Kate Geschwendt
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Grand Rapids, United States
Toptal member since October 18, 2018
Kate specializes in helping to organize the chaos and find the right solution for complex problems. Whether you need help getting your business processes streamlined so that your team can operate more efficiently or if you need an experience designed to serve your customers better, Kate's value is in the details. She loves listening and learning so that she can plan and execute an innovative and optimal solution.
Portfolio
Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America (MCFA)
Haworth and Haworth Store
Work Experience
VP, Operations
DIG
- Planned, directed, coordinated, and oversaw the operations activities.
- Ensured efficient and cost-effective systems were implemented to track resource performance, manage project scope, and track client budgets to deliver on-time and in-budget solutions.
- Handled the operations team ensuring client satisfaction and delivering high-quality work.
- Contributed to the company's success as an experience and strategy director.
Experience & Strategy Director
DIG
- Helped customers understand their audiences so that goals, deliverables, and interactions could become compelling experiences.
- Crafted experiences that positively impacted brand awareness and engagement.
- Managed the experience team and ensured they delivered high-quality digital experiences (websites and applications) with a focus on IoT projects.
- Maintained a high level of knowledge around UX/UI best practices, including ADA Compliance.
Experience Strategist
Thank Black Inc.
- Created a series of workshops to help organizations gain internal alignment while gathering an understanding of their user’s needs, wants, and motivations to build strategic initiatives.
- Reduced technical debt by implementing the right solution with customers.
- Cooperated with teams of designers, developers, and strategists to reach the goals of each initiative while continuously testing and improving the crafted solutions.
Technical Project Manager
Dealer Inspire
- Collaborated with development teams to streamline processes, optimize communication, and manage priorities, so the work was meaningful, well-informed, and on time.
- Developed a series of performance reports around product and team performance for senior management and the organization to monitor success.
- Ran sprint planning sessions to determine product scoping and track team progress and velocity.
Product Manager
Varsity News Network
- Ensured that the suite of products fulfilled the needs and desires of customers and delivered on company initiatives.
- Performed extensive research and discovery to understand the market and create product visions and strategies that could be planned, designed, and executed into intuitive, strong customer experiences while successfully meeting company goals.
- Contributed to the creation of standards in research and process for the UX team.
Education
Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Marketing
Ferris State University - Michigan
Certifications
UX Certification
Nielsen Norman Group
Skills
Tools
Sketch, InVision, Illustrator 2018, InDesign 2018, Photoshop 2018, UXPin, Microsoft Office, Jira, Trello, Manufacturing, Adobe Creative Suite, Sitefinity, Slack, GitHub
Platforms
Adobe Suite, Craft CMS, Axure
Languages
CSS, HTML
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance, Investments
Other
Product Management, User-centered Design (UCD), ADA Compliance, Content Management Systems (CMS), Product Roadmaps, Project Management, User Research, Human-centered Design (HCD), Agile, UI Design, UX Design, Usability Testing, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Roadmaps, UX Strategy, Product Strategy, Heuristic Evaluation, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Product Vision, Market Research, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Digital Magazines, App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon Store, Design, Automation, Material Handling, Hospitals, Patient Services, Donations, Volunteering, Design Systems, Furniture Design, Finance, Sales, Strategy, Teamwork, Teams, Harvest
Experience
- UX Design - 10 years
- UX Strategy - 10 years
- User-centered Design (UCD) - 10 years
- Usability Testing - 6 years
- ADA Compliance - 4 years
- Product Roadmaps - 4 years
- InVision - 4 years
- UXPin - 2 years
Tools
- InVision
- UXPin
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring