resume - Strategic UX/UI Product Designer for Enterprise & Startups

Professional ProfileDynamic UX/UI Product Designer with over 12 years of experience transforming user experiences for top brands like Ford, Shell, Blue Cross Blue Shield, American Greetings, driving engagement and satisfaction through innovative design strategies that captivate users and elevate business performance.

Here are some highlights of my journey:

• Engineered innovative UX/UI designs that impacted over 1 million users at Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medical Mutual, significantly enhancing usability and ROI.
• Led cross-functional teams globally, accelerating feature development and streamlining processes to align with company strategies, ensuring seamless implementation across all product lines.
• Designed and shipped over 20 products across various sectors, including Automotive, Fintech, and Healthcare, from enterprise web apps to consumer-facing websites.

I love connecting with new people, so feel free to reach out to me.

Great companies I’ve worked with

Related Work ExperienceProven track record in data science and business consulting, delivering impactful insights and results across industries.

Seeking Senior UX/UI/AI Product Designer

Remote, USA

2024 - Present

Available full-time as a senior UX/UI/AI product designer with experience in user-centered UI/UX designs, specializing in user engagement, product design, UX Strategy, User Experience, and Interaction Design.
Currently taking coursework and certification in practical applications of Generative AI, AI Prompting, Generative AI Automation, Market Research, Social Media Content Strategy and Robotic Process Automation Programming.
Updating my knowledge and best practices in product validation and customer discovery.
Also mentoring & supporting junior UX designers in my community.

Career Break

Remote, USA

2024

Coursework and certification in practical applications of Generative AI, AI Prompting, Generative AI Automation, Market Research, Social Media Content Strategy and Robotic Process Automation Programming.
Also mentoring & supporting junior UX designers in online communities.

Experience Design Architect

Slalom Build Ellipse1777

Full-Time

Remote, USA

2021 - 2024

Strategized and led UX/UI product design for user-centered enterprise software, accelerating digital transformation, improving usability and enhancing user experiences for mid to Fortune 500 B2B and B2C brand companies like Rocket Mortgage, First American, Enterprise Car Rental.Synthesized research findings into intuitive, user-centered UX/UI designs that increase user interactions, improve usability, and enhance user engagement for clients’ mobile and web application solutions.
Collaborated with stakeholders, and cross-functional external and internal teams, including product, engineering, other UX designers, sales, marketing, to ensure effective communication and problem-solving between disciplines.
Created UI/UX product designs that aligned with client’s design system standards, ensuring seamless integration and consistency across all their digital products, enhancing user engagement and user satisfaction.

Lead UX/UI Designer (Consultant)

Hypergiant Ellipse1732

Contract

Remote, USA

2020 - 2021

Provided design strategy and UX/UI services to deliver a new TV podcast app for Xfinity’s X1 platform, driving a 50k-75k increase in new subscriptions, improved accessibility, and user engagement for new customers.Led design strategies and collaborated closely with cross-functional team members, including product managers, marketing, art directors, and engineers, ensuring cohesive designs for increasing conversion rates and growth.
Oversaw the design process from research to delivery, improving information architecture, sketching concepts, creating wireframes, and developing prototypes for final designs handed off to developers.

Lead UX Designer (Consultant)

Ford Motor Company Ellipse1732

Contract

Palo Alto, California, USA

2019 - 2020

Led design thinking projects for in-vehicle gaming and marketplace services, improving customer satisfaction and engagement while differentiating Ford's connected content and digital services.Synthesized early exploratory research to create personas, user scenarios, and storyboards that aligned business goals with user needs, enhancing user experience and business growth.

Principal UX/UI Designer (Consultant)

BHP

Contract

Houston, Texas, USA

2019

Spearheaded the design thinking, UX/UI design and usability efforts for BHP's Safety in Design initiative, developing user-centered responsive web and native iOS and Android apps that provide centralized access to safety practices and real-time performance data, reducing the risk of personnel exposure to hazards and fatalities at facilities globally.Orchestrated cross-functional ideation sessions to accelerate MVP feature development for over 15 key design screens, driving consistency in SID practices across global projects.
Led client white-boarding sessions and led UX strategy meetings to improve collaboration, improve ideation, bridge communication gaps, and align business requirements.
Executed hands-on development of low and mid-fidelity UX wireframes, sketches, user flows, interactive prototypes, and final design mockups to communicate design solutions.
Improved user satisfaction to 71% by increasing BHP’s Safety application usability by reducing time and resources for training, onboarding, and adopting safety practices.

Senior UI/UX Designer (Consultant)

Shell Global Ellipse1732

Contract

Houston, Texas, USA

2018 - 2019

Designed and launched a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) iOS mobile app for Shell's distributor delivery process, replacing paper documents, streamlining billing, and improving overall efficiency by 50% for Shell and its distributors.Collaboration in Agile sprints with over 10 cross-functional team members, including scrum masters, product owners, business analysts, service designers, developers, and content writers to improve problem-solving and design ideation.
Engaged in continuous feedback loops and 4 rounds of usability testing, leading to 3 major UX/UI design iterations that reduced error during delivery and increased adoption among distributors.

