Kate Valdes

Designer in San Jose, CA, United States

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.

User Interface (UI)Visual Design UI Design Digital Web Design User Experience (UX)SaaS Wireframing Product Design UX Design Web App Design SaaS Design Responsive UI UX Strategy High-fidelity Mockups Show more

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Portfolio

Digital Design

Netflix - Unified Asset Ordering Strategy
- Service Design
- User Experience (UX)
- User Research
- Enterprise System Design
- Asset Management
- Digital Marketing
- Personas
- Web App UX
- Entertainment & Leisure
- User Journey Maps
- Qualitative Research
- Movie Studios
- Data Visualization
- User Preferences
- Dashboard Design
- Product Design
- UX Design
- Interactive Prototypes
- Prototyping
- Design
- B2B
- Dashboards
- Interaction Design (IxD)
- User Interface (UI)
- Design Leadership
Blackline - Continuous Accounting
- User Experience (UX)
- User Interface (UI)
- UX Research
- Data Visualization
- Enterprise SaaS
- Dashboard Design
- Sketch
- InVision App
- Personas
- Finance
- Finance Reports
- Fintech
- Pivot Tables
- Qualitative Research
- Financial Design
- Financial UX
- Product Design
- SaaS
- UX Design
- SaaS Design
- User Personas
- Interactive Prototypes
- User Flows
- Prototyping
- Design
- B2B
- Dashboards
- Interaction Design (IxD)
- Design Leadership
Netflix - Title Visibility Management
- UX Research
- User Experience (UX)
- User Interface (UI)
- Enterprise SaaS
- Sketch
- InVision App
- Entertainment & Leisure
- Movie Studios
- Information Architecture (IA)
- Dashboard Design
- Reports
- Digital Filters
- Card Design
- Data Grids
- Customization
- Product Design
- UX Design
- Interactive Prototypes
- Prototyping
- Design
- B2B
- Dashboards
- Interaction Design (IxD)
- Design Leadership
SaRA Health - First Time UX for Physical Therapy Patients
- iOS
- Branding
- User Experience (UX)
- User Interface (UI)
- User Research
- User Journey Maps
- Personas
- Figma
- Medtech
- Healthcare
- Themes
- Design Thinking
- Workshop Facilitation
- Startups
- Design Sprints
- Healthcare Management Systems
- Healthcare Media
- Mobile UI
- Mobile Apps
- Mobile
- Visual Design
- Product Design
- UX Design
- Journey Mapping
- User Personas
- Interactive Prototypes
- User Flows
- Web App UI
- Prototyping
- Rapid Prototyping
- Web UX
- Design
- Interaction Design (IxD)
- Health
- Design Leadership
- Mobile UX Design
- Mobile UI Design
UserZoom Study Creation and Monitoring
- User Experience (UX)
- User Interface (UI)
- User Research
- Wizards
- Information Design
- Information Architecture (IA)
- Sketch
- InVision App
- Research Methods
- Research
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research
- Card Sorting
- Dashboard Design
- Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing
- User Surveys
- Product Design
- UX Design
- Interactive Prototypes
- User Flows
- Prototyping
- Usability Testing
- Design
- B2B
- Dashboards
- Interaction Design (IxD)
- User Testing
- Design Leadership
City of San Jose - Census 2020 Info Site
- Visual Design
- User Experience (UX)
- User Interface (UI)
- Responsive Design
- Figma
- Government
- Local & Municipal Government
- Responsive UX Design
- Websites
- Information Design
- QR Codes
- Survey Design
- Mobile Web
- Civic Engagement
- Tablet Design
- UX Design
- Interactive Prototypes
- Prototyping
- Web UX
- Design
- Responsive Web Apps
- Design Leadership
Quiz App Design for Discovery Education
- Edtech
- Acquisitions
- Video Editing
- Quizzes
- UX Assessment
- UI Design

Employment

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

Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Communication
2000 - 2005
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo, CA

Certifications

Advanced Web and Interaction Design
JANUARY 2014 - PRESENT
UCLA Extension

Experience

User Interface (UI)15 years
Product Design10 years
User Experience (UX)10 years
Responsive Web Design (RWD)8 years
Design Leadership8 years
User Research8 years
Enterprise SaaS8 years
Dashboard Design8 years

Location

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Designer in San Jose, CA, United States

Portfolio

Employment

Senior Product Designer

Senior Product Designer

Director and Lead Product Designer

Senior UX Designer

Designer

Lead Web Designer

Education

Certifications

Experience

Location