Download PDF

Some Work Samples

Work experience

Sep 2012Present

Founder

Mass Passion

Mass Passion is a collective of consultants with sports industry expertise in software design and development, marketing, public relations, social media, customer service and community management. We enable communication and transactions between our brand clients and massively passionate fans. 

Visit the Mass Passion Site | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Facebook

Oct 2007Sep 2012

Founder/CEO

Fresh ID

Using problem-solving skills developed over years of experience as a interface designer and user experience manager, intuition and an understanding of human factors for analysis, I design brands, products and marketing collateral and help plan social media marketing initiatives. I define or employ existing brand standards with my own personal style to create unique products, effective marketing campaigns and compelling user experiences.

Whether designing from scratch, redesigning an existing product or developing a product simulation or prototype, a clean, compelling, engaging experience is my goal when designing and analyzing software products for usability and visual appeal. Crafting a cohesive image across all forms of media to promote and sell products and services is how I have helped companies increase revenue and reach their business goals.

  • The tools I use to craft a comprehensive user experience include competitive research and analysis, usability reviews, user testing, field studies, feedback surveys and collaborative brainstorming sessions with company stakeholders.
  • The deliverables I produce include planning documents, printed pieces, brand assets, visual design templates and style guides for developers, written content for users onscreen and via manuals, plus social media site setup, branding and training on how to communicate.
  • As a consultant, I can help companies define and promote their brand, establish a presence online, build a community and guide developers to create a branded, usable product, ecommerce site or corporate web site.
  • We delivered a lot of custom WordPress sites with advanced features, social media campaigns and helped brands integrate social media into their websites, integrated marketing and processes.

See the work I did at Fresh ID

Feb 2006Sep 2007

User Experience Manager

SigmaFlow Software

As user experience manager for SigmaFlow I was responsible for defining both the corporate and the product line branding and creating brand standards for everything the prospective customer or user sees. I designed and maintained the corporate web site, redesigned existing products, designed a new enterprise web-based application, and developed prototypes for product redesigns and new product ideas. (Responsible for six existing products + new product prototypes.)

Creative Direction and Brand Management

  • Established, refined and maintained unique corporate creative strategy, designed standards and systems including corporate identity, product logos, product packaging, product presentations and product line design. 
  • Established overall objectives of software products and web sites relating to branding and corporate positioning.
  • Defined corporate and product identity standards and monitored software products for adherence.

Visual and User Interface Design

  • Developed product design strategy, including prototypes, information architecture, style guides, interaction design, user interface design and visual design for desktop software and browser-based applications for an integrated product line.
  • Consulted developers on GUI screen design and prototyped screen layouts for them to develop from using a mixture of Visio, Photoshop and HTML. 
  • Created visual design images, icons and HTML templates for products, presentations and marketing collateral and managed printing.  
Apr 2003Feb 2006

Principal

Fresh ID

Following the acquistion of PentaSafe, I launched a consultancy company that provided full-service brand identity development, print design, software product design and usability, marketing, web development and brand management.

As principal of Fresh ID, I managed teams of contractors and worked on dozens of projects, large and small, for a varied client roster. Many of my clients were former PentaSafe product line managers, who also started their own software or manufacturing businesses. For them I provided the same user experience services, plus marketing and branding, that I had provided at PentaSafe.

Jan 2001Apr 2003

User Experience Manager

When I owned Fresh Pages, I became a product design consultant for PentaSafe, hired to bring a consistent look, feel and functionality to disparate web products. They asked me to come on board full-time and establish a new User Experience department within the R&D organization.

I built a usability lab, hired staff and took responsibility for the product design, documentation, usability and packaging for the VigilEnt product line of 35+ products - a cross-platform, integrated security solution designed for large enterprise environments. While there, I performed the following tasks:

Creative Direction and Brand Management

  • Established, refined and maintained unique corporate creative strategy (working closely with Marcom/Product Marketing), designed standards and systems including corporate identity, product logos, product packaging, product presentations and product line design.
  • Established overall objectives of software products and web sites relating to branding and corporate positioning.
  • Defined product naming, product taxonomy, corporate and product identity standards, product line hierarchy and integrated communications.
  • Designed, enhanced and translated the corporate brand identity to develop a complementary product line identity three times in under three years.

