Sr. Consultant, Customer Experience

• Jun 2023 - Present

My role involves direct interfacing with customers in government agencies, enabling digital transformation efforts in a manner that involves UX best practices. My role involves direct interfacing with customers in government agencies, enabling digital transformation efforts in a manner that involves UX best practices.

UX Designer

• Apr 2023 - May 2023

Sr. Consultant, UX Design

• Aug 2020 - Feb 2023

I am a Sr. Consultant, UX Design, working on multiple projects across various clients and verticals. My work is primarily at the research and analytical end of the UX spectrum, with great opportunities to participate in the business development and pre-sales part of the business. My role helps me align qualitative and quantitative research work with a sharp business/stakeholder focus, enabling me become a better advocate of UX work to internal and external stakeholders. Clients served:… Show more I am a Sr. Consultant, UX Design, working on multiple projects across various clients and verticals. My work is primarily at the research and analytical end of the UX spectrum, with great opportunities to participate in the business development and pre-sales part of the business. My role helps me align qualitative and quantitative research work with a sharp business/stakeholder focus, enabling me become a better advocate of UX work to internal and external stakeholders. Clients served: Sketchers, CommonSpirit, Notified/Intrado, ADP, Midas, Everence • Created Personas and Journey Maps to assist with Digital Transformation efforts, assisting with requirements analysis of "as-is" and "to-be" scenarios • Adapted the popular "Design Sprint" (Jake Knapp) method for remote workshops to unearth team insights for ideation (including empathy), hypothesis, prototyping and testing • Helped clients discover areas of quick UX wins by using low-cost audit techniques like Heuristics evaluation; templatized several of these techniques to be re-used for quick project turn-around • Assisted with pre-sales efforts in identifying new opportunities and helped create t-shirt sized offerings for various project proposals • Worked in Agile sprint cycles of 2-weeks ensuring that design work was always done by sprint n-1, to ensure smooth Design2Dev handoffs • Wrote User Stories and Acceptance Criteria for UX needs, contributing to product roadmaps and milestones • Created wireframes and hi-fidelity mock-ups wherever required, to illustrate, discuss and bring competing viewpoints together • Ensured that deliverables were created to align with business and stakeholder needs and communicated that through countless presentations across all projects Show less I am a Sr. Consultant, UX Design, working on multiple projects across various clients and verticals. My work is primarily at the research and analytical end of the UX spectrum, with great opportunities to participate in the business development and pre-sales part of the business. My role helps me align qualitative and quantitative research work with a sharp business/stakeholder focus, enabling me become a better advocate of UX work to internal and external stakeholders. Clients served:… Show more I am a Sr. Consultant, UX Design, working on multiple projects across various clients and verticals. My work is primarily at the research and analytical end of the UX spectrum, with great opportunities to participate in the business development and pre-sales part of the business. My role helps me align qualitative and quantitative research work with a sharp business/stakeholder focus, enabling me become a better advocate of UX work to internal and external stakeholders. Clients served: Sketchers, CommonSpirit, Notified/Intrado, ADP, Midas, Everence • Created Personas and Journey Maps to assist with Digital Transformation efforts, assisting with requirements analysis of "as-is" and "to-be" scenarios • Adapted the popular "Design Sprint" (Jake Knapp) method for remote workshops to unearth team insights for ideation (including empathy), hypothesis, prototyping and testing • Helped clients discover areas of quick UX wins by using low-cost audit techniques like Heuristics evaluation; templatized several of these techniques to be re-used for quick project turn-around • Assisted with pre-sales efforts in identifying new opportunities and helped create t-shirt sized offerings for various project proposals • Worked in Agile sprint cycles of 2-weeks ensuring that design work was always done by sprint n-1, to ensure smooth Design2Dev handoffs • Wrote User Stories and Acceptance Criteria for UX needs, contributing to product roadmaps and milestones • Created wireframes and hi-fidelity mock-ups wherever required, to illustrate, discuss and bring competing viewpoints together • Ensured that deliverables were created to align with business and stakeholder needs and communicated that through countless presentations across all projects Show less

