Hi there, I’m Shawna
I’m an Experience/Design leader with over 15 years of experience in tech. I worked as an engineer early in my career, then went to grad school at the UC Berkeley School of Information and switched to UX. Since then I’ve spent 15 years in the UX world, and I have a depth of knowledge in user research, design, accessibility, and code.
I currently work in civic tech as VP of Experience for Code for America.
My focus areas include…
- Managing and coaching (including managing other managers)
- Building communities with a sense of psychological safety
- Design operations (e.g. creating the processes a mature design practice needs)
- Building bridges with stakeholders to make room for strategic design initiatives
- Bringing teams along in blending organizational, business, partner, and user needs.
Other skills I’m proud of
- Pushing for larger systems-level changes instead of one off quick fixes
- Starting with small wins and discovery sprints to build momentum
- Creating compelling stories that answer the questions stakeholders really have
- Organizing initiatives into Now/Next/Later and helping my direct reports prioritize their work
- Summarizing next steps post-meetings
- Recalling and finding old slack posts incredibly quickly
- Working as a lab assistant to my 10 year-old son