About Melissa
I’m a design leader who likes the parts of work most people never see: the systems, patterns, and decisions that make things feel clear when they’re done well.
I care about strong design, good judgment, and helping teams work in ways that are more thoughtful, more consistent, and easier to sustain.
I Learned to Notice How Things Work Early
I grew up on a small u-pick farm in central Illinois, where summers were full of strawberries, blueberries, early mornings, and the constant reality that a lot had to happen behind the scenes for the day to go smoothly.
That environment taught me some of my earliest lessons about systems:
- keep things organized
- solve problems fast
- help people find what they need
- make the experience feel easy, even when it takes work
I didn’t call it design at the time, but I was already paying attention to how the whole thing held together.
Design Made Sense When I Started Looking Underneath
I’ve always been creative. I studied graphic design in college and became a self-taught photographer along the way.
What interested me most was never just making things look good. I wanted to understand how visual choices shape clarity, confidence, and understanding.
That curiosity eventually pulled me toward UX, where I found the bigger, messier, more interesting version of the work:
- how systems scale
- how teams collaborate
- where communication breaks down
- how good design reduces friction
- how to make work easier to repeat
UX gave me a way to connect visual thinking with practical outcomes.
What I Tend to Build
My strongest work is not just designing screens or solving one-off problems.
I’m usually drawn to the systems around the work:
- design systems
- governance
- workflows
- documentation
- training
- review processes
- shared standards
I like making complex work easier to understand. I like helping people make better decisions sooner. I like building structures that other people can actually use.
A good system should not need a lot of explaining every time it’s used.
Accessibility Changed How I Define Quality
Accessibility became a major part of my work during my time at the University of Illinois.
What started as a requirement became a much deeper design responsibility.
I began to see accessibility as:
- a way to reduce friction
- a way to create clarity
- a way to support independence
- a way to make better experiences for more people
That shift changed how I approach quality overall.
Accessibility is still a huge strength in my work, but it’s part of a larger way of thinking about design, communication, and trust.
How I Show Up on a Team
I’m at my best when I’m helping people become more capable, not more dependent.
Some of my favorite moments are:
- when a designer has a lightbulb moment
- when a team finally connects the dots
- when a process becomes clearer and easier to use
- when someone gains confidence in their own work
I tend to lead through clarity, coaching, and practical support.
I care about making work better, but I care just as much about helping the people doing the work feel more steady, informed, and capable.
What I Protect in Good Work
I like work that has a point.
I do not enjoy unnecessary complexity, vague language, or systems that make people work harder than they should.
What I value most is:
- clarity over confusion
- usefulness over polish
- honesty over hype
- shared success over ego
- progress over perfection
I also prefer plain language. If something can be said simply, it probably should be.
What I’m Usually Hired For
These days, my work lives at the intersection of:
- design leadership
- UX strategy
- team enablement
- systems thinking
- accessibility-informed quality
- operational clarity
That combination lets me do a few things well:
- help teams work more clearly
- connect design decisions to broader goals
- build systems that scale
- improve quality without overcomplicating the work
- bring accessibility into the work in a practical, durable way
Outside the Work
I’m still very much a maker and a learner.
Outside of work, I’m usually exploring something new:
- ceramics
- photography
- AI tools and workflows
- e-biking around town
- exploring Northwest Arkansas
- pickleball
- whatever system or idea has my curiosity that week
I like building things. I like improving things. I like understanding how things work.
That’s true in my work and outside of it.
What Stays the Same
At the center of everything I do is the same impulse: to make things better, clearer, and more humane.
That’s what drew me to design. That’s what pulled me toward accessibility. And that’s what keeps me interested in leadership, systems, and team enablement today.