Kate is available for hire
Hire KateKate Valdes
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
San Jose, CA, United States
Toptal Member Since
March 4, 2020
With 15 years of design industry experience, Kate has produced successful digital experiences for both startups and well-known name brands alike, such as Netflix and BlackLine. This includes projects across industries and platforms. Leveraging her background in user research, Kate is able to bridge the gap between strategy and experience, integrating design thinking into the most complex of workflows.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Senior Product Designer
2020 - 2021
Discovery Education
- Mapped out the learning journey for teachers as they create and deliver videos, lessons, and tests to students.
- Identified usability issues, leveraging the heuristic evaluation framework to explore problems and opportunities.
- Delivered design concepts and a full prototype flow for a new assessment platform, Quiz.
Technologies: Adobe CC, InVision, Sketch, WordPress, Figma, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Design Leadership, Product Design, Chrome Extensions
Senior Product Designer
2018 - 2019
Netflix
- Served as the lead designer on the internal tools team, focusing on title visibility across the entire "pitch to play" workflow. This enabled technology teams to better partner with Hollywood and produce content at scale.
- Architected the title status platform, which systematized how metadata was captured, searched, maintained, and shared across numerous teams.
- Reimagined the title visibility solution as a horizontal to span the entire content creation lifecycle, encompassing a 50+ app ecosystem.
- Led user research that leveraged service design techniques to map out opportunities for users and the business. This included shadow sessions, semi-structured interviews, user journey mapping, and stakeholder mapping.
- Drove strategy alignment with business leadership to identify opportunities.
Technologies: Adobe CC, InVision, Sketch, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Design Leadership, Product Design
Director and Lead Product Designer
2016 - 2017
UserZoom
- Managed a team of designers and contributed as a lead product designer for this user research-focused startup.
- Led a full design overhaul of the UZ Research Manager, which addressed a dated user experience, focusing on adopting new clients.
- Defined a new visual language and design patterns in support of three product lines.
- Partnered with development to implement and roll out the solution.
- Conducted in-person and remote moderated research to validate concepts and designs, producing successful adopted solutions.
- Managed, led, and mentored a team of junior designers.
Technologies: ZURB Foundation, Adobe CC, UserZoom, InVision, Sketch, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Design Leadership, Product Design
Senior UX Designer
2012 - 2016
BlackLine
- Led a strategic redesign effort defined by a rethink in user flows and product integration, supporting a successful push for the company to go public.
- Designed a platform that enabled CFOs to take control of their month-end and year-end close process.
- Refined a design system to better adapt to the needs of a high data density financial tech environment.
- Overhauled product dashboards and reporting features, focusing on modern data visualizations.
- Led user research that enabled better product integration across the suite of tools, starting with a UX audit that included a heuristic evaluation to identify and solve usability issues.
- Partnered with product and engineering as the first designer onsite, delivering user-centered prototypes.
- Designed and implemented training videos for the company's e-learning platform, leveraging informational and instructional design.
Technologies: Highcharts, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Design Leadership, Product Design
Designer
2010 - 2012
Poly (Formally Polycom)
- Led instructional design for a broad range of materials, spanning sales collateral to internal communication.
- Created promotional sales videos with After Effects.
- Facilitated social media campaigns for the internal communications team.
- Updated and published new articles on Sharepoint, the company's intranet.
- Formatted HTML for articles and images showcased on the company internet.
Technologies: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Design Leadership
Lead Web Designer
2005 - 2010
GoWesty
- Managed every aspect of this eCommerce platform, with efforts influencing increased order conversions.
- Designed content and information for product pages.
- Tested usability and optimized the shopping cart workflow.
- Designed promotional campaigns to support marketing efforts.
- Developed the social media presence for this company.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, WordPress, Design Leadership
Education
2000 - 2005
Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Communication
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo, CA
Certifications
JANUARY 2014 - PRESENT
Advanced Web and Interaction Design
UCLA Extension