I once auditioned at TEDx Asbury Park, NJ to talk about my dyslexia.
Hi, my name is Dani. I’m a creative leader, educator, facilitator and proud dyslexic.
I’m passionate about leading and collaborating with teams: taking concepts, bending them, and creating an optimal experience for all audiences. As a dyslexic, I embrace my ability to think differently and champion solutions that are inclusive of all audience types. I’m always looking for a way to make work more accessible in different ways. (More about my journey and process here).
When I'm not designing and partnering with clients, I can be found teaching and mentoring up-and-coming creatives. My goal is to share that design isn't just about aesthetics - it's about blending problem-solving, empathy, and inclusion with aesthetics to solve real needs.
My heart is in every project - whether it is an individual design or a concept realized through a team that finds joy and success in good collaborations.
Let’s Create Together!
Facilitation and Teaching
Experience in designing and building working sessions that help lead participants arrive to actionable solutions to their needs and jobs to be done.
IBM Design Thinking Co-Creator and Facilitator
IBM; August 2017 to July 2018
Facilitation Topics: Blockchain Food Supply, Weather Channel App Features, IBM Journey Systems
Developed and facilitated working sessions with teams to develop an understanding of user needs through design thinking practices and techniques.
Employed coaching techniques to help organizations reframe goals that put users first to provide long-term, results-driven solutions.
Visual Design Instructor and Curriculum Development
General Assembly; May 2015 to May 2017
Classes Taught and Curriculum Written for: Visual Design (part-time), Prerequisite work for User Experience Immersive Course, Visual Design 101 Primer Course
Educating up-and-coming creatives through best practice design principles and applications. The curriculum includes lessons in composition, color theory, typography, art direction as well as foundations in industry-standard design tools such as Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator.
Responsible for writing and creating recorded lessons for the Visual Design Unit for General Assembly's User Experience Immersive program. This course allows User Experience students to learn the foundations vital to the design and overall customer experience.
Responsible for writing the curriculum for a pilot Visual Design 101 primer course. This course allows prospective students to see if Visual Design is right for them.
User Experience and Research
Lead cross-functional teams using design thinking, user research, user experience, and service design to align customer expectations and experiences delivered.
Senior Vice President Client Experience and Success
Manual Labor Studios; August 2017 to Present
Notable Clients: Spotify, Dell Boomi, Nickey Kehoe, EnTribe
Create and facilitate solution-focused workshops and working sessions both internally with Manual Labor’s teams and externally with clients.
Develop the processes that support the development of all client projects from inception to creation. These processes are developed with an eye toward agile approaches.
Build Manual Labor’s offering to help clients use both quantitative and qualitative metrics to understand the success of their product today and where they can develop strategies toward ongoing, continuous improvement.
Grow the practice of creating design systems for every client project. Help clients communicate complex systems through clear design language.
Senior Ux Architect/Design Lead
IBM; February 2017 to August 2018
User Experience and Design Lead on a team using design thinking, user research, user experience, and service design to align customer expectations and the experiences delivered.
Gathered user requirements, planned solutions, and defined the experiential vision for primarily digital experiences through wireframes, sitemaps, and written concepts.
Presented user journeys and experiences to product owners, internal project teams, clients, client leadership, and developers.
Creative Direction and Strategy
Led Teams to drive creative solutions through e-commerce and content-driven design and development, print design, packaging, digital marketing, brand books, social media, photography, and experiential design.
Digital Creative Manager
Pantone; June 2013 to February 2017
Developed digital design direction for the web services team and contributor to the success of Pantone.com and its 7 global sites. Contributed to Pantone’s 10% year-over-year growth in e-commerce sales as well as its 40% growth in email engagement.
Responsible for design direction for Pantone’s 2017 website redesign. User-centered, research-based improvements included needs-focused site architecture and navigation, informed product descriptions, and photography that supported customer needs.
Created the online design direction for The Pantone Color Institute™, Color of the Year, Fashion Color Report, Minion™ Yellow, annual product launches, and holiday initiatives.
Principal, Creative Director
Lima Bean Creative and Interactive; March 2002 to November 2017
Notable Client Work Included: Condé Nast, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Lacoste, RHG Architects, Styletrek.com, 360 Spin Cycling Studio
Oversaw and managed essential elements and details of projects from inception to completion. Responsibilities include leading developers and other production personnel during all phases of design projects and experiences.
Developed initial strategic integrated marketing and social media launch campaigns while creating the framework for annual marketing calendars that fit brand, and business needs.
Scott Kay Jewelry
Creative Director
January 2012 to November 2012
Responsible for leading the strategy, design, and development of an integrated lifestyle campaign for the company’s bridal and fashion divisions
Developed campaigns that encompassed advertising, all point-of-purchase collateral, e-commerce website, billboards, and other signage, and trade show installations
Managed creative staff including an art director, senior designer, photographer, and a team of freelance designers, as well as a third-party development team
Negotiated the creative department’s relationships with merchandising and marketing teams to ensure brand strategy and overall brand standards
Esteé Lauder Companies
Senior Designer
October 1999 to March 2002
Design lead to support brand manager with solutions for Bobbi Brown, Esteé Lauder, MAC, Origins, and Stila.
Participated in designing e-commerce and content areas for Esteé Lauder’s former multi-brand site Gloss.com. Worked alongside content and editorial staff to provide design support for Esteé Lauder’s stand-alone brand websites. Collaborated with a team of designers and programmers to set brand processes, standards, and guidelines.
Tools and Applications
Maintaining a skillset that is as tool agnostic as possible is key to seamless team and client integration.
Facilitation and Teaching
Experience building and facilitating in-person and virtual workshops
Understanding the usage of Miro and Mural as a group workshop and engagement tools
Experience in designing, building, and teaching design curriculum both as a teacher and mentor
Ux and Design
Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, InVision
Well-versed in creating service and journey maps
Agile Methodologies
Build and manage projects through Asana, Jira, and Trello
SCRUM certified with experience working in both Kanban and SCRUM agile methodologies
Analytics and Growth Hacking
Google Analytics, HotJar, Crazy Egg, ForeSee Consumer Experience Analytics
Experience assessing for accessibility across products and platforms
HTML and Content Management
Working knowledge with the ability to add and edit content in Squarespace, Webflow, and WordPress
Experience working and editing in Hubspot