Network Night
The 2019 HCDE Network Night was held on Monday, March 4 in the UW HUB. We will update this page once the next Network Night is scheduled.
HCDE Network Night features the opportunity for current students to connect with departmental alumni and industry friends to discuss career paths and share tips for making a successful transition from UW to the working world. Participants discuss company cultures, job search techniques, interviewing tips, and how to identify the right fit as job seekers with interdisciplinary skill-sets.
2019 ALUMNI MENTORS
|
Peter Abrahamsen |
Gary J. Anderson |
Kendall Avery UX Researcher at Sap Concur BS, 2016 |
|
Jason Bourguignon |
Omeed Chandra Senior UX Designer at GoDaddy MS, 2014 |
Ignacio Contreras UX Researcher at Facebook MS, 2015 |
|
Ginger Corley |
Allie Deford |
Jill DeMarco Retired from Boeing MS, 1996 |
|
Ashley Donaldson |
Morgan Duffy |
Char Easter |
|
Kelly Elston |
Maureen Fallen (Molly) UI Game Designer at SAIC - Big Timber Games BS, 2017 |
Leyla M Ibrahim |
|
Allan Luik |
Breanne K Miller Product Design Manager, Gaming at Facebook MS, 2009 |
Anu Mohajerjasbi |
|
Amy Racher |
Jihoon Suh |
Matt Shobe |
|
Tuyen Truong |
Brynn Tweeddale |
Carolyn Wei |
|
Logan Wells |
Shufan Wen |
Darwin Witt |
|
Emmerline Wu |
MENTOR BIOS
|
|
|
Gary’s career in UX officially began in 2008 as an inaugural member of the newly formed UX team for SUPERVALU, Inc. More recently, he served as the lead UX Engineer at Costco Wholesale, and is now at Microsoft where he serves as a Sr. Design Researcher within Artificial Intelligence and Research's Shared Engineering Services Studios team. Throughout his years in this industry, Gary has had the opportunity to play many different roles (Designer, Researcher, UX Program Manager, Product Manager), and utilizes this broad UX experience to help others understand and execute user-centered design effectively. Gary has a passion for teaching and sharing the principles and philosophy of user-centered design, and he takes great pride in helping organizations and individuals realize the benefits of always putting the end user first. He views even the smallest improvements as important reminders that technology works for us - instead of the other way around. |
|
I’m a User Experience researcher, where I focus on qualitative methods to understand how our users interact with our product today and what we can improve on in the future. I’ve spent several years in the enterprise UX space. I am a 2016 BS graduate and a member of the HCDE Alumni Leadership Board.
|
|
|
|
After writing for two computer magazines and then working as an engineer at Microsoft, Omeed discovered that design was his true passion. He firmly believes that great UX can unlock technology's potential and help people achieve more in their lives. Omeed has worked on Microsoft's Publisher, Education, and OneNote teams (with a leading role in the 2017 redesign of OneNote), and currently works at GoDaddy designing experiences to help people pursue their small business dreams. |
|
At Facebook, Ignacio Contreras leads UX research for AR Platform, Marketplace Autos Vertical, and Ads teams to support design and engineering and inform the teams' product strategy. |
|
After graduating from the Technical Communications program in 1980, Ginger started her career as a tech writing at various companies. She found herself shifting into the Marketing Communications side while working on an MBA at night school. Later she joined two others in a software start-up that used Fluke equipment as part of a shop floor control system. She now works as an agent sales representative for Network Computing Architects, one of the leading network integration companies in the Northwest. |
|
Allie Deford is a user researcher at User Research International (URI), a very creatively named user research consultancy. She graduated from the University of Evansville in 2014 with a BS in Computer Science. After some experience as a developer, she learned that developers won’t willingly talk to those using their products, so she decided to get a master’s degree to learn how to talk to users for them. |
|
|
|
Ashley is a Technical Product Manager at Microsoft working in Azure on the Internet of Things (IoT) team. She is passionate about connecting the physical and digital world around us while also delivering actionable insights from the data. She is driven by a passion for learning and creating new cutting edge technology that delight the end customer. Outside of work she loves being outdoors whether that's hiking, rock climbing, or playing fetch with her Corgi. |
|
Morgan is a user experience researcher currently working on improving the user experience of developer tools (specifically mobile development tools) and understanding the needs of Microsoft's customers to create new tools and functionality. Her super power is planning and conducting lean research within tight timelines and constrained resources to empower the team to learn from and empathize with customers, and inspire action. |
|
Before turning UX Designer Char was a multimedia producer for interactive entertainment and educational media. A favorite project was creating the guitar gallery kiosks in the Experience Music Project (now MOPOP). Her current role as a UX Designer at The Seattle Times gives her a chance to do research and design in a company that is large enough to have many specialized departments to work with and get support. And it’s fun to be part of one of the largest and still independently owned newsrooms in the NW, one that is continually innovating. |
|
Kelly is leading the Digital Innovation Group for Providence St. Joseph as a Senior UX Researcher, and critical user insight leader. She began her career in psychology with a focus on human behavior. From college, she was recruited into Microsoft to conduct usability testing. She quickly learned about the UX field and fell in love with it. She has a BA in Psychology and a Master's of Science in Human Centered Design and Engineering both from the University of Washington. |
|
Maureen works on designing UI for military training video games. She works with VR in Unity and she loves solving the UX problems in such a new and growing field.
