Hi There. I’m Katie.
And this is where we get back to the design track. I had the opportunity to move to a UX/UI design role at Detroit Labs. I missed designing but I came back with so much more knowledge! I had become more and more interested in the “whys” behind design. Understanding user behaviors and the psychology of design propelled me toward UX Research. Seeing how important accessibility is to the overall success of an app or a website made me love the quality process. At Detroit Labs I got to marry my two passions and utilize research to validate and elevate my designs. I now work at Ford Motor Company and design for accessibility while creating a better experience for all users.
Outside of design, I play euphonium in a community concert band, I love to crochet, thrift, and watch Friends on repeat. My husband and I have a three year old daughter and two fat cats. We love to travel but also love remodeling our 1938 colonial-style house.
I have always been a creative person. Growing up, I loved art, music, and theater. I started my design journey as a digital media manager, which was just the fancy way of saying graphics and web designer for the Michigan House. Then I moved to a product designer role at a CRM company and from there to a senior product designer for a small marketing agency.
This is where we take a hard left. I left my senior product designer role for a Quality Assurance apprenticeship at Detroit Labs. I learned the software development lifecycle, Agile methodologies, and all about accessibility.
What I do
Design
Wire framing | Prototyping | Interaction Design | Design Iteration | User-Centered Design | Product Design | Design Systems
Research
User Interviews | Usability Testing | Heuristic Evaluations | Data Synthesis | Empathy and Journey Mapping | User Personas | A/B Testing | Accessibility
Software
Figma | Illustrator | Photoshop | Adobe XD | Zeplin | Dovetail | Jira | Microsoft Office | User Testing | Google Analytics | Github | Trello