UX Designer

• Jan 2019 - Aug 2020

My role involved both strategizing the UX solution and doing hands-on work, working with a full-stack team on 2-week Agile sprint cycles. I designed new interfaces and redesigned old ones for an Electronic Grants Administration system at the Office of Sponsored Research. I was a one-person UX team handling all things UX, from using Design Thinking to conceptualization, UX Research, prototyping (hi & lo fidelity) and Usability Testing. • Used an innovative technique called Conceptual… Show more My role involved both strategizing the UX solution and doing hands-on work, working with a full-stack team on 2-week Agile sprint cycles. I designed new interfaces and redesigned old ones for an Electronic Grants Administration system at the Office of Sponsored Research. I was a one-person UX team handling all things UX, from using Design Thinking to conceptualization, UX Research, prototyping (hi & lo fidelity) and Usability Testing. • Used an innovative technique called Conceptual Modeling to re-create the information architecture of the product to support growing needs • Evangelized several UX practices to the team including Design Thinking and various other UX best practices, through team discussions and presentations • Developed the Design System for the product, creating components and artifacts for re-use • Used wireframing to capture key concepts and communicate ideas quickly to obtain feedback on technical feasibility and user experience • Supported the team extensively using hi-fidelity mock-ups implementing all the ideas that I advocated throughout the product development process (For a complete list of skills and tools used please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html)

UX Designer

• Jun 2018 - Dec 2018

eTek IT Project #7 --- Transitioned from being a contractor to being a full-time employee, performing the same tasks listed under the full-time employment

User Experience Researcher & Designer

• Jan 2012 - Dec 2018

Worked as a contractor on multiple projects, across various types of industries and verticals. My work at eTek IT is listed here. Worked as a contractor on multiple projects, across various types of industries and verticals. My work at eTek IT is listed here.

Sr. UX Designer/Information Architect

• Dec 2017 - May 2018

eTek IT Project #6 --- My role involved analyzing the content of External and Partnership websites of The World Bank Group and designing the Information Architecture of those websites and content. In addition to analysis I was involved with prototyping the solutions, working with Design and Development resources to recommend appropriate courses of action. • Gathered requirements and analyzed them through extensive discussions with stakeholders • Analyzed and re-worked the… Show more eTek IT Project #6 --- My role involved analyzing the content of External and Partnership websites of The World Bank Group and designing the Information Architecture of those websites and content. In addition to analysis I was involved with prototyping the solutions, working with Design and Development resources to recommend appropriate courses of action. • Gathered requirements and analyzed them through extensive discussions with stakeholders • Analyzed and re-worked the Information Architecture to reflect updated groupings and content organization • Used annotated wireframes as a discussion tool to help the team collaborate and organize feedback into actionable insights • Created new digital assets where required and re-used old ones as applicable, to showcase the new solutions (For a complete list of skills and tools used please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less eTek IT Project #6 --- My role involved analyzing the content of External and Partnership websites of The World Bank Group and designing the Information Architecture of those websites and content. In addition to analysis I was involved with prototyping the solutions, working with Design and Development resources to recommend appropriate courses of action. • Gathered requirements and analyzed them through extensive discussions with stakeholders • Analyzed and re-worked the… Show more eTek IT Project #6 --- My role involved analyzing the content of External and Partnership websites of The World Bank Group and designing the Information Architecture of those websites and content. In addition to analysis I was involved with prototyping the solutions, working with Design and Development resources to recommend appropriate courses of action. • Gathered requirements and analyzed them through extensive discussions with stakeholders • Analyzed and re-worked the Information Architecture to reflect updated groupings and content organization • Used annotated wireframes as a discussion tool to help the team collaborate and organize feedback into actionable insights • Created new digital assets where required and re-used old ones as applicable, to showcase the new solutions (For a complete list of skills and tools used please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less

