Katie Blackman
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Denver, CO, United States
Toptal member since December 2, 2020
For more than 15 years, Katie has worked in large design teams, as a solo designer, and, most recently, for startups. She specializes in user experience, responsive web design, app design, branding, and development (HTML/CSS). Her designs are eminently engaging, and she cultivates alignment to ensure the integrity of design from concept through implementation. As a former startup founder, Katie excels when working at high speed and collaborating on iterative designs.
Work Experience
Head of Design
Cactus (Kinecho)
- Designed a mindfulness app where users could journal their thoughts and reveal insights on how positive their writing was and what emotions came through.
- Led the brand strategy, which we used to inform early interface choices and guide us toward our broader vision.
- Focused on product strategy, design, UX, and development.
- Worked in an Agile environment with rapid prototyping and constant deployment.
- Collaborated and participated in every phase from inception to implementation.
Senior UX Engineer
Craftsy (Bluprint)
- Launched new social discovery, community, and monetization for over 12 million users.
- Played a key role in two major launches and the acquisition by NBC.
- Created a living design system to foster cohesion in our work from design to implementation.
- Polished features in the code so that engineers could focus on more technical functionality.
UI Designer and Web Developer
Freelance
- Collaborated with multiple businesses on new web designs, responsive web design and development, infographics, icons, and logos.
- Set up content management systems and coached clients on how to maintain their sites.
- Managed accounts and client expectations.
Web Production
Elevated Third
- Developed responsive websites using content management systems for multiple businesses.
- Maintained relationships with clients and conducted client coaching sessions.
- Specialized in keeping the integrity of designs through to implementation.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Journalism
Iowa State University - Ames, IA, USA
Skills
Tools
Sketch, Adobe CC, Adobe, Xcode
Languages
HTML, CSS
Platforms
Figma, Drupal, WordPress, iOS, Apple
Industry Expertise
Health & Wellness
Other
Logo Design, Product Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Web UX Design, Digital Design, Visual Design, Mobile UI, UX Flows, Wireframing, Iterative Design, Pencil Sketches, User Flows, Responsive UI, Branding, Product Strategy, Email Design, Animated Interactions, Remote User Testing, Design Systems, Illustration, Dashboard Design, Design Sprints, Whiteboarding, Vue, React, Squarespace, Mindfulness, Dashboards, Web Dashboards, Calendar Design, Data, Digital Product Design, UI Patterns, Mood Boards, Google Design Sprints, Apps, Graphic Design, UI Branding, Material UI, Recording, Audio, Family, Short Stories, User Profiles, Augmented Reality (AR), System Design, E-learning, Jobs to be Done (JTBD), iPad, Apple Pencil, Emotional Design, Color Schemes
Experience
- Branding - 15 years
- User Interface (UI) - 15 years
- HTML - 15 years
- CSS - 15 years
- Product Strategy - 7 years
- Wireframing - 7 years
- Product Design - 7 years
- User Experience (UX) - 7 years
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