product roadmap, managed product design, and front-end technical development, and fostered an environment of innovation across design, development, business, and quality assurance teams to improve the usability and customer experience.

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HIGH-IMPACT LEADERSHIP & STRATEGIC INNOVATION

• Established and maintained design standards across multiple websites and platforms. Introduced the component-based design concept and led the journey for the build-out of a design system to improve efficiency.
   

• Transitioned team to an agile delivery model. Reorganized UI/UX designers with product teams, and implemented Sketch and Zeplin tools to enhance the management and delivery of designs.
   

• Led the adoption of responsive web design for the build-out of a new eCommerce site that enabled customers to access the site from mobile and desktop devices, increased engagement and sales, and improve time-to-market of new features.
   

• Held critical roles in multiple redesigns of eCommerce website and mobile applications to integrate email marketing campaigns,  eBay store, and YouTube channel.

 

 

SENIOR WEB DESIGNER / DEVELOPER  (LEAD) – ECOMMERCE & MOBILE

​2006 - 2011

 

Transitioned into a new role to design digital marketing assets for all company’s customer-facing websites. Designed and developed user experiences, encompassing wireframes, comps, and prototypes. Created compelling graphics and layouts to support the business needs of eCommerce, Marketing, and Merchandising teams. Managed and mentored a team of 8 web designers and developers in implementing front-end solutions for mobile applications, mobile sites, and desktop sites.

• Led the design of new capabilities for the Commerce website to enable customers to create accounts, easily find products, generate and submit shopping lists to the stores, and access vehicle troubleshooting information.
   

• Designed the front-end interface for the new AutoZone commercial eCommerce website, and subsequent redesign of the website to enhance the capability of commercial customers.
   

• Contributed to the build-out of the 1st mobile applications to allow customers to view the availability of products at retail stores, and purchase products through iOS and Android devices.

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WEB DEVELOPER II (2002-2006)  ∣  WEB DEVELOPER (2000-2001) – INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

 

• Recruited and promoted within one year based upon success in designing and developing features for web applications leveraged by the infrastructure department, and in redesigning the website for the newly acquired Trupo brand.

 

Early career as Web Developer for FedEx (1998-2000). Guided team of UI/UX designers and external agencies through the full redesign of website and development of mobile applications across an agile delivery model.

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