👋 Hi there
Allison is a digital product designer with 12+ years of experience designing cohesive and compelling digital experiences for a variety of brands, including EF Education First, adidas, LEGO, Royal Caribbean, Reebok, and select travel and financial services brands. With a strong background in UI design, Allison now straddles the UI/UX line to solve complex problems creatively and collaboratively. Allison enjoys designing web and mobile app experiences that complement business goals and delight users, while mentoring the team members around her.
In the office, Allison is known for her top-notch work, attention-to-detail, team-player attitude, and ridiculous baking skills. Outside of the office, she loves to travel the world, explore New England's natural wonders, and eat copious amounts of authentic greek salad (no lettuce!).
WORK EXPERIENCE
Staff Product Designer
EF Education First / Boston, MA / November 2021 – Present
Lead & own the design, documentation, Figma library build, and maintenance of the first cross-brand, cross-platform primitive component design system at EF World Journeys (WOJO).
Oversee the UI design work for the EF Go Ahead Tours’ digital post-purchase and on-tour products while ensuring consistency across platforms.
Craft beautiful and functional UI solutions that meet user needs, solve real business problems, and champion design best practices.
Contribute to roadmap strategy, connect design to business objectives, and determine scope of complex projects in collaboration with Product & Engineering.
Conduct lean user research and testing to inform iteration cycles.
Evolve processes and frameworks that can help guide and shape the UXD team’s structure and drive efficiency.
Key Projects: WOJO UI and WOJO Storyblok Design Systems, Mobile App Design, MyAccount Iterations, Checkout Research
Senior Product Designer
EF Education First / Boston, MA / September 2019 – November 2021
Shape the digital experiences for the EF Go Ahead Tours product alongside a small UXD team of 4 by crafting beautiful and functional solutions that meet user needs, solve real business problems, and champion design best practices.
Conduct stakeholder workshops and reviews to gain internal buy-in on design concepts.
Work hand-in-hand with product managers to define problems and opportunities based on both qualitative and quantitative information.
Collaborate with in-house developers to build a modular, reusable design system for the online account.
Key Projects: Mobile App Design, MyAccount Redesign, Product Discovery & Site Search Enhancements, Checkout Optimization, Product Page Iterations
Art Director
829 Studios / Boston, MA / January 2018 – August 2019
Collaborated with the Creative Director to establish new workflows and design processes to enhance the quality of the work while leading a team of 6 designers.
Owned the user experience and visual design direction of multiple responsive websites end-to-end, from research findings to wireframes to visual design and QA.
Key Clients: STANLEY Black & Decker, REI Adventures
Art Director
Isobar U.S. / Boston, MA / June 2016 – December 2017
Led the visual design for multiple omni-channel e-commerce experiences, strategic digital activation campaigns, and investment platforms while managing junior designers to deliver on-time, quality work.
Worked closely with multidisciplinary teams and client stakeholders to produce sketches, detailed comps, polished presentation decks, and prototypes for testing.
Key Clients: adidas, LEGO, select financial services clients
Senior Visual Designer
Isobar U.S. / Boston, MA / October 2013 – June 2016
Designed and presented immersive digital experiences to clients, including online advertising campaigns, responsive e-commerce websites, and financial dashboards.
Collaborated with UX designers and developers to sketch, design, and test design concepts. Actively defined and documented UI and brand styles.
Key Clients: LEGO, adidas, Reebok, Royal Caribbean, select financial services clients
Visual Designer
Isobar U.S. / Boston, MA / July 2012 – October 2013
Produced static comps that were both on-brand and visually refined under the direction of an Art Director or Creative Director.
Collaboratively brainstormed and sketched with UX designers and copywriters to formulate strong conceptual design direction.
Assisted in the creation of assets for interactive prototypes. Presented creative comps internally and to the client. Documented styles and compiled client-ready deliverables.