Sr. UX Designer

• May 2017 - Nov 2017

eTek IT Project #5 --- My role involved working on multiple projects with clients that have differing levels of UX needs. One one project I worked with a start up, developing an application for small shippers in the shipping industry. On a different project I worked with an IT services organization to create the user experience for their Remote Online Work Community. As part of this work I participated in Agile ceremonies such as daily stand ups, planning, tasking and estimating effort… Show more eTek IT Project #5 --- My role involved working on multiple projects with clients that have differing levels of UX needs. One one project I worked with a start up, developing an application for small shippers in the shipping industry. On a different project I worked with an IT services organization to create the user experience for their Remote Online Work Community. As part of this work I participated in Agile ceremonies such as daily stand ups, planning, tasking and estimating effort, creating and maintaining a separate UX backlog and working with stakeholders on prioritization. • Used advanced Information Architecture skills like Information Modeling and Relationship Modeling to build the product architecture for Patriot • Brought significant levels of clarity to product discussions by creating Personas and articulating user needs that influence product features (for both start-ups) • Created and maintained backlogs for design tasks, worked with Product Owners to refine priorities, participated in team retrospectives and practiced transparency • Created Design Systems and hi-fidelity mock-ups for both start-ups to demonstrate product solutions (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less eTek IT Project #5 --- My role involved working on multiple projects with clients that have differing levels of UX needs. One one project I worked with a start up, developing an application for small shippers in the shipping industry. On a different project I worked with an IT services organization to create the user experience for their Remote Online Work Community. As part of this work I participated in Agile ceremonies such as daily stand ups, planning, tasking and estimating effort… Show more eTek IT Project #5 --- My role involved working on multiple projects with clients that have differing levels of UX needs. One one project I worked with a start up, developing an application for small shippers in the shipping industry. On a different project I worked with an IT services organization to create the user experience for their Remote Online Work Community. As part of this work I participated in Agile ceremonies such as daily stand ups, planning, tasking and estimating effort, creating and maintaining a separate UX backlog and working with stakeholders on prioritization. • Used advanced Information Architecture skills like Information Modeling and Relationship Modeling to build the product architecture for Patriot • Brought significant levels of clarity to product discussions by creating Personas and articulating user needs that influence product features (for both start-ups) • Created and maintained backlogs for design tasks, worked with Product Owners to refine priorities, participated in team retrospectives and practiced transparency • Created Design Systems and hi-fidelity mock-ups for both start-ups to demonstrate product solutions (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less

Sr. UX Designer

• Mar 2017 - Apr 2017

eTek IT Project #4 --- This short term role was one of the most challenging one - the ask project was about enabling the digital transformation of legacy enterprise applications so that they are easy-to-use, with updated visual design. I executed this with just some flow charts and internal conversations; access to the building, systems, product and users took too long to happen given the bureaucratic procedures. Please refer my website for more on this project: www.bhuvana-n.com… Show more eTek IT Project #4 --- This short term role was one of the most challenging one - the ask project was about enabling the digital transformation of legacy enterprise applications so that they are easy-to-use, with updated visual design. I executed this with just some flow charts and internal conversations; access to the building, systems, product and users took too long to happen given the bureaucratic procedures. Please refer my website for more on this project: www.bhuvana-n.com. Particular areas of emphasis: to build the Information Architecture, lay out the structure of the content in ways that are easily accessible and searchable; to work with EPA representatives, Project Managers, Developers, Business Analysts and Tech Leads to ensure user experience design meets business goals; to provide lo-fidelity and hi-fidelity prototypes. Highlights of the job include: • Used a method called Conceptual Modeling to re-imagine the Information Architecture of the product to enable the transition from legacy systems to the new, updated system • Evangelized the importance of Design Thinking and UX work (over UI work) to key stakeholders on the project and obtained their buy-in • Relied heavily on content audit to identify areas of improvement and generate UCD-based hypotheses • Engaged with developers to ensure technical feasibility and to iterate on proposed designs • Created the Design System for the product and provided hi-fidelity mock-ups based on the proposed guidelines (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less eTek IT Project #4 --- This short term role was one of the most challenging one - the ask project was about enabling the digital transformation of legacy enterprise applications so that they are easy-to-use, with updated visual design. I executed this with just some flow charts and internal conversations; access to the building, systems, product and users took too long to happen given the bureaucratic procedures. Please refer my website for more on this project: www.bhuvana-n.com… Show more eTek IT Project #4 --- This short term role was one of the most challenging one - the ask project was about enabling the digital transformation of legacy enterprise applications so that they are easy-to-use, with updated visual design. I executed this with just some flow charts and internal conversations; access to the building, systems, product and users took too long to happen given the bureaucratic procedures. Please refer my website for more on this project: www.bhuvana-n.com. Particular areas of emphasis: to build the Information Architecture, lay out the structure of the content in ways that are easily accessible and searchable; to work with EPA representatives, Project Managers, Developers, Business Analysts and Tech Leads to ensure user experience design meets business goals; to provide lo-fidelity and hi-fidelity prototypes. Highlights of the job include: • Used a method called Conceptual Modeling to re-imagine the Information Architecture of the product to enable the transition from legacy systems to the new, updated system • Evangelized the importance of Design Thinking and UX work (over UI work) to key stakeholders on the project and obtained their buy-in • Relied heavily on content audit to identify areas of improvement and generate UCD-based hypotheses • Engaged with developers to ensure technical feasibility and to iterate on proposed designs • Created the Design System for the product and provided hi-fidelity mock-ups based on the proposed guidelines (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less

