About Me

Product Ownership, End-to-End

Two decades across IT analysis, QA, and project management that grew into UX leadership and now product ownership — running discovery, roadmap, design, and delivery. I turn complex technical and business problems into shipped product.

AI-Assisted Delivery

I blend behavioral research with AI-augmented workflows to move from discovery to working software — designing the solution, building it with AI-assisted development, and running a product QA pass before it goes to the dev team for code review and a final QA pass. I also design for AI products themselves: human-in-the-loop controls, explainable outputs, and graceful handling of uncertain, probabilistic results.

Design That Ships

Owning the outcome, not just the artifact — bridging business goals and engineering, removing user friction, and making the call on what to build and what to cut.

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 into design leadership and now product ownership. Every stage reinforced my focus on optimizing workflows, removing user friction, and bridging business objectives and engineering. Today I own the product through build: I run discovery and roadmap, design the solution, build it with AI-assisted development, and run the product QA pass — then hand off to a teammate developer and AI reviewers for code review, and to the dev team's QA for the final pass before merge.

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, more recently, an AI Coding for Designers bootcamp that took me into hands-on front-end and AI-assisted building—all while 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 with her familyCelebrating at a Colorado mountain summitSummiting Mount Bierstadt, 14,065 ftWith a professional community groupVolunteering with a community serve teamVolunteering at a community cleanupAfter a roadside cleanup

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

Certifications & Continued Learning

A mix of certifications and course completions — I'm always learning.

  • AI Coding for Designers Bootcamp - 2026
  • 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

Product & Delivery
Product Discovery, Roadmapping, Requirements & Specification, Build-vs-Buy Analysis, Backlog Prioritization, Quality Assurance (QA) Testing, IT & Systems Analysis
AI-Augmented Build
Vibe Coding & Design, AI-Assisted Development, AI-Driven Design Discovery
Design & Prototyping
User Experience (UX) Design, High Fidelity User Interface Design, Interaction Design, Wireframing, Prototyping, Information Architecture
Research & Testing
User Research (Various Methods), Usability Testing, Competitor Analysis, Statistical Analysis & Reporting
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

FigmaClaudeCanvaJiraGoogle AnalyticsHubSpotGoogle WorkspaceSlackGeminiFigmaClaudeCanvaJiraGoogle AnalyticsHubSpotGoogle WorkspaceSlackGeminiFigmaClaudeCanvaJiraGoogle AnalyticsHubSpotGoogle WorkspaceSlackGemini

Design, Prototyping & Building

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
Building — This Site
VS Code, Claude, GitHub, Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Vercel, Resend
Building — Ads Platform (Work)
Codex, Next.js, Fastify, Node.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Drizzle ORM, PostgreSQL (Neon), Redis (Upstash), Clerk, Cloudflare, Fly.io
Building — CMS Platform (Work)
Vue, Nuxt, AdonisJS, Node.js, Vite, Vitest, Storybook, PostgreSQL, MySQL

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