Principal UX Designer · Product Design · Design Systems · Experience Strategy

I Solve Complex Problems and Design Kick-ass Experiences.

I work wherever an experience needs to become clearer: shaping product flows, organizing information, connecting touchpoints, and helping teams build with quality.

What can I solve for you?

A collage of mobile screens from the ACES Program Explorer.

University of Illinois, ACES Program Explorer

Reframed program discovery around how prospective students choose.

I designed an interest-based Program Explorer that let students start with what interested them, not the college's department structure. The same model supported a focused recruiting view without a second build.

View Program Explorer

Walmart, Experience Quality Strategy

Design Quality at Scale

At Walmart, I built practical ways for teams to make stronger design-quality decisions: risk-based review, training shaped by recurring issues, peer champion support, and portfolio prioritization.

As the organization grew, the work gave leaders a clearer view of where deeper support would matter most. It also gave teams a better starting point than routing every question through one specialist.

View the Experience Quality Strategy

Dig Deeper into the Case Studies

How I Work

Design the Experience

I turn complex content, needs, and constraints into clear interaction models, information architecture, and accessible behavior.

Make Quality Practical

I build standards, review paths, and decision tools that help teams catch issues earlier and avoid solving the same problem again.

Build Team Capability

I use coaching, training, shared tools, and clear escalation paths to help people become more capable, not more dependent.

Make Tradeoffs Visible

I bring product, engineering, business, and design into the same conversation when a decision affects the experience, the team, or both.

About Melissa

I started in graphic design, where I learned how thoughtful communication and visual clarity shape people's experiences.

Over time my work expanded beyond designing interfaces into leading the systems behind them. Today I help organizations strengthen design quality, improve collaboration, build team capability, and create more sustainable ways of working. Accessibility is a major strength in that work, but it isn't the whole story. Whether I'm building training, governance frameworks, or operational processes, I'm motivated by the same goal: helping people do their best work and creating better experiences for the people they serve.

Learn More about Me

Melissa Waller sketching an experience model on glass in a collaborative workspace.

Resume

See what Walmart and the University of Illinois achieved when I brought clarity to UX teams, design systems, experience strategy, and team enablement.

View Resume