|
|
|
|
Allan Luik is a User Experience Researcher and founder of MetrUX Consulting, a UX agency that focuses on user experience research and design with special emphasis on international aspects of UX. Allan has worked with numerous companies in a variety of fields ranging from health care to cloud computing, fashion and apparel to web security and blockchain. Allan’s greatest professional passion lies in helping improve the quality of lives through human centered products and services. His other special interests include languages and translation, participatory design, internationalization and localization of software, services and physical products. When Allan is not designing or conducting user studies, you’ll likely find him organizing design community events or professional conferences as a part of his work at User Experience Professionals Association. Or you might find him on a hiking trail in the mountains in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. |
|
Bre Miller is a Product Design Manager and 12+ year gaming industry veteran who partners with engineers, data scientists, user researchers, and program managers to build large-scale gaming community platforms. Currently at Facebook, Bre built and now leads the product design team for Facebook Gaming. The team develops products that strengthen relationships to create a more positive community for gamers, live game streamers, and game publishers. Previously, Bre spent 6+ years as a designer, senior designer, and design lead at Blizzard Entertainment working on the Battle.net platform, serving 40+ million active users. Prior to Blizzard, she was one of Wizards of the Coast's first user experience designers, focusing on community platforms for Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. |
|
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) from the University of Washington in August, 2015. I am the Site Supervisor at Hood Famous Bakeshop, Social Media Manager at Manu’s Bodega & Manu’s Tacos, and UX Designer + Researcher at Intentionalist. I am taking inquiries for new projects. I am also taking inquiries for conversations about art, dogs, coffee, stand-up comedy, and the dismantling of systems of oppression. Similar to the aforementioned list of topics, I am multifaceted. Thank you. |
|
|
|
Matt Shobe is currently on his way into his next startup, but he most recently co-founded and served as Chief UX Officer at Mighty AI. Mighty AI provides structured human insights that companies need to apply their artificial intelligence and machine learning models, including autonomous driving solutions. Matt’s technology startup goes back over 20 years. Matt worked with three other co-founders on three Chicago startups—FeedBurner (acquired by Google 2007), Spyonit, and DKA—and learned the ground rules in user experience research roles with Accenture and Microsoft. He holds an MS in HCDE and a BA in Professional Writing from Purdue University. Matt is an avid distance runner, private pilot, and downhill skier, although no such triathlon exists (yet). |
|
|
|
After graduating from the bachelor's program in 2017, I interned at Avvo and then moved to San Francisco for a design consulting position at IBM iX. I quickly learned that consulting and being away from home are not a great fit for me - so I quit and moved back to Seattle. I had a contract at a non-profit for a few weeks before I found my way to Expedia. Needless to say, my path in the UX industry has not been linear. |
|
Designer, photographer, dancer, and puppy mama (though she still identifies as a cat person), Brynn recently graduated from the University of Washington with two degrees—one in Human Centered Design & Engineering and one in Journalism. She spends half her time in front of a screen trying to make the world a better place through interactive design, and the other half is spent traveling and photographing the world with insatiable curiosity, teaching her puppy new tricks, and discovering new restaurants. |
|
Carolyn Wei leads user experience research on engagement in Facebook Groups. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods to study the cultural beliefs and practices of groups. Her superpower is telling compelling stories around complicated organizational workflows. She has held research roles at Google and Microsoft. She received her PhD in human-centered design and engineering at the University of Washington. |
|
Logan is a UX Researcher with over six years of industry experience researching third-party B2C platforms, video games, virtual/augmented reality, content-sharing websites, graphical editing software, and mobile apps. He has worked across a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to generate robust user insights, guide product and executive decisions, and bring the user’s voice to the discussion of design. |
|
Shuafan Wen is a UX researcher and interaction designer who is devoted to get frustration out of users and bring delight to them.
|
|
Darwin is a member of a team of UX Designers and User Researchers designing the future of Fluke Test & Measurement Devices and Software. He mentors design interns for the team and facilitates collaborative cross-disciplinary design workshops to teach the value of UX to management and other team members. |
|
Emmerline Wu currently works at Starbucks as a UX researcher focusing on the customer facing app and website. Previously she worked at Microsoft and UpTop as a UX research consultant. She can give guidance on how to get your start as a UX researcher, how to survive life after graduation, how to evangelize UX research within your team, and how to do accessibility UX research. |