Mobile UX/UI Designer (Freelance)

Self-employed Ellipse1732

Contract

Remote, USA

2016 - 2018

Specialized in creating engaging and meaningful user-centered UX/UI designs for digital products and services across mobile apps, web apps, and responsive websites.
Directed product and UX strategy to achieve product vision, accomplish business goals, and ensure an effective user experience throughout the entire project from customer discovery to delivery.

Senior Mobile UI Designer (Consultant)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Ellipse1732

Contract

Remote, USA

2016

Transformed BCBSM's brand and vision into user-friendly native iOS and Android UI designs, enhancing user experience, streamlining workflows, improving accessibility, and boosting engagement across a diverse audience of consumers, members, agents, and providers.Enhanced user satisfaction and streamlined workflows by collaborating with product managers, engineers, content strategists, UX designers, and stakeholders to meet business and audience needs.
Utilized tools like Adobe Creative Suite and Sketch to create and maintain style guides and UI component libraries that reduce design time and improve design consistency and brand coherence across all products.

Senior UX Analyst / Interaction Designer (Consultant)

Medical Mutual of Ohio Ellipse1732

Contract

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

2014 - 2015

Revamped Medical Mutual's Medicare and individual insurance websites by creating an intuitive, user-friendly UI designs and user experience that enhanced usability and simplifying information architecture workflow, ensuring easy access for user’s essential health insurance needs.Organized design sessions, performed accessibility and competitive analyses, and participated in 2 usability tests to improve user retention and satisfaction in enrolling in Medicare and individual plans.
Continuously facilitated meetings with wireframe prototypes through storytelling for stakeholders and multiple product owners, articulating design rationale that aligned with business requirements to meet user needs.

UX/UI Designer II

OverDrive, Inc. Ellipse1732

Full-Time

Garfield Heights, Ohio, USA

2014

Designed and built innovative, front-end UI/UX designs for millions of consumers worldwide to easily access audiobooks, eBooks, and other digital media content across OverDrive's native mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows) and kiosks.Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and marketing, to deliver wireframes and prototypes, maintaining consistent, high-quality designs during rapid product changes.

Mobile UI/UX Designer / Front-end Web Developer

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Ellipse1733

Full-Time

2012 - 2014

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Designed and developed user-friendly interfaces for native mobile apps, web apps, and responsive websites, improving user experience and significantly reducing processing times for field agents managing online claims and policy operations.Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, marketing, and technical writers, to deliver consistent UX/UI designs that align with business goals and user needs, promoting a collaborative environment.

CertificationsProfessional accreditations and certifications that demonstrates my expertise and compliance with industry standards.

Analytics and User Experience

Nielsen Norman Group Ellipse1777

Issued Jan 2024

Design Research Techniques

Cooper

Issued Nov 2023

IBM AI Product Manager Professional Certificate

IBM

In progress

Design Thinking Immersive

Cooper

Issued Aug 2023

Facilitating Design Thinking

Cooper

Issued Feb 2023

EducationCollege coursework in the specialized fields of graphic design and graphic art.

Notre Dame College

Pursed a Bachelor’s Degree Ellipse1777

Major: Graphic Design

2 years

College of the Mainland

Pursed a Associate Degree Ellipse1777

Major: Graphic Art

1 1/2 year

Professional SkillsKey competencies essential for navigating and excelling in various professional contexts.

Core Competencies

UX/UI

Mobile App

Product Design

Visual Design

Mobile App

Design Thinking

User Research

Interaction Design

Wireframing

Prototyping

Design Strategy

Design Systems

Usability Testing

Tools

Figma

Adobe XD

Sketch

Adobe Creative Suite

Photoshop

InVision

Axure RP

Miro

Slack

Balsamiq

JIRA

Microsoft PowerPoint

HTML / CSS

JavaScript (JS)

Principal

Framer

RecommendationsEndorsements and testimonials highlighting my professional expertise and contributions from colleagues and partners.

Scott Freeman

Web Developer, AmTrust Financial

Rene is an outstanding designer. She picks up new techniques very quickly and applies them with her own style. She is motivated and creative, and never fails to get a project completed. I most definitely recommend Rene.

Lena Desantis

Senior UX Researcher, Shell Global

Rene is a talented designer and great collaborator. She has great instincts about research and identifying the user's needs. She can turn those user insights into an excellent design. She is an asset to any team she is part of.

Phyllis (Davis) Janicki

Quality Assurance Analyst, American Greetings

Rene works well by her self and with a team. She works hard and is usually willing to stay a little late or come in early if asked. Good sense of humor but also takes her work very seriously.

LanguagesProficient the below language, facilitating effective communication and collaboration.

🇺🇸 EnglishNative and fluent proficiency

Feel Free to Reach OutLet's start a awesome conversation