My Journey in User Experience

Hello, I'm Doug, and I've been on a transformative journey in the User Experience (UX) industry for over 23 years. As an NN/g Certified Director of User Experience and a Scrum Alliance Certified Product Owner, I've had the privilege of shaping digital landscapes across various industries. But my journey didn't stop there; I'm very close to earning the NN/g Master Certification, an extension of a credential that has been pivotal in my career.

The Transformative Power of UX Practitioner Education

When I started in the industry there were no college programs, certifications, and certainly not bootcamps. As a result most of my training has been OJT and learning from mentors. So the Nielsen Norman Group's UX Certification has been a cornerstone in my professional development. This program is not just a certificate; it's an immersive experience that has helped me gain a solid foundation in UX. With over 100+ hours of rigorous training and a series of exams, the NN/g Certification has equipped me with the skills to lead highly effective teams and manage complex UX processes. It's not just about learning; it's about applying known UX and management practices effectively to plan, communicate, negotiate, and measure UX work. Learn more about NN/g Certification

Specialized Training in Design Thinking from Luma Institute

While the NN/g Certification has been transformative, my training in Design Thinking methodologies from the Luma Institute has been incredibly enriching. This specialized training has given me the tools to unearth user pain points and drive breakthrough design concepts, making it a perfect complement to my extensive background in Agile methodologies.

A Portfolio That Speaks Volumes

My portfolio is a testament to my diverse skill set and experience. I've had the honor of contributing to projects for Fortune 500 giants like Verizon, Bank of America, ThermoFisher Scientific, Fidelity Investments, Toyota, LLBean, Iron Mountain, and TIAA, among others. From telephony and internet security to financial services and healthcare, my work spans multiple verticals.

Explore my portfolio

Mentoring the Next Generation

One of the most rewarding aspects of my career has been mentoring the next generation of UX professionals. I believe in giving back to the community and sharing the knowledge I've gained over the years.

My Philosophy

I'm passionate about evangelizing and managing UX processes. I take immense pride in leading teams that consistently deliver best-in-class, equitable user experiences. My approach is deeply rooted in a commitment to growth, credibility, and educating others about the importance of UX.

Collaborations

Specialization

MANAGEMENT

  • Servant Leadership and exercising Radical Candor.
  • Process implementation and management
  • Stakeholder workshops

TECHNICAL

  • HTML 5
  • CSS 3
  • REACT
  • GIT Version Control
  • Basic Networking

DESIGN

  • Complex enterprise UX application design
  • UX Prototyping
  • Branding

VERTICALS

  • Mobile security
  • Healthcare
  • E-commerce
  • Fintech & financial services
  • Education
  • Engineering technology verticals

STRATEGY & PROCESS

  • Agile & Scrum
  • Requirements Gathering
  • Design Thinking & Human-centered Design
  • User Research

PRIMARY TOOLSET

  • Mac OS X
  • Windows
  • Figma
  • Miro
  • Axure RP Pro
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Userlytics
  • WordPress

OTHER

Testimonials

gil

Gilbert Nordelus

Director of Engineering

Doug is a brilliant creative. At Zenkey I depended heavily on Doug's creative prowess and his ability to manage, lead his team. As the director of UX, I witness Doug's collaboration skills first-hand. What I've come to appreciate the most are his level-headed approach, fresh perspective and Doug's hands-on approach to UX. Doug has also introduced many tools to Zenkey which further improved the collaboration between creatives and engineering. You can expect great work, amazing collaboration, forward thinking ideas and outstanding leadership from him. I would welcome any opportunity to work with Doug again, he would be an amazing addition to further enhanced any creative team.

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Juan Illiage

Product Director

Doug and his team were excellent partners in launching highly secure mobile application aimed to disrupt the identity access management market. He and his team were always there to support the company in their ever-changing priorities and consistently delivered high-quality work on time and without drama. Every job delivered resulted from usability research, professional design, and the user on top of mind. The work was backed by quantitative information that helped ZenKey to make the right decisions. On the personal side, Doug always had a pleasant (almost soothing) demeanor that I sincerely appreciated in such a hectic environment. He was a great partner, and I am looking forward to working with him in the future.

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Dominic Chatot

Professional Recruiter at Insight Global

Working with Doug as been one of the highlights of my recruiting career. He values our partnership and is committed to working with me. In the 2+ years I've known Doug, he has been nothing but an incredible professional, fun person to communicate with and just an overall great person to know. On a more professional side, Doug is a subject matter expert in all things User Experience. Not only is he a creative genius when it comes to this environment but he pairs it with a highly collaborative approach and leadership qualities. Doug is a true impact player and will be an immediate value add to any organization.

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Eddie Davis

SVP Sales & Operations, FinSync

Doug knows his business. He's completely fluent in UX/UI and able to translate business and user goals into sets of requirements and designs that developers can easily understand and implement, and end-users find intuitive. He's also a very genuine and compassionate person who seeks to understand his coworkers and work with them the way they wanted to be worked with, always with an eye toward the overall strategy of the company.

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Mike Savory

CPO, FinSync

Doug joined our team as the Director of User Experience at a time when we had no design or UX resources. He capably filled several roles in both design and user experience. Doug also showed he's experienced in working with product teams, knowing the language and processes, fitting well into our team, and even being proactive in suggesting and implementing ideas to improve our ideation process. He has a broad range of experience and skills (including drummer and drone pilot!) that I think would benefit any tech company.

MrV

Victor Dominquez

Business Development | Talent Management

On a number of occasions, I've hired Doug to design, develop and deploy internet and intranet sites. He always delivered insightful and creative solutions as well as a quality work product. Even though his expertise resides in the IT world, we hired Doug to work within our marketing department to help bridge the gaps between marketing, sales and IT. The result of this collaborative effort gave us a better product, delivered on time and on target with our exact business requirements. Gotta love that...

tonyG

Tony Garbani

Art Director and Designer

Doug is a great guy who is very knowledgeable in web design and all that encompasses the web. I've worked with him on several projects and he's always a pleasure to work with. If he doesn't know the answer to something, he'll find it, but usually if it's web-related, he's on top of it and probably already knows it already. On top of that, he's creative-minded and is very skilled in talking through ideas in order to find solutions.