Key Clients: Royal Caribbean, select financial services clients
User Experience & Editorial Design Intern
NPR / Washington, D.C. / June 2011 – August 2011
Led the site design of the intern-run program, Intern Edition, from concept through development.
Created static & interactive visualizations to accompany news stories. Operated under tight news deadlines.
PROFICIENCIES
UX/UI Skills
Digital Product Design, Responsive Web Design, Interaction & UI Design, Design Systems, Omni-channel Experience Design, E-commerce Site Design, Lean User Research, Sketching, Wireframing, Information Visualization, LottieFile Animations, Interactive Prototyping in Figma
Software
Figma, Sketch App, InVision, Zeplin
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and some After Effects
Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Outlook
Prefer Mac OS
Languages
German: Intermediate Proficiency
Basic HTML/CSS
EDUCATION
Nielsen Norman Group
UX Certification, March 2021
UXC #1041136
Carnegie Mellon University
BFA Communication Design
Minor in German Studies
Andrew Carnegie Scholarship Recipient, 4 years
Graduated with University and College Honors
Pittsburgh, PA
Schule für Gestaltung, St. Gallen
Selected to study graphic design for a study abroad program
St. Gallen, Switzerland
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Nominated for “Quality” Core Value Award
EF Go Ahead Tours / December 2022 and 2020
Nominated by my peers for creating and delivering high-quality work consistently:
“Allison is the ultimate embodiment of our Quality core value. As a product designer, she deftly balances user needs and business needs in everything she does. Allison can always, ALWAYS, be counted on to create thoughtful work that drives our product forward. And she does it in a way that’s collaborative and inclusive of all those she works with. I’m constantly in awe of her dedication to quality for each and every aspect, big or small, of the Go Ahead digital experience.”
"Allison is the first person who comes to my mind every Core Value Awards nomination season. While she embodies many core values, she stands out most for her commitment to quality. You can rely on her to conduct thorough research, create polished designs, and have thoughtful conversations with her colleagues throughout the process. I really admire her unique ability to consider both the bigger strategic picture and every last detail of a UX/UI project. She is meticulous, strategic, and always thinking about how she can best support both her team and the business. Allison spearheaded the creation of a core UI design system this year—a huge initiative that will have a massive positive impact on how we build better digital experiences. EF World Journeys is lucky to have her!"
"Allison is an absolute superhero when it comes to Quality. She consistently delivers beautiful product experiences in her role as a Product Designer. She gets at the 'why.' She asks tough questions. She considers many perspectives, balancing user and business needs. All to arrive at the best possible solution with her team. You can always count on her thoughtful approach, not to mention her stellar UX and UI design skills. I'm so grateful to work with her on projects that improve the Go Ahead user experience!"
"Set the Bar High" Award
Isobar / January 2017 and 2015
Voted by my peers as an employee who continually delivers her best. Some quotes:
“Allison is *very* good. She always produces at a high level and by the nature of her awesomeness, raises the bar, and the quality of work, of the entire team.”
“Again, Allison is someone that the entire office looks up to. Her work is so thorough and thoughtful. She is eager and jumps into anything that comes her way with positivity and ambition. She is dedicated to making sold work and creative solutions. She spends time making sure the attention to detail with her visual design is superior. Lastly, she has one of the best attitudes in the company. Always a pleasure to work with and always delivering solid, beautiful, exceptional work.”
“Everything Allison delivers, even in the early rounds of a project, surpass expectations. She is known for quickly producing quality, thoughtful work, often on short timelines and with a great attitude.”
W3 Gold Award
2015 / Best Toy & Hobby Website
For work on behalf of The LEGO Group: LEGO Elves.
WebAward for Outstanding Achievement
2015 / Best Game Site, Best Toy & Hobby Website
For work on behalf of The LEGO Group: The LEGO Friends BFF Book.
New Talent on LBB Online
Isobar / July 2015
Featured on LBB Online as an emerging design professional to keep an eye on. You can read the interview here.