Sarah Lidgus
Senior Design Director, Design Strategy at Runyon Design- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Alyssa Guberman
Above all else, Sarah is an exceptional collaborator and leader. She is able to organically solicit ideas from colleagues, respectfully advocate for her opinions, and bring people together to move forward towards a common goal.
Louise Buckley
The way Sarah’s design brain works is truly awe inspiring. Rich and curious discovery work allows her to to distill even the most complex projects or ideas down to the essence of it, all because she asks the right questions at the right time. She also has a distinctive ability to put herself in the shoes of the user, and uses this perspective as her guide. Along the way, she invites others into the process because she knows the best design work happens in collaboration with end users and her team. Sarah delegates and trusts her team, and knows when to step in to offer descriptive and strategic feedback. She effortlessly mentors others with her ability to see and honor their strengths combined with her awareness of the areas for growth. Sarah is a true thought partner and humble leader from whom I have learned a great deal. And beyond that, it has to be said: she is a kind, compassionate, funny, thoughtful, and just plain smart. Any team would be lucky to work alongside her.
Alyssa Guberman
Above all else, Sarah is an exceptional collaborator and leader. She is able to organically solicit ideas from colleagues, respectfully advocate for her opinions, and bring people together to move forward towards a common goal.
Louise Buckley
The way Sarah’s design brain works is truly awe inspiring. Rich and curious discovery work allows her to to distill even the most complex projects or ideas down to the essence of it, all because she asks the right questions at the right time. She also has a distinctive ability to put herself in the shoes of the user, and uses this perspective as her guide. Along the way, she invites others into the process because she knows the best design work happens in collaboration with end users and her team. Sarah delegates and trusts her team, and knows when to step in to offer descriptive and strategic feedback. She effortlessly mentors others with her ability to see and honor their strengths combined with her awareness of the areas for growth. Sarah is a true thought partner and humble leader from whom I have learned a great deal. And beyond that, it has to be said: she is a kind, compassionate, funny, thoughtful, and just plain smart. Any team would be lucky to work alongside her.
Alyssa Guberman
Above all else, Sarah is an exceptional collaborator and leader. She is able to organically solicit ideas from colleagues, respectfully advocate for her opinions, and bring people together to move forward towards a common goal.
Louise Buckley
The way Sarah’s design brain works is truly awe inspiring. Rich and curious discovery work allows her to to distill even the most complex projects or ideas down to the essence of it, all because she asks the right questions at the right time. She also has a distinctive ability to put herself in the shoes of the user, and uses this perspective as her guide. Along the way, she invites others into the process because she knows the best design work happens in collaboration with end users and her team. Sarah delegates and trusts her team, and knows when to step in to offer descriptive and strategic feedback. She effortlessly mentors others with her ability to see and honor their strengths combined with her awareness of the areas for growth. Sarah is a true thought partner and humble leader from whom I have learned a great deal. And beyond that, it has to be said: she is a kind, compassionate, funny, thoughtful, and just plain smart. Any team would be lucky to work alongside her.
Alyssa Guberman
Above all else, Sarah is an exceptional collaborator and leader. She is able to organically solicit ideas from colleagues, respectfully advocate for her opinions, and bring people together to move forward towards a common goal.
Louise Buckley
The way Sarah’s design brain works is truly awe inspiring. Rich and curious discovery work allows her to to distill even the most complex projects or ideas down to the essence of it, all because she asks the right questions at the right time. She also has a distinctive ability to put herself in the shoes of the user, and uses this perspective as her guide. Along the way, she invites others into the process because she knows the best design work happens in collaboration with end users and her team. Sarah delegates and trusts her team, and knows when to step in to offer descriptive and strategic feedback. She effortlessly mentors others with her ability to see and honor their strengths combined with her awareness of the areas for growth. Sarah is a true thought partner and humble leader from whom I have learned a great deal. And beyond that, it has to be said: she is a kind, compassionate, funny, thoughtful, and just plain smart. Any team would be lucky to work alongside her.
