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Professional Experience

DESIGN PRINCIPAL
FreshBooks
Toronto I Remote
Native iOS, Android | Responsive Web

2022 - 2023

FreshBooks is a leading SaaS provider of SMB cloud accounting services, known for its User friendly products. With the Senior Director of Design, oversaw a world-class product design practice with teams in Canada, Europe and Mexico. As an influential advisor on the executive leadership team, set vision and strategic direction directly impacting bottom-line growth through enhanced customer experiences.

  • Led experience strategy for Navigation IA refresh, achieving a significant 4 point increase in System Usability Score.

  • Directed executive workshops redefining overall Product strategy which fostered greater team alignment and charted innovative paths for market relevance and growth.

  • Crafted a compelling Mobile App North Star vision, mapping holistic customer journeys that provided clear strategic direction by defining customer-centric outcomes and success metrics to drive impactful and purposeful results.

  • Fostered a culture of continuous growth and engagement through mentorship, nurturing individual skills for impactful performance and career progression. 

  • Provided coaching to align designers' work with customer needs and company objectives, ensuring purposeful design outcomes

DESIGN STRATEGY LEAD
TELUS Digital
Toronto I Hybrid
Native iOS, Android | Responsive Web

2018 - 2022 I MyTELUS App

Led a hybrid team of 10+ in-house and vendor designers on a mission to empower customers to easily manage accounts across web and mobile app platforms. Built contextual, personalized, and connected end-to-end journeys across multiple touch points resulting in a 40% increase in monthly active users, and $3M+ annual savings in operating expenditures. 

  • Partnered with Product owners in crafting strategic roadmaps that secured buy-ins for capital investment.

  • Expanded team to double the size, recruiting diverse talent to optimize team capabilities, resulting in 30% increase in productivity. 

  • Selected for TELUS’ mentorship program, providing tailored coaching to mentees across the organization. Cultivated a collaborative, safe space, to fuel individual growth and unleash peak creativity. 

  • Instructor for TELUS’ Junior Designer program, specializing in mobile design, storytelling, and critical thinking, essential in setting up new designers for success.

  • Championed Human-Centred Design methodologies, engaging data-driven insights across all customer journeys. Orchestrated robust test methodologies, leveraging user insights to steer product direction and priorities within a mobile-first agile framework.

  • Outperforming industry standards, the app garnered 1.41 million active monthly users, boasting a 78% retention rate, 82% app store ratings of 4 & 5 stars, and facilitated 5.3 million self-serve activities

2016 - 2018 I B2B Team

Led complex project engagements with business clients and international vendors in the authenticated digital space. 

  • Delivered an end-to-end design experience for the successful digital launch of TELUS Pitch 2017 that garnered 15%+ lead generation, exceeding success targets by 4%

  • Led the customization of a scalable self-serve portal enabling seamless self-service for Business clients, reducing support costs by 25%. Orchestrated cross-functional teams spanning time zones in Russia, Vancouver, and Toronto 

  • Key contributor to the TELUS design system, driving collaboration among leads to establish a robust distributed contribution model, that laid the foundation for scalability, efficiency, consistency, and impactful design

MANAGER, UX DESIGN
In Moment (formerly Empathica)
Mississauga
Native iOS I Responsive Web

2010 - 2015

Established and led a dynamic UX practice in an evolving tech environment. Partnered with C-suite executives, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to deliver simple, elegant, and user-centric products. Successfully scaled, coached and managed a high-performing design team, fostering client relationships for impactful decision-making

  • As key member of the leadership team, played a pivotal role in strategic scaling initiatives and product diversification that more than doubled annual revenue to more than $40m + 

  • Built a team from the ground up, transitioning from a sole designer to leading and managing a dispersed team of 6+ in the US and Canada.

  • Headed the design for Empathica’s flagship CEM product for notable brands like Starbucks and Boston Pizza, resulting in a 5.5% increase in guest satisfaction within 2 months of implementation. This earned the product the prestigious Best in Biz Award as best new innovation of the year.

HEAD OF UX
Flight Network
Mississauga
Responsive Web

2015

Recruited by the Chief Digital Officer to transform a primarily feature-driven product lifecycle into a customer-centric one by establishing a strong UX-driven practice.

  • Built a proof of concept meta site within an accelerated 3-month timeframe to demonstrate the transformative impact of adopting lean, agile methodologies. The success of this initiative not only delivered an effective, fully responsive, rich customer experience and positive ROI but also prompted a pivotal shift in the organization toward innovation and efficiency

  • Spearheaded internationalization effort to seamlessly implement currency, language, and location features for the global Flight Network site, expanding market reach, and fostering increased engagement across diverse audiences

Prior to 2010 held other progressive Design roles with Roxio/Sonic Solutions, and Symantec Corporation.

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing your Leadership Philosophy
Chris Nodder

Using AI in the UX Design Process
Tetiana Gulei

Design Thinking: Understanding the Process
Mike Figliulo

Artificial Intelligence : Case Studies in different Business Industries
Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang

Scaling High Performing Teams
FreshBooks

Product Led Growth
Pendo

Positive Intelligence
PQ Training

Post Graduate Interactive Multimedia
Sheridan College

Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours
University of Western Ontario

AWARDS & CERTIFICATIONS

PORCHFEST Value award for Passion, Ownership & Honesty I FreshBooks

Best New Product for Empathica Local™ I Best in Biz Awards

Rock Star Award for Employee Excellence I Empathica

Canfitpro Fitness Instructor Specialist