Résumé
Designing elegant, intuitive experiences that make news more accessible is my passion. I bring a diverse and deep skill set to product development including design, audience, front-end development and analytics. I’ve successfully led cross-functional project teams by emphasizing user research and design, and by giving all stakeholders a voice in the product development process.
Aug. 2019 - present
The Texas Tribune
Director of User Experience
Led user interviews and usability testing for multiple products including a user management portal, sponsored content, government salaries explorer and Teach Me How to Texas. Acted on insights to build more informed, user-centered products.
Designed elegant and practical solutions for Texas Tribune members to manage their accounts online. Created a framework for writing user-centered product requirements.
Pitched and led the development of Teach Me How to Texas, a series newsletter written to empower Texans to engage in politics and policy for the first time.
Collaborating with engineering to develop a new system for engagement on story pages, balancing the needs of editorial, engineering and revenue.
Jan. 2018 - July 2019
The Texas Tribune
Designer/Developer for Audience and Engagement
Increased email newsletter sign-ups by redesigning texastribune.org/subscribe to help readers identify newsletters, podcasts and authors they want to follow. Improved sign-ups on article pages by making them more relevant to the content you're reading.
Increased deliverability and consistency of email newsletters, plus the accuracy of newsletter metrics, by creating custom Mailchimp templates.
Implemented improved event tracking in Google Analytics to ensure we have the means to evaluate design and product efforts.
Created our first crowdsourced candidate survey, inspired by and designed for one of our target audiences: millennials. Worked with social media editor, Bobby Blanchard, to repurpose the guide into shareable nuggets on Instagram, Instagram stories, Twitter and Facebook.
May 2014 - December 2017
The Washington Post
Interaction Designer
Designed and coded bespoke visual stories on a breadth of topics including: the 2016 presidential election, President Obama’s legacy, the n-word’s place in American vernacular, a Syrian family’s journey from Aleppo to Austria, and what to eat in D.C.
Won the Journalism 360 Challenge, a grant sponsored by Knight Foundation, Google News Lab and Online News Association, for projects that grow the field of journalism through immersive storytelling.
Spearheaded a team of nine people in news, engineering, product and advertising exploring augmented reality technology through stories about acoustics, air pollution and unconscious bias.
Led 2016 election night social media strategy for the graphics team including design, updates and promotion of over 40 pre-made social images, two live social image templates and 15 standalone graphics.
Improved consistency and development processes in the graphics department by designing, implementing, and maintaining the graphics team style guide.
April 2013 - May 2014
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Content Strategist and Multimedia Journalist
Initiated, designed and launched the company’s first longform, responsive article template — which greatly reduced production errors and increased efficiency.
Led the creation of a new mobile app for going out in Milwaukee; product owner through concept, design, development and promotion. Coordinated a partnership to make the app the official guide for a large annual festival.
Designed and coded a four-part interactive story about first-year medical students in gross anatomy — a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing.
Dec. 2011 - April 2013
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Multimedia Producer
Designed and coded multimedia projects on a breadth of topics including: Milwaukee’s infant mortality crisis, Wisconsin’s gubernatorial recall, executive pay and conflicts of interest in the prescription drug industry.
Contributed reporting and created interactive graphics for an award-winning series on the threat China posed to Wisconsin’s paper industry.
Led development of live results maps for primary and general elections.
Oct. 2010 - May 2011
Junta de Andalucía
Auxiliar de Conversación
Taught English to Spanish-speaking students ages 3 to 11. Tutored teachers and adult students in conversational and written English.
Awards
2018
Society for News Design
Bronze Medal, 2018 Election Issues Guide
2017
World Press Photo, Digital Storytelling Contest
Second Place, Immersive Storytelling, Sin Luz: Life Without Power
Journalism 260 Challenge on Immersive Storytelling
Winner, $30K grant from Knight Foundation and Google News Lab
Scripps Howard Awards
Winner, Multimedia Journalism, Sin Luz: Life Without Power
Northern Short Course in Photojournalism Contest
First Place, Team Multimedia, Sin Luz: Life Without Power
Society for News Design
Silver Medal, Planned breaking news, A divided nation meets
Award of Excellence, Planned graphics, A divided nation meets
2016
Society for News Design
Silver Medal, Washington Post Election coverage
Award of Excellence, Create your own presidential debate
Award of Excellence, 20 Election Day Distractions
Award of Excellence, Tell us how you feel about the RNC, in emoji
Award of Excellence, Obama: A virtual museum of his legacy
Award of Excellence, What are you hungry for?
2015
Society for News Design
Award of Excellence, The 'Black Route' to Europe
Award of Excellence, The Tsarnaev Trial: Drawing a line
Award of Excellence, Where to cool off near all 91 metro stations
Society for Features Journalism
First Place, Digital Innovation - The N-Word project
Third Place, Digital Innovation - Best Albums of 2014
2014
Society for News Design
Gold Medal, The N-Word project
2013
Better Government Association
Third Place, Hidden Hunting Lands
Society for News Design
Award of Excellence, Compare recall campaign contributions to committees
Society of American Business Editors & Writers
Winner: Explanatory Reporting, Paper Cuts
Associated Press Media Editors
Winner: International Perspectives Award, Paper Cuts
2012
Associated Press Media Editors
Innovator of the Year, Empty Cradles series
Data Journalism Awards
Second Place: Data Visualization (Local), Empty Cradles series
2011
American Society of Newspaper Editors Awards
Winner: Online Storytelling, Empty Cradles series
SPECIALTIES
UI/UX design
User research
Usability testing
Project management
Art direction
TOOLS & TECH
Advanced
HTML, CSS, SASS, Mailchimp
Intermediate
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Sketch, Invision
Basic
Google Analytics, Git, Photoshop, Illustrator
EDUCATION
2006 - 2010
B.A. Journalism & Spanish
UNC Chapel-Hill
• Concentration: Graphic Design and Multimedia
• Study Abroad: Seville, Spain
• President: Student chapter of the Society for News Design
OTHER INTERESTS
Hanging with my Corgi, yoga, baking, traveling, reading, speaking Spanish