Sophie Mondale

Designer in Los Angeles, CA, United States

Member since March 23, 2022

Sophie is a user researcher and strategy lead with 8+ years’ experience helping teams figure out exactly what to build and why. After years at corporations like PTC and Target and consulting clients across industries at design firm Continuum, Sophie is currently helping teams learn from end users and develop winning strategies. She leads primary market research, testing, workshops, and sprints, laying a strategic foundation that empowers others to work with more confidence and clarity.

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Portfolio

Digital Design

Finding Product-market Fit for a New Augmented Reality Tool at PTC
- Product-market Fit
- Product Discovery
- Market Research
- Product Management
- Product Design
- Prototyping
- User Research
- User Requirements
- UX Testing
- Testing
- Customer Discovery
- Observation
- UX Research
- Design Sprints
- Design Thinking
- Enterprise SaaS
- B2B
- Enterprise Software
- SaaS Design
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- User Surveys
- Workshops
- Strategy
- Jobs
Building a User Research Practice for a Tech-focused Team
- Augmented Reality (AR)
- User Research
- Prototyping
- UX Strategy
- Business Strategy
- Research
- Coaching
- Workshops
- Workshop Facilitation
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Stakeholder Management
- Customer Insights
- UX Research
- Design Thinking
- SaaS Design
- Enterprise SaaS
- Enterprise Software
- B2B
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- Validated User Research
- User Surveys
Helping a Healthcare Company Build its Innovation Capability
- User Research
- Product Strategy
- Market Sizing
- Prototyping
- Workshops
- Design Workshops
- Ideation Workshops
- Workshop Facilitation
- Testing
- UX Testing
- UX Strategy
- Business Model Canvas
- Business Strategy
- Business Design
- UX Research
- Design Thinking
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- Ethnographic Interviews
- Innovation
Primary Market Research for a Big Three Automaker
- User Research
- Prototyping
- Product Strategy
- Ideation Workshops
- UX Workshops
- Workshop Facilitation
- User Workshops
- Discovery Workshops
- Business Strategy
- Business Design
- UX Research
- Design Thinking
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- Ethnographic Interviews
Design Principles for Families in the Metaverse
- Service Design
- Business Models
- Market Research
- Pitch Decks
- User Research
- Prototyping
- UX Testing
- UX Strategy
- Workshops
- Ideation Workshops
- Workshop Facilitation
- UX Research
- Design Sprints
- Design Thinking
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- Ethnographic Interviews
- User Surveys
Whitespace Innovation for Clothing Care
- User Research
- Innovation
- Product Strategy
- Prototyping
- Competitive Intelligence
- Business Design
- Workshops
- UX Prototyping
- Testing
- Design Thinking
- Design Leadership
- Qualitative Research
- Ethnographic Interviews

Employment

Design Strategist | Freelance
2021 - 2021
Samsung
- Developed and socialized a company-wide strategy for emerging technology, guiding product planning, marketing, and R&D.
- Led 10 qualitative interviews with families (parents and kids under 12) to learn about unmet needs, current behaviors, and future expectations. Translated data into product and service strategy.
- Crafted the story and burning platform to evangelize our strategy to Samsung's CEO and CFO.
- Oversaw an outside firm that conducted a market sizing assessment and created a business model for new product and service opportunities.
Technologies: Metaverse, AI Design, Design Leadership, Qualitative Research, Ethnographic Interviews, Validated User Research, User Surveys
Design Strategy Manager
2019 - 2020
PTC
- Found product-market fit for a new offering that's currently in development. Led user research, found the right use case, designed and deployed a live data prototype onsite with customers, demoed for PTC's CEO. Grew the team from two to eight.
- Standardized Vuforia’s product process; served as a trusted advisor to three PMs on user research and product strategy. Contributed foundational insights to Vuforia Inspect ($5,000,000 presales pipeline) and Expert Capture (growing at 200% YoY).
- Established Vuforia’s user research practice. Created a library of insights and customer visit reports as well as a playbook for conducting qualitative research. Hired and mentored a design researcher.
- Wrote Vuforia’s mission statement at the request of senior leadership, which is now shown to all new hires and acquisitions and used to guide strategy for our 250+ person team.
Technologies: Augmented Reality (AR), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Design Leadership, Qualitative Research, Validated User Research, User Surveys
Senior Strategist
2017 - 2019
Continuum
- Led projects, teams, and clients across industries. Acted as the go-to strategist for teaching clients about human-centered design. Peer feedback from my 2018 annual review said that clients really love learning from me.
- Led a team of three consultants for a Fortune 500 CPG company to discover three new laundry product opportunities, two of which are currently on the market.
- Designed and led a day-long workshop with executives for a global beauty brand, which led to three spinoff projects for my firm.
- Acted as a strategist on a team of six for the city government. Led organizational transformation for the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Conducted over 100 stakeholder interviews with citizens, city officials, and developers.
Technologies: Software, Web, Digital, Design Leadership, Qualitative Research, Ethnographic Interviews, User Surveys
Senior Product Development Coordinator
2012 - 2015
Target
- Supported Target’s in-house design and engineering teams by managing prototypes and planograms, contributing to $1.5 billion in yearly home decor sales.
- Helped stand up a new product category. Conducted in-store user research to support the business case for a wall decor line that brings in $100 million per year as of 2020.
- Acted as a liaison to upper management; won a Target-wide award for demonstrating leadership potential. Peer-nominated “captain” of 30 coworkers.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Qualitative Research

Education

Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
2015 - 2017
University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management - Toronto, Canada
Bachelor of Arts Degree in French Studies and History
2008 - 2012
Macalester College - Saint Paul, USA

Experience

Workshops10 years
User Research10 years
Design Sprints8 years
Prototyping8 years
UX Strategy8 years
Strategy8 years
Augmented Reality (AR)2 years

Location

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Designer in Los Angeles, CA, United States

Portfolio

Employment

Design Strategist | Freelance

Design Strategy Manager

Senior Strategist

Senior Product Development Coordinator

Education

Experience

Location