About Me
20 Years of Product Evolution
A deep background spanning IT analysis, QA testing, and project management, culminating in a four-year tenure as a UX Director. A career unified by two decades of applying design thinking and strategic leadership to solve complex technical and business challenges.
AI-Driven Design Discovery
Optimizing workflows by blending traditional behavioral research with modern AI prompting to accelerate wireframing and drive data-backed strategy — and designing for AI products themselves: human-in-the-loop controls, explainable outputs, and graceful handling of uncertain, probabilistic results.
Frictionless UX & Strategy
A proven track record of bridging the gap between business goals and engineering, dedicated to removing user friction, optimizing workflows, and building intuitive, people-centered solutions.
Proof, not just claims: I designed and built this entire site myself — including the AI assistant — in Next.js and Tailwind CSS.
Read the build case study →
My Journey & Values
The Career Backstory
Over the past 20 years, I've navigated diverse product environments—spanning IT analysis, quality assurance, and project management, which paved the way for my current design leadership role over the last four years. Every stage of my career has reinforced my passion for optimizing workflows, removing user friction, and bridging the gap between business objectives and engineering teams. This multifaceted foundation allows me to guide UX initiatives with a comprehensive understanding of technical feasibility, cross-functional collaboration, and human-centered strategy.
Growth Mindset & Professional Excellence
I operate on the philosophy of staying "green and growing" rather than "ripe and rotting." This drive for continuous improvement shapes everything I do—from graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Computer Information Systems (CIS) to completing a rigorous 500-hour UX/UI bootcamp and maintaining active certifications like Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
Culture & Community
Beyond the screen, I anchor myself in building high-quality relationships and giving back to my local community. When I'm recharging, you'll find me outdoors—hiking, running, or paddleboarding—which keeps my mindset clear, focused, and ready for the next design challenge.
“Samantha is a passionate designer who is adept at transforming user feedback into user-centered design solutions. When developing user experiences, she applies considerable attention to detail to the creation of design deliverables, including user and market research, flows, personas, wireframes, and interactive prototypes. Her ability to communicate her design rationale and articulately present her findings makes her an outstanding addition to any team looking to inform their product decisions.”
— Madison Bonds, UX Designer at Kalkomey
Education
Degree
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
University of Northern Colorado, MCB — Greeley, Colorado
Specialized in Computer Information Systems, with coursework relevant to user experience design—including development, project management, and usability.
Summa Cum Laude, 4.0 GPA
AI Coding for Designers Bootcamp — currently expanding my hands-on front-end and AI-engineering skills. It's the foundation behind this very site.
Certifications & Continued Learning
A mix of certifications and course completions — I'm always learning.
- Certified SCRUM Master (CSM) - 2026
- Figma Master Course - 2025
- UI Specialization
- UX Design
- Google Analytics Certification
- Security Pro
- Inbound Marketing
- Mimic Pro Digital Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Mimic Social
Skillset
Technical Skills
- Design & Prototyping
- User Experience (UX) Design, High Fidelity User Interface Design, Interaction Design, Wireframing, Prototyping, Information Architecture
- AI-Augmented Design
- Vibe Coding & Design, AI-Driven Design Discovery
- Research & Testing
- User Research (Various Methods), Usability Testing, Competitor Analysis, Statistical Analysis & Reporting
- Product & Delivery
- Project Management, Requirements Engineering, Diagramming & Flows, Quality Assurance (QA) Testing, IT & Systems Analysis
- Communication
- Marketing, Presentations
Soft Skills
- Leadership & Influence
- Thought Leadership, Facilitation, Collaboration
- Communication & Empathy
- Effective Communication (Written & Verbal), Empathy, Humility
- Problem-Solving & Adaptability
- Problem Solving, Adaptability, Flexibility, Attention to Detail
- Drive & Ownership
- Self-Driven, Motivated, Organization, Independent & Teamwork Capability
Tech Stack | Favorite Tools
Design & Prototyping
- Core Ecosystem
- Figma (Design, Variables, Advanced Prototyping), Claude
- Brainstorming / Collaboration
- Google Docs, Miro, Mural, FigJam
- UX Guidelines
- Material Design, iOS Design Guidelines, WCAG, W3Schools
- Dev Handshake
- Figma Dev Mode, Jira
- Web Building
- VS Code, Codex, Claude, GitHub, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Vercel, Neon, Resend
Research & Analytics
- AI Suite
- Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Codex, Figma AI, Google Stitch
- Idea Generation
- Mobbin, Figma Community, AI Suite
- Behavioral Analytics
- Google Analytics (GA4), Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, Narrative BI, Cloudflare
- Quantitative & Qualitative Testing
- Optimal Sort, Maze, UserTesting / UserZoom
- User Feedback
- SurveyMonkey, Google Forms
Strategy & Operations
- Agile & Product Management
- Jira, Confluence
- Documentation
- Google Docs, Confluence
- Scheduling
- HubSpot, Calendly
- Communication
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat & Meet, Zoom, Discord
- Presentations
- Canva