Nikole Grad
Beautiful, successful design is born from a sound and thoughtful process. I am a senior user experience designer, with philosophies rooted in research, currently designing and buildling for Opower.
Work Experience
Senior Web Designer, Opower
Arlington, VA • September 2015 - Present
- Collaborates on a cross-functional teams utilizing Agile development methods in tandem with Jira for project management
- Meeting fast paced deadlines and delivering quality products
- Pioneered the corporate website redesign and rebrand with a fluid process of sketches, wireframes, information architecture, user flow charts, responsive design and custom illustrations
- Lead UX and UI designer on all digital projects including: the corporate website, email and landing page campaigns
- Conducts and leads design research with the UX Research team, analyzes findings and uses results as the backbone for all design decisions
- Lead client facing research and workshops
Web Designer, Sunlight Foundation
Washington, DC • December 2014 - September 2015
- Hugely collaborative on cross functional teams with full stack developers, project managers, front end developers and designers utilizing a Lean and Agile development process
- Project owner and leader on impactful user-centered visual designs with desktop and mobile design implementations
- Designed with HTML5, CSS3 and media queuries in an open sourced environment
- Creates data visualizations
- Illustration ideation from pencil sketches to polished vector images and SVG's to solve complicated user experience problems and aid in communicating content
- Conducts and leads design research, analyzes findings and uses results as the backbone for all design decisions
- Leads design workshops such as Wirestorming, learn more
Design Director, NAV
Washington, DC • September 2013 - October 2014
- Lead designer, created and developed beautiful, functional cross-platform websites and apps, applying expert visual design practices on typography, layout and responsive philosophies
- Practiced user centered design to naturally influence design decisions by conducting project-based stakeholder interviews and user research and testing
- Developed and built information architectures using proven best practices and prototypes, ensuring a successful user experience
- Managed client relationships, guiding various internal and external team members through the full web design process, including: initial pitch, project kick-off, creative brief, information architecture, wireframes, UX, visual design, front end development, CMS integration, and testing
- Collaborated with agency leadership to grow business through community outreach and proposal submissions
- Responsible for leading client meetings, drafting and maintaining project schedules, initiating statements of work, and all cross-team communications
- Execute internal design projects including branding, signage, business cards and promotional kits
Designer, DC Jewish Community Center
Washington, DC • June 2009 - September 2013
- Lead designer and art director; collaborated with director of communications to design and launch a re-brand, reflecting a new and lively brand identity
- Designed and managed process throughout creative concept exploration, design, and implementation of interactive and print collateral for fundraising benefits and galas; music, film, gallery and literary events; arts festivals; preschool events and publicity; summer camp promotions; and for a fitness center
Skills and software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
- Github
- Sublime Text
- HTML5/CSS3
- Media queries and responsive design implementation
- Basecamp, Slack and Trello
- Invision: prototyping platform
- Terminal
- Wordpress: front end theming, content/image integration and various plugins
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design
Salisbury University, 2008