About

I’m a senior UX researcher, designer, and strategist with over a decade of experience as a professional translator, turning complicated user needs into clear, confident business solutions for B2B, B2C, SaaS, and PaaS. My special skills include strategic thinking, wrangling cross-functional teams, and visualizing complex processes. I help teams achieve alignment and empower them to drive smart, user-centric decisions that elevate their products and services.

My career path has been anything but a straight line. Think of it more as a scenic detour through educational technology and civic tech. I started out as a teacher and UX designer, then made a pivot to UX research and strategy. This journey has given me a not-so-secret superpower: the ability to apply my background in education to untangle even the knottiest of problems. I’m a natural at figuring out how people learn and process information, making me your go-to for turning user insights into product improvements.

My resume is available upon request or you can connect with me on LinkedIn. I’ve also put together a visual map of my career journey (see below). It shows the path I’ve taken, the impact I’ve made along the way, and how I’ve used a mix of different skills to get there:

Image is set up as a traditional journey map. It has four phases from left to right (1. Awareness of design passion 2. Developing UX skills 3. Immersion in ed tech UX 4. Immersion in civic tech UX). The rows include detailed information about job roles that I held during each phase, examples of impact that I had during each phase (i.e., a select sample of my resume bullets), a list of competencies and skills that I used during each phase, and lastly a list of my education and achievements that includes degrees, certifications, and awards.
Shaunna Smith’s UX Career Journey Map