Results-driven Product Designer with expertise in UX/UI, user research, and accessibility. Skilled in modernizing digital platforms, enhancing user experiences, and leading collaborative efforts across government, open source, and private sectors. Passionate about democratizing technology.
Experience
Senior UI/UX Product Designer
18F / General Services Administration
December 2021 – Present
- Oversaw product design, user research, and strategy on cross-functional teams across 7 projects for 5 federal agency and judicial partners.
- Redesigned a 15+ year old website for the 9th Circuit Courts using the US Web Design System, conducted in-person workshops with circuit staff to develop a design direction and information architecture, and coached members of the circuit on usability and research practices.
- Led the design of the American Climate Corps website, navigating ambiguity, tight deadlines, and complex stakeholders to deliver a widely praised, impactful site which helped up to 20,000 young Americans start their careers in the climate sector.
- Improved the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s complaint process by conducting user research, advocating for and prototyping a more efficient front-end, and guided the evaluation of potential platforms—efforts that secured secured long-term funding from the Technology Modernization Fund.
- Improved the Federal Audit Clearinghouse reporting process for 230,000 grant recipients, and 60,000 annual audits for government stakeholders. Led discovery research and product design strategy to support the launch.
- Designed informational and training websites for the General Service Administration’s SmartPay program, creating an intuitive loginless system for the program’s 800,000+ users and ensuring an accessible, user-friendly experience across the platform. Received the Federal Acquisition Service’s Commissioner Spotlight Award.
- Received a GSA Special Act award in 2023.
Senior UI/UX Product Designer
Automattic
June 2013 – October 2021
- Conducted competitive research, usability tests, and interviews with WordPress community members to inform product improvements and design decisions.
- Created wireframes, mockups, and prototypes for the WordPress content management system (CMS), designed themes for 50mil+ users in the WordPress community, collaborated with cross-functional teams, and ensured accessibility and design consistency.
- Participated in WordPress community discussions, mentored contributors, led design projects, and spoke at conferences to promote WordPress.
- Wrote blog posts, designed graphics, and contributed to public WordPress communications to support community awareness and engagement.
Past experience
UX Apprentice
Fresh Tilled Soil • 01/2013 – 03/2021
Designer
Joust • 08/2012 – 01/2013
CommunicateHealth • 11/2011 – 06/2012
Skytemple • 10/2008 – 11/2011
education
BA in Government; Minor in Arts & Technology
Smith College
2006 – 2010, Northampton MA
Capabilities
Skills
Product design
Interface design
User research
Usability testing
Prototyping
Accessibility
Design systems
Art direction
Methods
Affinity grouping
Card sorting
Click-through prototyping
Competitive analysis
Contextual interviews
Dot voting
Heuristic evaluation
Style tiles
Usability testing
Wireframing
Tools and Technologies
Figma
Sketch
Adobe Suite
Google Suite
Mural
HTML
CSS
GitHub
WordPress
Testimonials
“Mel is a designer that cares about every detail and the impact of her work. I’ve been lucky enough to see her grow over the years into a design leader within open source. She has robust design knowledge, refined editing skills and a strong sense of art direction. Her voluntary work on campaigns is a testament to her dedication to making a difference in the work she does. I’ve seen her adapt to work on a team but also take the lead in prominent projects. She always focuses with empathy on the task in hand.”
Tammie Lister, Senior Product Designer at Automattic
“I was fortunate to have Mel as the lead designer on a high-profile, high-demand project we worked together. Her design skills are unmatched—she created outstanding visuals, communicated seamlessly with the client, and even jumped in to polish our CSS. She also guided the engineering team to ensure everything was implemented flawlessly. If you need a designer, you’ll be lucky to have Mel on your team.”
Edwin Torres, Software Engineer and Engineering Manager at 18F
“Mel and I worked together on an engagement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Mel created multiple design ideas that we tested with users. The designs were gorgeous, creative, and professional. Once we figured out which design we wanted to start implementing, I found it very easy (as a developer) to translate Mel’s ideas to HTML and CSS. The best part is that Mel was comfortable doing some of the development, as well, which meant I didn’t have to worry too much about tricky CSS. I really enjoyed working with Mel and would love to do it again in the future!”
Jessica Dussault, Consulting Engineer at 18F