Experience
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Runyon Design
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United States
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Design Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Design Director, Design Strategy
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May 2023 - Present
(𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦: 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗧, 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗬+, 𝟵𝟮𝗬) Led 10+ end-to-end UX strategy and design projects across the company's portfolio as internal design leader and primary client contact. ➤ Design directed natively digital venture for legacy arts organization, 92Y, from zero to launch, including qualitative and quantitative research, brand design, wireframes, and go-to-market strategy resulting in additional revenue streams and new patron acquisition. ➤ Worked with Disney+ Inclusive Design Team to identify and design new Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework and opportunities to better serve identity-based user cohorts (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, etc.). ➤ Helped design core user experiences for new natively digital, millennial-focused bank for Goldman Sachs, establishing a younger market for the 150-year-old institution. Show less
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Salvo Health
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United States
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Hospitals and Health Care
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1 - 100 Employee
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Head Of Design
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Dec 2021 - Nov 2022
Founding executive team member charged with co-leading product development and driving business-informed UX strategy from Alpha to Beta. Built, managed, and developed initial UX design and research teams from the ground up while increasing engagement, retention, and LTV. ➤ Translated initial verbal value proposition into a thriving platform that serves patients suffering from chronic Gastrointestinal conditions. ➤ Created membership program that exceeded engagement KPIs and earned 100% 5-star ratings on Trustpilot. ➤ Designed deep quantitative research with patients and providers to uncover unmet needs, translating those needs into actionable briefs for Design, Product, and Engineering teams. ➤ Identified UX gaps between Alpha and Beta products and designed scalable, low-resource solutions (e.g., medically-approved content library) for those needs that still satisfied business KPIs. ➤ Led initial brand strategy: Vetted, hired, and guided brand consultancy to create original DtoC brand and managed rollout of brand identity. Show less
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Tempest, Inc.
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United States
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Media Production
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Chief Experience Officer
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Oct 2018 - Dec 2020
Served as executive founding member and drove company-wide UX design, platform, and DEI strategy. Led design of measurably valuable membership features optimized for scale, enabling the company to secure Series A venture funding (Lead investor: Mavron). ➤ Built, developed, and managed 12-person team across UX design, content, research, and community. ➤ Grew user base from 325 members in 2018 to 9000+ members in 2020. ➤ Streamlined previously disparate and underdeveloped features across different platforms (e.g., WordPress and Facebook) into single, proprietary platform and experience. ➤ Designed and developed expansive user journey framework that guided all UX strategy across the company. ➤ Designed a fully-proprietary digital community space and inclusive design strategy resulting in 35% increase in BIPOC and LBGTQIA+ membership and 80% retention. Show less
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University of Pennsylvania
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United States
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Higher Education
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700 & Above Employee
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University Lecturer
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Jun 2014 - Jul 2017
➤ Developed award-winning "Design Thinking" curriculum for social workers and non-profit leaders on design-led techniques for solving social sector issues. ➤ Developed award-winning "Design Thinking" curriculum for social workers and non-profit leaders on design-led techniques for solving social sector issues.
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NYC Mayor's Office
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United States
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Government Administration
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1 - 100 Employee
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Designer in Residence
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Jul 2016 - Dec 2016
➤ Led the planning and development of New York City's first full-service internal Service Design Studio for government projects. ➤ Led the planning and development of New York City's first full-service internal Service Design Studio for government projects.
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The Laundromat Project
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United States
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Non-profit Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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Design Fellow
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May 2015 - Nov 2015
➤ Co-designed community arts program alongside families in the Bronx, generating funding sources for local artists and activists in the neighborhood of Mott Haven ➤ Co-designed community arts program alongside families in the Bronx, generating funding sources for local artists and activists in the neighborhood of Mott Haven
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SVA MFA Products of Design
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United States
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Higher Education
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1 - 100 Employee
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University Lecturer
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Jul 2013 - Sep 2015
➤ Built and taught "Transdisciplinary Design" curricula for graduate-level students. ➤ Built and taught "Transdisciplinary Design" curricula for graduate-level students.
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Design Trust for Public Space
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United States
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Civic and Social Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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Design Fellow
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Nov 2014 - May 2015
➤ Built Community Design School at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, creating new model of participatory design that brings in diverse set of community stakeholders to help frame the design brief. This process was so successful that it was replicated by the City of New York. ➤ Built Community Design School at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, creating new model of participatory design that brings in diverse set of community stakeholders to help frame the design brief. This process was so successful that it was replicated by the City of New York.
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IDEO
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United States
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Design Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Design Lead
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Sep 2007 - Sep 2014
(𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦: 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦, 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗, 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪, 𝗧𝗘𝗗) Led multidisciplinary design teams across a vast range of consulting projects on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, global foundations, and government. Acted as primary client contact for project-related needs. ➤ Contributed to 40+ consulting projects over tenure that won 6 national design awards. ➤ Responsible for helping legitimize the branding discipline within IDEO, resulting in a new revenue stream for the company. ➤ Developed company-wide protocols around ethics in research to set a bar for what good looks like and mitigate risk for the company and participants. ➤ 1 of only 3 initial company-wide employees chosen to help build IDEO's new non-profit arm, ideo.org. Show less
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IDEO.org
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United States
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Design Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Designer
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Sep 2013 - Jun 2014
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Education
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California College of the Arts
Masters, Visual Criticism -
DePaul University
BA, English and Creative Writing
Community