UX Lead

• Aug 2015 - Feb 2017

eTek IT Project #3 --- I played a strong cross-functional role in a project designed to enable the patent submission, evaluation and adjudication process at the US Patents and Trademarks Office. I work with End Users, Program & Project Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers and Tech Writers in incorporating User-Centered Design principles and practices. I emphasized UX practices of research/evidence based approaches while paying close attention to the UI styling of the… Show more eTek IT Project #3 --- I played a strong cross-functional role in a project designed to enable the patent submission, evaluation and adjudication process at the US Patents and Trademarks Office. I work with End Users, Program & Project Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers and Tech Writers in incorporating User-Centered Design principles and practices. I emphasized UX practices of research/evidence based approaches while paying close attention to the UI styling of the product. I evolved Agile UX processes to accommodate UX work before product go-live and after. Key highlights include: • Evolved a Vision Statement along with stakeholders to ensure alignment with business goals and product strategy • Initiated the creation of a Scope Management Team and assisted in Project Risk Mitigation • Developed UX Journey Maps along with stakeholders to discover necessary user actions and related experience • Proposed and implemented the idea of a "2-week UX Sprint" that involved producing UX artifacts through collaboration • Created User-Centered Design (UCD) based solutions, leveraging principles of psychology and visual design • Was an avid advocate of usability testing, in addition to providing wireframes and hi-fidelity designs (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less eTek IT Project #3 --- I played a strong cross-functional role in a project designed to enable the patent submission, evaluation and adjudication process at the US Patents and Trademarks Office. I work with End Users, Program & Project Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers and Tech Writers in incorporating User-Centered Design principles and practices. I emphasized UX practices of research/evidence based approaches while paying close attention to the UI styling of the… Show more eTek IT Project #3 --- I played a strong cross-functional role in a project designed to enable the patent submission, evaluation and adjudication process at the US Patents and Trademarks Office. I work with End Users, Program & Project Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers and Tech Writers in incorporating User-Centered Design principles and practices. I emphasized UX practices of research/evidence based approaches while paying close attention to the UI styling of the product. I evolved Agile UX processes to accommodate UX work before product go-live and after. Key highlights include: • Evolved a Vision Statement along with stakeholders to ensure alignment with business goals and product strategy • Initiated the creation of a Scope Management Team and assisted in Project Risk Mitigation • Developed UX Journey Maps along with stakeholders to discover necessary user actions and related experience • Proposed and implemented the idea of a "2-week UX Sprint" that involved producing UX artifacts through collaboration • Created User-Centered Design (UCD) based solutions, leveraging principles of psychology and visual design • Was an avid advocate of usability testing, in addition to providing wireframes and hi-fidelity designs (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less

Sr. UX Designer

• Jun 2014 - Jul 2015

eTek IT Project #2 --- As a one-person UX Team until end of April 2015, my responsibilities included a variety of skills and deliverables - research skills: first-hand and online; design skills: developing hi-fidelity mock ups; interaction design skills: showing how workflows/task flows should be designed which included wireframing and prototyping. I worked largely with the product team. I interacted with the development team distributed across continents to help integrate UX principles… Show more eTek IT Project #2 --- As a one-person UX Team until end of April 2015, my responsibilities included a variety of skills and deliverables - research skills: first-hand and online; design skills: developing hi-fidelity mock ups; interaction design skills: showing how workflows/task flows should be designed which included wireframing and prototyping. I worked largely with the product team. I interacted with the development team distributed across continents to help integrate UX principles into the product. My work involved plenty of conversations around determining requirements, proposing UX solutions and working at stakeholder buy-in. • Adapted the product Style Guide to create a user-friendly reference guide for developers • Worked with the CTO and the Design team Director to create a strategic process flow for UX, unique to the organization • Wrote and shared a white paper outlining how UX strategy could be implemented within the organization • Worked on multiple talent assessment products as part of the organization's overall offering (details are available at http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) • Provided extensive design support through wireframes, hi-fidelity mock-ups and thought leadership (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less eTek IT Project #2 --- As a one-person UX Team until end of April 2015, my responsibilities included a variety of skills and deliverables - research skills: first-hand and online; design skills: developing hi-fidelity mock ups; interaction design skills: showing how workflows/task flows should be designed which included wireframing and prototyping. I worked largely with the product team. I interacted with the development team distributed across continents to help integrate UX principles… Show more eTek IT Project #2 --- As a one-person UX Team until end of April 2015, my responsibilities included a variety of skills and deliverables - research skills: first-hand and online; design skills: developing hi-fidelity mock ups; interaction design skills: showing how workflows/task flows should be designed which included wireframing and prototyping. I worked largely with the product team. I interacted with the development team distributed across continents to help integrate UX principles into the product. My work involved plenty of conversations around determining requirements, proposing UX solutions and working at stakeholder buy-in. • Adapted the product Style Guide to create a user-friendly reference guide for developers • Worked with the CTO and the Design team Director to create a strategic process flow for UX, unique to the organization • Wrote and shared a white paper outlining how UX strategy could be implemented within the organization • Worked on multiple talent assessment products as part of the organization's overall offering (details are available at http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) • Provided extensive design support through wireframes, hi-fidelity mock-ups and thought leadership (For more about my work, skills and tools, please visit http://www.bhuvana-n.com/resume.html) Show less

