About Me

Hi! I'm Liz, View My Resume »

Living Life One Design at a Time

I am Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Liz. I am a Chicago-based designer and adventurer, with a dash of Wisconsin running through me. I started my design journey at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I signed up for my very first graphic design class and the rest, as they say, is history. I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design and Photography from UW-Madison in 2011 and have been working as a designer ever since.

My graphic design background provided me with a strong foundation for design principles, which I have carried over into my UX/UI design positions. My first role as a web designer at the University of Wisconsin School of Business opened the door to my career in the tech world and placed me on the path to becoming the user experience (UX) designer I am today. In 2017 I graduated from DePaul University with a Masters of Science in Human Computer Interaction. This provided me with a strong foundation in the User-Centered Design Process. I learned numerous research methodologies, furthered my knowledge in front-end development and enhanced my design skills for user interaces.

I am currently working and living in Chicago as Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at BLOCKS, a Web3 Metaverse startup. BLOCKS is a platform focused on empowering NFT communities by giving them the tools to make custom Metaverse environments for their users. I am in charge of the holistic user experience, which includes driving product strategy, designing our website and Metaverse environment, quality assurance, and project management and prioritization. Everything I do at BLOCKS, and in my career as a whole, is driven by the User-Centered Design Process and ensuring that I am advocate for the end-user. I believe that all design decisions should be data driven and focused on on the end user's needs, as well as embracing the business needs of the company. As a UX Designer, it is my job to be an external bridge between the users and the company, as well as an internal bridge between business and the development teams.

As I continue to grow professionally and personally, I feel extremely lucky to have found my passion in UX/UI Design.

“Everything is design. Everything!”
― Paul Rand

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My Professional Background

11 Years of Real World Experience

CURIO BLOCKS | July 2021 - Present

CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER (CXO)

UX/UI Design: Curio is an e-commerce site for NFTs and BLOCKS is a platform that helps NFT communities build Metaverse environments. I design all user interfaces for the marketing website, the e-commerce platform and the BLOCKS Metaverse. Interfaces I have designed, include: educational pages, NFT shopping experiences, leaderboards and the BLOCKS building, designing and chatting experience.

User Research: I conduct qualitative user research by holding user interviews with our beta testers. I collect quantitative data by analyzing our Google Analytics and create user flows to understand our key points of interactions. I also conduct market research and competitive analyses to determine how we make our mark in the marketplace. All of our user research helps drive feature prioritization and design decisions.

Branding: Design and create the visual identities for both Curio and BLOCKS. I create style guides that showcase the design guidelines, logo properties, company colors, typography and digital assets including iconography, photography and graphic elements. The guides also, include digital design systems that display UI components, page layouts and responsive designs. It is my responsibility to ensure our marketing materials align with our online experience.

Culture Development: As CXO, I am also responsible for the internal experience of our team members. I oversee our culture, by conducting workshops with the team to build our mission, vision and holistic identity. This helps align the team towards a unified goal. I help build workflow processes and coordinate team collaboration. I also coordinate company lunch-n-learns.

Northern Trust Corporation | March 2020 - July 2021

2nd VP, Senior Consultant - User Experience

UX/UI Design: I designed wireframes, high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes for Northern Trust’s customer facing website. To ensure uniformity across domains, I enforced and expanded upon the Northern Trust branding guidelines and design system. I drove the reorganization of the website’s information architecture to enhance the structure, categorization, and design of the navigation. I was Project Manager for a project for Emotomy, a subsidiary of Northern Trust, for which I conducted user research, assisted on the UI design, and oversaw day-to-day management of the project and its final deliverables. For this project, I was awarded the Chairman’s Award - Northern’s highest level of recognition awarded to individuals who have been instrumental in the company’s success throughout the year. I hosted and presented UX Week, which served as an educational week for members of the Northern Trust marketing department. During the week, I curated presentations that covered UX Design, UX research, analytics, development, and accessibility.

User Research: I held stakeholder and user interviews to gather qualitative data regarding the needs and behaviors of our users. I conducted competitive analyses to determine where Northern Trust exceeds and lags against competitors. I developed personas, journey maps and service blueprints to drive design decisions and priorities.

Openfinance | March 2018 - March 20202

HEAD OF PRODUCT & USER EXPERIENCE

UX/UI Design & Research: I created a style guide that covered everything from our branding to the design of interface components. I designed wireframes, high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes for our trading platform. All design decisions were driven by our user-centered design framework, including user research, competitor analyses and best practices. I also designed conference materials, developed CSS specifications, and coded our marketing website. I conducted user research and engagement through surveys, quarterly newsletters and social media. I collected, organized and cataloged all user feedback to help drive design decisions and product strategy. I created an extensive model that catalogs feedback and provides data on how our releases impact feedback.

Product Strategy: My goal was to drive our product strategy and prioritization based on user feedback, our product development lifecycle and market research. I held a weekly product pipeline meeting during which I presented updates on current projects, plans for upcoming projects, team allocation and provided strategic insight into future prioritization.

Project Management: I built timelines, developed project specifications, determined team resource allocation and managed all projects and tasks given to the Development Team. I designed and implemented a project prioritization process.

Quality Assurance (QA): I conducted QA for all projects. I generated acceptance criteria, which aligned with the users’ goals. During our iterative cycle I conducted QA sessions, which resulted in styling checks, functionality tests and accessibility reviews. I created models for company-wide testing across multiple devices and SEC/FINRA rules.

Total Attorneys | April 2014 - March 2018

LEAD UX/UI DESIGNER

I created a unified brand for all B2B and B2C websites and designed lead generation forms and interactive experiences that help users navigate the legal verticals. I conducted user research, created wireframes and high-fidelity interactive prototypes and ran usability tests. I created a design system that documents our company’s styling, interactive components and accessibility practices. I generated HTML and CSS files. I designed client outreach and trade show materials across various mediums including, print, video and web. I organized company lunch-n-learns and events.

Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) | 2011 - 2014

INTERACTION DESIGNER

My role focused on architecting, designing and maintaining a branded, user focused, 508 compliant website that reflects the WSB vision. I began every project with user research and analytical research. I explored case studies, interviewed clients and optimized content for SEO. I designed wireframes and mockups and collaborated with the developers to ensure the styling and functionality was carried out. I met with clients to determine their requirements and translated their needs into the optimal design solutions for web and print.

Madison Children’s Museum | 2011

GRAPHIC DESIGN & EXTERNAL RELATIONS INTERN

I designed promotional materials, large display boards, newsletters and informational brochures and I served as the museum’s photographer at museum-sponsored events