About
Hi 👋, my name is Kelsy,
a systems-thinking UX designer passionate about empowering teams
to work better together. I believe clear communication and the right tools
can transform the workplace.
Closing the gap between ideas & expressions of those ideas across design, development, and product.
AI & reading docs
We are currently living in a new paradigm.
As in, a new way that humans will be interacting with technology.
UI Paradigms (of computing):
- paradigm 1: batch processing / 1945—1960's
- paradigm 2: command-based interaction design / 1964—2023
- paradigm 3 : intent-based outcome specification / 2023+
I think that experiencing a new paradigm unfold should be enough for everyone to take pause & think about how fucking wild that is.
These are the moments that will shape the future & will be referenced by future generations (assuming we make it to future-generations).
AI contributions
I'm not sure what I'll be able to contribute to the larger ai conversation, but I was excited to be able to fix an annotation on a huggingface article.
& by reading over a lot of papers, my chances to spot a typo or two increases.
Open source & design tool contributions
In order to dabble more effectively, I’ve gotten into the habit of reading documentation. Every once in a while I’ll spot a typo/minor formatting tweak.
links go to github pull-requests:
- remdx docs (presentations with React + MDX)
- gridsome.org docs
- personal websites
- chrome plugin README
FramerXBetaDocs:
One of the things I was stoked to participate in was the FramerXBeta Docs.
It was a chance to not only test a beta app, but contribute to something that I think is rad as shit, which is documentation. At such an early stage, I got to see the docs come together. My
- formatting was
- tiny
- but still, it was something.
Resume & links
Work:
2019–2021 - Medici Land Governance - Sr. UX Designer / Head of Design
Head of Design- Led the Design effort across Product by collaborating with stakeholders across the company, facilitating discovery sessions, and helping to define the roadmap.
- Team growth: hired 3 incredibly talented designers jr – sr level. Established a formal cadence of team meetings & weekly 1-1's.
- Created designs at all levels of fidelity across a suite of Land Administration products for web and Android, that help governments and individuals to establish formal ownership of their homes and land by leveraging blockchain technology for storage.
2017–2019 - Overstock com - UX Product Designer
Design Systems Team- Part of a two-person team that supported the UX Team (~25 Designers) by creating design guidelines, reusable components, and templates -- created an MVP Design System in 6 months with limited dev resources.
- Spearheaded the effort to streamline the design tools from 3 to 1 and was the main point of contact for any issues the team was facing with the transition.
- Worked with key stakeholders to redesign the Supplier Oasis Partner landing page into an informative and actionable Dashboard, taking into account any technical constraints.
- Led the UX Team's Bookclub, creating a consistent cadence and presentation standard that increased team participation and motivated individuals outside of the UX Team to join.
2015–2017 - DirectScale - UX Designer
- Taking a holistic approach across multiple touchpoints and personas to ensure that direct-selling business (B2B) could give individual business owners (B2C) the tools they needed to be successful (E-commerce, single purchase & auto-ship) across the entire design process.
- Researched and tested design tools and methodologies to allow for easier internal and external communication, helping to establish and maintain a culture of user-centered design.
2007–2013 - U.S. Air Force - E-5/SSgt
System's Administrator- Client Systems Administrator (CSA) supporting the computer systems for the only dental group in the Air Force; over 400 personnel.
- Led the movement of 500 equipment items and supervised network connections for the grand opening of the Air Force Post Graduate Dental School and Clinic, ensuring functional operations 29 days ahead of schedule.
- Refactored & digitized the team's readiness training, simplifying the process for 32 members, enhancing the team's readiness posture.
- Trained Airmen on advanced dental prosthetic care, 15 items/25 procedures, ensuring timely upgrades.
Education:
2015 – Fullstack Development Bootcamp
- Devmountain
- 2015 - (12 weeks in-person full time)
- Full-Stack Web Development Boot Camp: JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, React, Git, Firebase, and the apps built on the MEAN stack: MongoDB, Express, AngularJS and Node.js.
2014 – B.A. Communication, Media Production Emphasis / minor - Sociology
- Magna Cum Laude - 3.9
- Boise State University
- 2013–2014
- Activities and societies: Lambda Pi Eta (Communication Honor Society), Phi Kappa Phi
- Graduated with Honors in Communication - Media Production emphasis, minored in Sociology. Participated as a key member in a Service Learning group, analyzed over 12,700 surveys in SPSS and produced recommendations for Idaho's Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA). Developed a range of media production skills with a focus on video/motion graphics and web design.
2013 – A.S. Computer Information Systems
- Magna Cum Laude - 3.88
- Palo Alto College
- Activities and societies: Phi Theta Kappa (honor society)
- 2011–2013
2013 – A.A.S. Dental Assisting
- Community College of the Air Force
- 2007–2013
- Activities and societies: Dental Activities Committee
- Completed the degree before exiting the Air Force, part of the ~24% of enlisted members that finish the degree.
Outside Links