User Experience Researcher w/ Project Management Responsibilities

• Sep 2012 - Jun 2014

eTek IT Project #1 --- Starting with my core expertise as a researcher I wore multiple hats at the tech start-up, Curvendar. The product is an iPhone app that handles shared calendaring. At Curvendar, I handled all things UX - user research, usability testing (lab testing and gorilla testing), user recruitment, personas, use case scenarios, user flows, interaction design, hi-fidelity prototyping and some UI design as well. In addition I handled the agenda and minutes of all project… Show more eTek IT Project #1 --- Starting with my core expertise as a researcher I wore multiple hats at the tech start-up, Curvendar. The product is an iPhone app that handles shared calendaring. At Curvendar, I handled all things UX - user research, usability testing (lab testing and gorilla testing), user recruitment, personas, use case scenarios, user flows, interaction design, hi-fidelity prototyping and some UI design as well. In addition I handled the agenda and minutes of all project management meetings and contributed to the development of goals and objectives for the different functions on the project. I managed a team of four, directing the creation of content for the app and the web. Most of the deliverables provided at http://www.bhuvana-n.com/example.html were done during this project. Show less eTek IT Project #1 --- Starting with my core expertise as a researcher I wore multiple hats at the tech start-up, Curvendar. The product is an iPhone app that handles shared calendaring. At Curvendar, I handled all things UX - user research, usability testing (lab testing and gorilla testing), user recruitment, personas, use case scenarios, user flows, interaction design, hi-fidelity prototyping and some UI design as well. In addition I handled the agenda and minutes of all project… Show more eTek IT Project #1 --- Starting with my core expertise as a researcher I wore multiple hats at the tech start-up, Curvendar. The product is an iPhone app that handles shared calendaring. At Curvendar, I handled all things UX - user research, usability testing (lab testing and gorilla testing), user recruitment, personas, use case scenarios, user flows, interaction design, hi-fidelity prototyping and some UI design as well. In addition I handled the agenda and minutes of all project management meetings and contributed to the development of goals and objectives for the different functions on the project. I managed a team of four, directing the creation of content for the app and the web. Most of the deliverables provided at http://www.bhuvana-n.com/example.html were done during this project. Show less

Media/Communication Consultant & Information Architect

• Aug 2011 - Sep 2012

Engaged in the overall site re-design at Timothy J. Somers, Inc. I conducted an expert review of the existing website and proposed a new information architecture. I helped evolve content for the website according to ever-changing goals on the project. Engaged in the overall site re-design at Timothy J. Somers, Inc. I conducted an expert review of the existing website and proposed a new information architecture. I helped evolve content for the website according to ever-changing goals on the project.

Communication Consultant

• Apr 2011 - Jul 2011

Conducted Site Visits, Field Observations, Contextual Inquiries and In-Person Interviews of employees and clients to map and assess the effectiveness of Work Flows and Task Flows. I developed Metrics for Quantifying aspects of Task and Work Flows and provided recommendations for Effective Communication practices that would improve workplace integration. Conducted Site Visits, Field Observations, Contextual Inquiries and In-Person Interviews of employees and clients to map and assess the effectiveness of Work Flows and Task Flows. I developed Metrics for Quantifying aspects of Task and Work Flows and provided recommendations for Effective Communication practices that would improve workplace integration.