Tamara Olson
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
New York, NY, United States
Toptal member since February 8, 2017
Tamara spent many years at Google, first as a UX manager in Ads, then as a design lead for Classroom. She spent time designing at Apple (apple.com redesign) and co-founded Studio Simpatico, a NYC-based design, and development studio. Tamara is an adjunct professor at FIT (interaction design) and holds a Master’s degree from NYU’s ITP.
Portfolio
Google Classroom UX
Orchard Platform Product Design
Versed iOS Application UX and Design
Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP) by Google UX
Ecology Project International Site Organization and UX
Sailthru Mobile Application UX and Design
Experience
- CSS - 20 years
- HTML - 20 years
- Usability Testing - 10 years
- User Experience (UX) - 10 years
- OmniGraffle - 10 years
- Adobe Photoshop - 10 years
- WordPress - 6 years
- Sketch - 5 years
Tools
- Sketch
- OmniGraffle
- Adobe Photoshop
Work Experience
Owner
Studio Simpatico (Studiosimpati.co)
- Founded a business offering user experience/product design and end-to-end web design and development services (specializing in WordPress).
- Worked with Unilever, Microsoft, Haven Life, M.M.LaFleur, AlleyCorp, Prose Hair, Sailthru, OK! Magazine, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Document Journal, Gensler, Silverline, Ten To One Rum, Hudson Capital, Sapphire Digital, Fireblocks, and AdTheorent.
- Handled hands-on digital strategy, user experience design, visual design, front-end development, and complex WordPress/WooCommerce development.
- Recruited and managed a full-time team of six employees. Managed all studio operations, finances, and HR.
- Managed subcontractor (including graphic designer, front-end, and back-end developer) contracts and vendors for larger-scale web and eCommerce projects.
Senior Interaction Designer
Google (Google.com)
- Launched Google Classroom to help teachers and students manage classroom workflows.
- Worked in partnership with engineering/product leadership to contribute UX insights to strategic planning.
- Managed the design and research team (three designers, one researcher) for DFP by Google.
- Defined product requirements.
- Created complex workflows.
- Contributed to the visual design style guide.
- Led usability studies with the client.
- Created fully functional prototypes.
- Trained in EDGE leadership.
Lead Information Architect
The New York Observer (Observer.com)
- Led user experience for the 2009 Observer.com redesign. After the launch, Observer.com experienced a 60% increase in pages per visit, a 160% increase in homepage views, and a 455% increase in time-on-site.
- Earned (for the redesign) a Webby Award nomination for Best Newspaper Site (Nytimes.com was the only other American site nominated in category).
- Invented concepts and conducted focus groups.
- Created wireframes and prototypes.
- Authored requirements.
- Led the project through visual design, front-end development, and Drupal 6 integration.
Interactive Creative Team Intern
Apple (Apple.com)
- Joined the Apple.com team in Cupertino for the June 2007 redesign.
- Produced an independent project: a prototype for ‘Digital Music 101,’ a site to teach non-digital music users about iPod+iTunes.
- Presented to the VP of marketing. The project was implemented on Apple.com in December of 2007.
- Designed the QuickTime page + site map.
Education
Master of Professional Studies Degree in Interactive Telecommunications (GPA: 4.0)
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University - New York, NY
Bachelor of Arts Degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Media Studies
Macalester College - Saint Paul, MN
Study Abroad Program in Web Design
James Cook University - Queensland, Australia
Skills
Tools
Sketch, OmniGraffle, Adobe Photoshop, Lucidchart, InVision, Adobe, Sublime Text, Basecamp, Visio, Adobe Illustrator
Languages
HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Platforms
WordPress
Other
Usability Testing, User Experience (UX), UX Thinking, UX Research, UX Design, Digital Design, Digital Product Design, UI Design, Freelancing, Instructional Design, Ads, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Visual Design, Mobile App UI, Mobile App Testing, Mobile App Design, App UX, Content Management Systems (CMS), Organization, Sitemaps, Wireframing, Product Design
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