I am Angela, and I was that kid in school, intentionally eccentric and with friends across the cliques. I was always raising my hand in class. I didn't care too much if I didn't have the right answer, and sometimes just wanted to question the teacher's logic. I was particularly disruptive in history class because I wanted to understand why the world works the way it does now. My indomitable optimism somehow brought various schemes to fruition.
My disposition empowers me to be both stable and flexible. I have turned challenging situations into a metamorphosis. I know enough to know that I will never stop learning. I put in the time to produce excellent work and to cultivate psychological safety, so I generally have good relationships with people I come across.
I want to be a part of a strong team where strategies are founded on compassion and an understanding of the past, where good and bad ideas are welcomed and expressed. I have lots of ideas, so I don't have to marry any of them. Let's put them to the test and see if they're useful! I am supportive of my leadership, and also enthusiastically take on leadership.
Skills that I have crafted over time (aka was not born with) are a sense of organization, detail focus, realistic deadline-setting, and establishing action plans and priorities.
When things get hard, I like to remember how astonishing a human being is. We are made up of more cells than there are galaxies in the known universe, so I like to think of each one of us as our own little universe. We go into life to form other universes; families, communities, industries, countries; and those universes have complex challenges and conundrums just like our bodies and our ecosystems. It's an honor to be a problem-solving being who can dive into these universes and help unfold solutions. Isn't that amazing?
My Resume
Experience
SENIOR UI DESIGNER
Zoro, 2020 – Present
Currently, I lead the Design System team in establishing a visual vocabulary for Zoro.com, architected and facilitate federated governance for the Design System across product teams, host cross-functional workshops using IDEO and Luma methodologies, collaborate with researchers to strategize better user experiences and confirm their efficacy, design flows, wireframes, interfaces, and prototypes.
- Proposed a design system to Senior Leadership, and won approval by communicating expected outcomes, KPIs, a clear roadmap, and estimated ROIs
- Provide mentorship and occasionally oversee and generate work for three fellow UI Designers
- Designed a product compatibility tool that has resulted in a steadily growing increase of purchase rates for automotive products on Zoro.com
SENIOR UX/UI DESIGNER
Snapsheet, 2018 – 2020
I collaborate with Designers, Engineers, and Product Managers to find solutions for complex software requirements in the insurance claims process. I conduct user interviews to find needs and pain points, design wireframes, review them with teams, evolve them into UI, and consult with Developers in the build-out. The tools used are Sketch, Figma, InVision, Abstract, and Lucid Chart.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Angela Stucky Creative Design, 2015 – 2018
I assembled a nimble team of creative professionals to provide a range of marketing design services. We created brand and identity systems, websites, illustrations and poster art, and print materials. We worked closely with our clients, using design thinking, to understand the who, what, why, and how of their most important design problems.
ART TEACHER
Fundación Comunitaria del Bajío, 2015
Six month immersive program as one of two teachers in the rural highlands of Guanajuato, Mexico, teaching Artistic Self Expression through Bookmaking Arts to youth aged 9-15. The project entailed start-to-finish creation of custom art diaries, and included poetry lessons, drawing lessons, personal coaching, and team building activities, taught entirely in Spanish. The six months completed with approximately 180 books created in three communities.
GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNER / FRONT-END DEV
BvE Creative & Maximum Impact Design, 2008 – 2014
I played a leading role in website creation, complex product photoshoots, event display installations, and design for packaging, apparel, and print. Tools used were front-end development (HTML/CSS/JS/PHP), CMS build-out using such platforms as WordPress and Shopify, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, freehand illustration, and project management.
MENTOR
ROP Graphic Design Course, San Lorenzo Valley High School, 2009
I worked with high school seniors to learn the Adobe Creative Suite, and discussed my adventures in my new-found career as a designer.
Education
NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP
Certification in Interaction Design
2018 - 2019
LUMA Institute
Certification in Design Thinking
October 2019
CABRILLO COLLEGE
Graphic and Web Design
Certifications
2007 – 2009
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ
Two Bachelors of Art
Fine Art Printmaking & Political Science
2001 – 2006
My Process
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Observe, understand, strategize
- Competitive benchmarking, observational research and interviews
- Analysis of collected data using tools like affinity clustering, as-is scenario maps, and needs statements
- Pose a hypothesis
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Communicate findings
- Synthesis and presentation of research data into graphs, charts, user personas, user journeys, and stakeholder maps, brought to life with a good story
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Lead ideation sessions
- Develop KPIs, generate product ideas, define objectives
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Design solutions
- User flows, low-fidelity wireframes, rough prototypes
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Test hypothesis
- No matter the budget for testing, finding users to stop by, play around with "quick-and-dirty" prototypes, and answer key questions. Small wins here lead to increased support
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Iterate & collaboratively implement
- Receive feedback on the accuracy of our hypotheses, adjust product roadmap, track design requests/bugs using JIRA, iron out as much risk as possible
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Observe Results
- There are always opportunities for improvement. Honesty with ourselves at this crucial junction is a great form of success. and so of course, our final step is always…
Start over again at step 1!