Originally from Houston, Texas—I moved to New York in 2008 where I started my career as a visual designer. Working at agencies and freelancing, I learned from incredible folks before shifting my focus to user experience at Pow Interactive in 2013.

I started as a senior designer using GUI photoshop files to create application screens and eventually, shifted to helping companies establish and extend design systems. Since then—I've moved across the country, swapped a few job titles, but continue to work with financial institutions: being a trusted partner and collaborating with them to define and create human-centered experiences for users.

About Monica

Core Values

Be proactive
Be informed
Be flexible
Be transparent
Be kind
and have fun!

Design Things

UI & UX design
Creative & art direction
Design systems
Information architecture
User journeys & flows
Wireframing & prototyping
Visual design & illustration
Responsive design
Feedback sessions
Mentoring

Tools

Figma
Jira
Axure

Areas of Exposure

Goals planning
Asset allocation
Portfolio construction
Private investment modeling
Equity-based compensation
Estate planning
ESG & sustainability
Client management systems
Research tools
Charting / Infographics

Work Experience

2 0 1 3 – C U R R E N T

Pow Interactive, Associate Design Director

NYC to PDX • powinteractive.com

  • Design enterprise applications—primarily for financial professionals

  • Own and lead sessions with product, business stakeholders, & technology to share work, brainstorm, and move products and conversations forward

  • Ensure a strong understanding of product goals, steer UX solutions so they tie back to broader business initiatives

  • Collaborate with research & business teams to create discussion guides, create low to high fidelity prototypes, and distill & implement user feedback

  • Partner with product and engineering to move designs into development, using Jira and weekly sessions to stay aligned, plan sprints, and QA

  • Contribute to design systems. I’ve experienced different stages of design system maturity and evangelized for unified design language & best practices across the platforms I work on

Key clients:
Morgan Stanley, 2014 - 2019, 2022 - Today; Sr. Product Designer
BlackRock: Aladdin, 2019 - 2022; UI/UX Design Lead for Aladdin, AladdinStudio
Annalect, 2013 - 2014, Sr. Designer

2 0 1 2 – 2 0 1 3

CDM Group, Art Director

NYC • cdmny.com

  • Design, develop and deliver a wide array of collateral within the pharmaceuticals industry

  • Deliverables include concept and creation of product information kits and material used by doctors and patients with advanced kidney cancer

  • Collaborated with copy, research, and legal to inform designs & content

  • Participation in vision and pitches for new business and campaigns

Key clients: Pfizer Oncology, Enbrel, Amgen

2 0 1 2

VaynerMedia, Visual & UI Designer

NYC • vaynermedia.com

Key clients: General Electric, Discovery Channel, Barclays, Campbell's

2 0 1 1 – 2 0 1 3

Freelancer, Visual & UI Designer

NYC

Key clients: Shape Magazine, Men's Fitness

2 0 0 8 – 2 0 1 2

Broadcast Music, Inc., Visual & Print Designer

NYC • bmi.com

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small moso with a bowl cut