Jacki's ReadMe
Hi, I’m the Product Design Manager for Plan and AI. Thanks for visiting!
My background and personal life
- I studied sociology, computer science and interaction design.
- I’m from the suburbs of Chicago and have also lived in Japan, Belgium and the Washington, DC area. I don’t like cold weather, so now I'm based in Austin, TX and travel to warm places when I can.
- I’ve worked in big companies and small. I’ve found things to love and learn from both.
- Something more unique about my UX background is that I got my start working on applications used by US Federal Government employees, including workplace accommodation tools, so I got to learn a lot about accessibility and assistive technology.
- My partner and I both work at home and we have three canine colleagues. I like gardening, cooking, reading, video & board games, snarky cross-stitch, live music, traveling to new places, and trying new restaurants, among other things.
A bit about how I work and think
- I've worked as a UX designer and researcher. I describe my UX strengths as being in the strategy areas, so identifying areas for user research, and turning user insights into user flows or defining user journeys. I'm not as strong in visual design, or defining fine details like design system components.
- Books I've read and enjoyed:
- I’m introverted and have a tendency to immerse myself in ideas and process over relationships and action. It’s not a bad thing; it means I try to balance my days between thinking and talking.
- Values I have and like in others: personal responsibility, honesty, and authenticity. I like understanding what others care about, so next time we talk, feel free to tell me about your values and how they shape your work.
- I think that the more we use plain and simple language to express ourselves, the better we can communicate and understand each other without assumptions or pretensions. That said, I almost always use too many words when I write. I'm working on it :)
My leadership style
- My favorite part of being a manager is helping people on my team and other teams find success. I am here to help and I’m always happy to do so via any communication channel. You can reach out at any time of day and I'll respond when I'm back at work.
- I follow this. I am here to help you with anything you need - professional development, relationships, design problems, you name it. But as a manager or one, team members have responsibility to communicate what kind of help you want/need.
- I am always trying to improve - myself, other people, other things. For this reason people sometimes find me to be critical or negative. My intent is to have honest conversations so that we can all do better.
- Traits I think make good UX designers great: low ego, ability to communicate design rationale, reliance on data and good judgement as to when to roll with things and when to push back.
- I prefer honesty over comfort. If I do something that’s really not helpful, please talk to me about it. It may or may not be something I can change, but that open communication will go a long way towards strengthening our relationship.
Personal projects
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Product Design Manager, Plan and AI-powered at GitLab
Austin, TX, USA
12:37 AM
Member since June 03, 2019