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Valerie’s

Curriculum vitae (CV)

To design and facilitate user focused experiences

Experience

AppFolio and MindTouch

User Experience Designer

Current Position

I am currently looking for a role as a Product Designer or User Experience Designer 

In previous positions I lead projects and product development from research to release. I have acted as researcher, designer, and product owner.

I have overseen the launch of successful projects based on customer feedback and company objectives.

I flourish in work that includes cross departmental efforts with customer facing teams to ensure their relationships are made easier by a Product team who listens. I also prefer to work directly with the Engineering teams to ensure Accessibility and user experience are at the forefront of priorities. 

Customer Research

My work at AppFolio included 2 separate AI initiatives. One was an AI document reader to help streamline the onboarding process for our small to medium business sized customers. The second AI feature was a chatbot to help facilitate booking for our apartment tours to help alleviate vacant housings. 
Both these initiatives required research into user perception of AI, their trust in the results, the ease of use, and the overall effeciency of the product. 

Skills learned while in this position:

  • Building out strategic project plans for all front-end development engagements
  • Clarifying high-risk scenarios for specialized requirements
  • AI prompt writing to create an agent that both serves the user and has guardrails for safety
  • Defining timelines for project milestones and success deliverables
  • Collaborating with internal departments to help maintain project expectations
  • Communicating externally in an advisory capacity to ensure customer success

Skills continued :

  • Leading design builds for our product team from conception to release while working with engineering team to establish user feedback cycles with customers
  •  Tracking analytics for KPI and ROI measurements to define success metrics with the customer base
  • Set baselines for company best practices for user personas and navigation intentions
  • User engagment emails campaigns to create interest in the feature and get user testing volunteers

MindTouch

QA Engineer

April 2017 – October 2017

Used manual tests in selenium to create a library of automated tests to streamline product releases

Skills learned while in this position:

  •  Tests included step by step write outs of basic functionality and product use. 

  • Worked with engineering team to develop risks and testing as features were in the development phase

Education 

San Diego State University

B.A. Classical Humanities

The study of ancient Greek and Roman culture, language, religion, history, art, and philosophies

Origin Code Academy

Full Stack Development

Certificate of completion

Skills

  • HTML 5, LESS CSS, JavaScript
  • Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, XD
  • Figma – Components, variables, design systems
  • Sketch
  • Customer Service 
  • Team Management
  • Risk Assessment
  • Customer Documentation
  • Internal Coordination/Communication
  • Multiple Project Management 
  • Budget Management

AWARDS

“Cool Guy of the Office” the Fonzie award.

OUTSIDE INTERESTS

  • Jazz Singing
  • Greek History and Mythology
  • Flamenco
  • Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels