Maya Carroll

Founded by Andy MacMillan in 2008, UserTesting's SaaS platform provides on-demand qualitative insights, powering the research ops of designers, product managers, marketers, and business decision-makers. Headquartered in San Francisco, UserTesting has over 600 employees. In 2020, UserTesting hit over $84M in revenue, with a YOY growth of 20%. UserTesting's design team has 30 members, including designers, researchers, and UX writers.

I reported to Jason Giles, the VP of Design, and I embedded in four cross-functional Agile squads within the Customer and Panel tribes within the Product and Engineering department's context.

• Led the discovery and design phases of key initiatives touching several parts of the product suite, including partnerships and integrations, the API ecosystem, the pre-test launch experience for researchers, and the mobile app usability testing experience for researchers and participants.
• Used Figma to create user flow diagrams, wireframes, mockups, and prototypes of UserTesting's integrations portfolio, which includes Slack, Jira, MS Teams, Adobe XD, Zoom, and Enjoy HQ, and more.
• Solutioned for key use cases, including launch tests, share insights and analyze results.
• Designed a new feature to support usability tests on unreleased iOS apps via Testflight.
• Designed a new feature to help researchers run tests with larger sample sizes to increase their results' statistical significance.
• Implemented UX industry best practices, reinforced by user testing (leveraging the UserTesting platform and panels.)
• Suggested enhancements to the platform’s design that would improve the users’ experience.
• Multi-tasked across multiple focuses to generate project results and meet deadlines and organizational expectations.
• Collected, defined, and translated user requirements into product designs and implementation specifications.
• Collaborated closely with copywriters to support personalization and internationalization of the product’s design.
• Participated in weekly design review meetings to brainstorm and align new UX developments through collaborative thinking.
• Took concepts and produced design mockups and prototypes to strengthen designs, enhance user experiences, and improve site interactions.
• Contributed to the maintenance and application of UserTesting design of reusable patterns and components.
• Propose design system improvements based on industry best practices, design principles, and heuristics, accessibility standards, validated through user testing.

Founded in 2009 by Phil and Chris Reynolds, BriteCore is a fully remote SaaS InsureTech company with over 300 employees based out of Springfield, Missouri. Their enterprise solutions power and accelerate the business growth and operations of over 60 agencies, MGAs, and insurance carriers. BriteCore’s platform supports Property and Casualty insurance for personal and commercial lines of business. I reported to Will Guldin, the Product Design Director. I worked as the organization’s sole UX Researcher, embedded on a team of seven Product Designers in the context of an Agile SAFe Product and Engineering department.

• Implemented tools and processes to scale up Research Ops across the design team and the organization.
• Owned more than 30 key initiatives a year, from generative research and conceptual design through evaluative testing and implementation phases.
• Conducted over 170 tests and 500+ user interviews to identify users’ goals, pain points, and opportunities.
• Recruited participants from BriteCore’s community forum and customer base.
• Lead primary research to inform the redesign of the quoting process, billing system, policy administration system, claims management system, BI and reporting tool, agent portal, policyholder portal, mobile apps, and the business rules engine interface.
• Conducted secondary research to identify opportunities and support organizational goals, such as extending the BriteCore platform to support new lines of business, such as car insurance.
• Collaborated with the Product Design Director, Program Managers, PM’s, PO’s, Product Designers, and Engineers to identify and prioritize research initiatives and establish project goals, projections, and milestones.
• Validated early design concepts with user feedback to ensure product/market fit, solution definition, and design quality.
• Identified the best research methods based on research goals, timelines, and resources, emphasizing agility, and iterative learning.
• Planned, coordinated, and facilitated user research using various qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including contextual inquiries, user interviews, usability studies, surveys, ethnography, card sorting, first-click testing, preference testing, content testing, server logs, traffic and click analytics, and more.
• Distilled research findings into actionable insights and recommendations, created and shared written reports, case studies, presentations, and led collaborative workshops.
• Set up a research repository (a system for tracking research projects, findings, and interactions with end-users.)
• Developed and validated end-user personas with extensive field research.
• Brokedown complex business requirements and translated them into simple, elegant, scalable user experiences.
• Proposed improvements to the UI/UX that reduced the time required for users to complete critical tasks and reduced complexity and errors.
• Constructed and operated a portable UX lab to conduct usability tests and contextual inquiries in the field at client offices, conferences, and product summits.
• Proposed improvements to the design system to comply with WCAG 2.1 accessibility guidelines.
• Multi-tasked across multiple focuses to generate project results and meet deadlines and organizational expectations.
• Fostered a sense of collaboration within a fully remote team using several techniques, including UX Research reviews, frequent 1-1s, ideation, and analysis workshops.
• Participated in weekly design review meetings to brainstorm and align new UX developments through collaborative thinking.

Northplains was a Canadian SaaS Digital Asset Management company with over 200 employees based out of Toronto, with satellite offices in the U.K and U.S. Their on-prem and cloud-based solutions power the creative marketing operations of over 350 national and international brands. Their content management and workflow tools accelerated production and drove insights across teams and markets. I reported to Fred Anthony, the CTO, and worked as a solo UI/UX Designer, providing design leadership to an Agile team of 30+ engineers.

• Designed file management and sharing systems, digital asset catalogs, approval manager, reporting tools, workflow builder, search and filtering experiences, metadata management, video editors, and features to support artificial intelligence.
• Led full redesigns of the NorthPlains product suite to improve navigation and unify and modernize the product’s branding and design aesthetics.
• Created user flow diagrams, wireframes, mockups, and prototypes using Omnigraffle, Sketch, and Invision.
• Collaborated with front-end developers to create a sleek, innovative, and responsive UI design.
• Developed functional digital design concepts across various platforms to strengthen the company brand and identity.
• Collected, defined, and translated user requirements into product designs and implementation specifications.
• Took concepts and produced design mockups and prototypes to strengthen designs, enhance user experiences, and improve site interactions.
• Owned the design of NorthplainsNEXT ( a new product with a modern front-end capable of leveraging more than 20 years of technology investments on the back-end), from the initial research and conceptual design through testing and implementation phases.
• Collaborated closely with the CTO, Product Manager, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders to increase sales and reduce churn by consolidating the portfolio’s fragmented UI/UX into a single cohesive SaaS application.
• Pioneered UX Research program to understand customer pain points and optimize ineffective user flows.
• Efforts contributed to improved industry rankings from Forrester (a market research company), which rated Northplain’s UX as improved from a 1 to 3 since I joined.
• Devised design standards for the applications by creating the NorthplainsNEXT design system.
• Updated navigation to be responsive and consistent on every page.
• Updated the product suite’s UI to have a consistent and on-brand styling for all elements.
• Mentored developers in many situations, including CSS best practices, ideation techniques, UCD and Lean UX practices, and reviewing designs for best practices and UI consistency.
• Managed the design toolkit and budget.
• Multi-tasked across multiple focuses to generate project results and meet deadlines and organizational expectations.

Founded in 1989 by Ed Lacobucci, Citrix is an American multinational software company that provides server, application, and desktop virtualization, networking, SaaS, and cloud computing technologies. Their products support over 100 million users across 400,000 organizations, including 99 percent of the Fortune 100 and 98 percent of the Fortune 500. With $10M in revenue, Citrix has over 5,000 employees and is headquartered in California and Florida. I reported to Perla Lopez, the Director of Americas Technical Support, and worked as a solo UX Designer, collaborating with Project Management and IT resources.

• Conducted a multinational generative research study that included surveys, 200 stakeholder interviews, and an immersive, contextual inquiry at Citrix’s headquarters.
• Proposed UX improvements that resulted in reducing the time to resolution for the Technical Support Specialists by 20%.
• Fulfilled organizational goals by designing a user experience to help Citirix’s people, processes, and tools align with the Kepner Tregoe problem analysis framework.
• Collaborated with Project Managers representing the Technical Support department to establish project goals, projections, and milestones.
• Took concepts and produced design mockups and prototypes to strengthen designs, enhance user experiences, and improve site interactions.
• Developed and validated end-user personas with extensive field research.
• Deconstructed complex user flow through whiteboarding and diagrams.
• Created paper sketches and low-fidelity wireframes of potential solutions using OmniGraffle.
• Developed high-fidelity prototypes using Axure to communicate site interactions and design specifications.
• Conducted remote prototype tests with offshore support specialists from Citrix’s offices in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC to validate the ethnographic design and copy considerations.
• Validated design decisions through guerilla user testing with employees in the Technical Support department.

Founded in 1982 by William and Rafael Cruz, TradeStation offers best in-class trading technology and online brokerage services to individual and institutional traders in the U.S. and worldwide. The company’s trading and analysis platform provide one-click access to all major U.S. exchanges and market centers. Its expansive product offering enables clients to design, test, optimize, monitor and automate their custom equities, options, and futures trading strategies. TradeStation’s online brokerage is the 5th largest in the U.S. I reported to Gerrit Schuller, the Director of Product Development, and worked as a solo designer, embedded on four Agile engineering teams.

• Led the UI/UX design of TradeStation’s multi-platform product suite, including the online direct-access brokerage, desktop and web trading platforms, and native iOS and Android apps.
• Multi-tasked across multiple focuses to generate project results and meet deadlines and organizational expectations.
• Presented UX designs and solutions to senior leadership, evangelizing for user-centric design decisions.
• Applied both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to improve end-user experiences continuously.
• Analyzed user feedback to influence future UX updates, ameliorating user concerns, and pain points during subsequent patch cycles.
• Performed manual testing on UX design elements and complete UX designs, authoring feedback reports for future updates.
• Validated design decisions through guerilla testing at trading expos and conferences.
• Conducted ethnographic research with customers in foreign markets (Europe, China, and Japan.)
• Collaborated closely with Technical Writers to support internationalization.
• Reduced the time it took users to open an account online by 20% by redesigning the account opening user flow.
• Concepted and prototyped a new feature to support Options trading on the mobile and web platforms, which increased the number of trades placed through the product suite by 15%, driving increased trading commissions revenues.
• My efforts to improve the product's usability lead to an improved usability score (4.3 out of 5) in Barron’s (a Dow Jones’ financial publication) 2016 survey.
• Monitored emerging UX design trends in FinTech and practices for useful techniques and cutting-edge developments suitable for integration into future projects.
• Collaborated with business decision-makers and subject matter experts to create holistic UX vision and strategies.
• Created product designs for options trading solutions across web and mobile.
• Led in biweekly design review meetings to brainstorm new UX initiatives through collaborative thinking.
• Managed cohesive design quality across 30 projects, adhering to prescribed themes and functional choices.
• Drove innovation by participating in internal hackathons.
• Deconstructed complex business requirements, and user flows through whiteboarding and diagramming.
• Created low-fidelity designs and prototypes using OmniGraffle and Axure.
• Create high-fidelity designs and prototypes with Adobe CC and Axure.

Epsilon provides a broad range of loyalty marketing services spanning database marketing, direct mail, email marketing, web development, loyalty programs, analytics, data services, strategic consulting, and creative services. It is part of the Alliance Data Systems Corporation, a publicly-traded provider of loyalty and marketing services. Ad Age has ranked Epsilon among the top marketing services firms and direct marketing agencies. Epsilon is the Top US Agency From All Disciplines and Top US CRM/Direct Marketing Agencies for 2012. In 2019, Publicis acquired Epsilon - it was the second-biggest deal in the history of advertising. I reported to Dante Murphy, the Sr. Director of Customer Experience Strategy, and worked on a design team, providing clients with direct to consumer advertising campaigns and website redesigns.

• Collaborated with client and project teams to gather and document requirements, conduct market research, competitive audits, and customer journey mapping workshops.
• Developed detailed prototypes, wireframes, sitemaps, and user flow diagrams for highly interactive interfaces across multiple platforms.
• Collaborated with data analysts, developers, copywriters, and other creatives in an agile environment to deliver best-in-class user experiences
• Minimized cost of design and development by creating, maintaining, and overseeing the global integration of a design system comprised of reusable components
• Designed website and mobile apps per accessibility guidelines for patients with substantial vision loss.
• Responsible for selling-in new concepts, design strategies, and product roadmaps with both internal and external senior stakeholders while partnering with global cross-functional teams to ship innovative new products and engaging experiences that delight customers and exceed business goals.

Founded in 1984 by Jordan Zimmerman, Zimmerman Advertising is part of the Omnicom Group, a marketing and corporate communications holding company based out of New York. Zimmerman. Ad Tech and Retail Tech. Zimmerman is the 14th largest full-service agency in the U.S. and Omnicom Group’s retail powerhouse. Their clients represent some of the most prominent retail brands in the country, including Papa John’s, Nissan, Office Depot, Party City, Boston Market, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Extended Stay America. I reported to Fred Schank, the Director of Digital Experience and Technology, and worked in the Retail Tech division on a team of UX designers.

• Architected UX, used Omnigraffle to create low-fidelity wireframes for website/mobile development.
• Designed, executed, and analyzed research studies in the form of surveys, interviews, card sorting, moderated and unmoderated usability testing, and A/B testing.
• Analyzed website analytics.
• Developed user flows, user journeys, user personas, and user requirements.
• Produced, coordinated, and executed timelines and functional spec requirements for multiple projects.
• Investigated and identified industry trends and emerging technologies to create intelligent user experiences.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to direct the user experience and problem solve during the transition from design to development.
• Collaborated closely with clients, engineers, account managers, project managers, copywriters, and graphic designers.
• Lead the discovery phase, shepherding progress through design and implementation phases.
• Owned more than 50+ projects a year, from generative research and conceptual design through evaluative testing and implementation phases.
• Led full redesigns of existing websites to improve navigation, enhance visuals, strengthen search engine rankings, and transition to responsive web design.
• Pitched campaign strategies, product ideas, and UX solutions to senior leadership and clients.
• Fostered cross-functional collaboration by facilitated workshops and brainstorming sessions.
• Documented design specifications for offshore engineering teams.
• Clients for current and past projects include Facebook, Dunkin'
  Donuts, Michael's, White Castle, Papa John's, Florida Blue, Firehouse Subs, Saks 5th Avenue, Atlantis Resort, AutoNation, Advance America, ADT, Boston Market, Pep Boys, Philip's, Extended Stay America, Office Depot, Logan's Roadhouse, Fresh Market, Jamba Juice and Party City.

The ODP Corporation (a merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax) is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton. The company generates $11 billion in annual revenue, operates 1,400 retail stores, and offers B2C and B2B e-commerce. I reported to the Lead Usability Architect and interned on a ten Usability Architects team and worked embedded in an Agile, mobile team in the eCommerce department.

• Worked on the B2B and B2C m-commerce platforms UI across responsive web, tablet, and mobile experiences, including mobile native UI for shopping experiences in the marketplace, commerce, account, content, cart, checkout, and search.
• Designed native user experiences for iOS and Android apps.
• Lead the mobile channel redesign and strategic integration of all channels to create a compelling, consistent, and connected content journey for the user, rethinking content taxonomy, information architecture, and cross-linking strategy.
• Collaborate with the audience development, editorial, and production teams to develop and deploy new content asset types/form factors and templates aimed at improving the content experience and increasing audience engagement
• Evangelized the highest design standards, providing clear direction to team members, stakeholders, internal agency partners, and outside vendors
• Presented UX designs and solutions to senior staff, evangelizing for user-centric design decisions.
• Performed manual testing on UX design elements, and complete UX designs, authoring feedback reports for future updates.
• Applied both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to improve end-user experiences continuously.
• Analyzed user feedback to influence future UX updates, ameliorating user concerns, and pain points during subsequent patch cycles.
• Monitored emerging UX design trends and practices for useful techniques and cutting-edge developments suitable for integration into future projects.

Founded in 1991, Metacommunications, Inc is an enterprise software company with over 50 employees headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Their flagship product, Workgroups Davinci, is a proofing and project management SaaS solution. I reported to John Howes, the CTO, and worked as a solo Product Designer embedded on an Agile team of fifteen engineers.

• Concepted, designed, and prototypes new features and components, including proofing tool, approval manager, digital asset catalogs, form builder, agile and waterfall boards, task tracker, calendar, workflow builder, and reporting tools.
• Collaborated closely with Agile teams to quickly iterate solutions using whiteboarding, wireframes, and user flow diagrams.
• Delivered interface designs and prototypes with Sketch and Axure in collaboration with product owners and engineering teams.
• Led design studios and managed feedback from key business stakeholders to provide transparency into the design process.
• Provided product owners and business analysts with user research and analytics reports, which uncovered users’ unmet needs and validated the effectiveness of design decisions.
• Updated the organization’s end-user personas to meet shifting market needs.
• Collaborated with the engineering team to plan, design, and present UI designs for software and web applications.
• Lead initiatives with engineering to analyze trends, turn customer feedback into meaningful product plans, and usability tested to validate design decisions with existing markets.
• Defined and maintained a design system to improve the consistency of the user experience in the product.
• Established new design standards to modernize the look and feel of web elements, apply design principles and heuristics, align with industry best practices, and comply with accessibility standards.
• Collaborated closely with front-end developers to build and maintain a design system library of reusable patterns and components.

Established in 1965, FAU is a public research university.

Worked in the Office of Information Technology designing www.fau.edu and eLearning curriculums.

• Targeted diverse learning modalities in the development of new course content and training programs.
• Designed course materials and support implementation.
• Developed assessments and user polls to evaluate course effectiveness, altering content, and delivery to achieve student learning goals.
• Planned and monitored the implementation of technology-based learning programs.
• Created curricula, research topics, and conceptualized course format, subject matter, and presentation.

Established in 1851, FSU is a public research university located in Florida’s capital city.

Designed eLearning curriculums, websites, emails, and campaign materials.

• Targeted diverse learning modalities in the development of new course content and training programs.
• Designed course materials and support implementation.
• Developed assessments and user polls to evaluate course effectiveness, altering content, and delivery to achieve student learning goals.
• Planned and monitored the implementation of technology-based learning programs.
• Created curricula, research topics, and conceptualized course format, subject matter, and presentation.