Visual and User Interface Design

  • Developed product design strategy, including wireframes, information architecture, style guides, interaction design, interface design and visual design for software and browser-based applications.
  • Concepted early prototypes of multiple enterprise products working within one GUI framework, and defined integration standards, navigation and GUI standards to achieve the seamless experience of using one application.
  • Consulted developers on GUI screen design and prototyped screen layouts for them to develop from using a mixture of Photoshop, Illustrator, Visio and HTML.
  • Created simulated software using Photoshop and HTML for user testing and field validation.
  • Created visual design images, icons and HTML templates for scores of products and projects.

User Experience

  • Wrote test scripts and performed user testing and usability evaluations of software and web sites.
  • Interpreted market requirements and contributed user requirements to product specifications based on feedback from field studies and user testing.
  • Performed market research including competitive analysis, customer surveys and user interviews and customer advisory boards. 
  • Defined user experience processes as well as help define the overall product development and management process used by R&D and Marketing. 
  • Conducted UE design reviews (part of the process) prior to software testing for cosmetic corrections, usability issues and consistency in terminology, GUI design and navigation.
  • Defined Beta processes and provided Beta kit materials and Beta program guidance to product marketing. Co-wrote a Beta testing whitepaper that was published in a security-focused magazine.

Team Management

  • Managed team of UE professionals, including visual designers, web developers, usability engineers, lab coordinators, lab support, technical writers, documentation designers and administrative assistants.
  • Managed long-term and short-term contractors. Performed all personnel-related tasks: MBO’s, quarterly and annual reviews, hiring, firing, salary increases, performance plans, reorganizations and career path guidance.
  • Researched and specified hardware and software configurations for a $90,000.00 usability lab, hired audio-visual firm and managed build-out. Managed lab maintenance and employee training or software and peripheral equipment.  
Apr 1997Jan 2001

Principal

Fresh Pages New Media Solutions

As the founder and creative director for my own business, I did everything from sales to search engine optimization as the company grew. In 2000 we acquired Web Dynamics, a local internet design firm, and although business was increasing steadily, in 2001 I closed to establish the User Experience department at PentaSafe. I performed the following tasks for my clients:

Creative Direction and Brand Management

  • Established unique creative strategy, design standards, processes and systems including corporate identity and implementation of existing brand identity for a diverse client roster.
  • Established overall objectives of web sites and browser-based applications relating to branding and corporate positioning.
  • Hands-on design and production coordination of brand implementation graphics for corporate and intranet sites, product packaging, marketing collateral, advertising, direct mail, trade show graphics, newsletters, brochures, posters, sales kits and more.

User Experience

  • Wrote test scripts and performed user testing and usability evaluations of web sites and browser-based applications.
  • Performed market research including competitive analysis, customer surveys and user interviews.

Web Development

  • Managed web site projects ranging from small, static sites to large, database-driven sites, including project planning, budgeting and management of all aspects of creative and technical production.
  • Developed site strategy, including wireframes, information architecture, style guides, interaction design, user interface design and visual design for web sites and browser-based applications.
  • Created visual design images, icons and HTML templates for hundreds of web projects, including many redesigns of existing sites.
  • Developed content for web sites, including conducting research, copywriting and reformatting existing sales and marketing collateral for the web.

Team Management

  • Defined and managed multiple web projects concurrently, from pre-sales presentations through strategy, development and testing, including art directing icon illustrators, visual designers, writers, programmers, marketing and public relations staff or contractors.
  • Drafted project plans and proposals and managed site budgets. Oversaw financial administration efforts such as bookkeeping, invoicing and collections. Mentored staff and contractors.
Mar 1993Apr 1997

Principal

Omni Aesthetics

Designed brochures, business cards, company identities, booklets, manuals, invitations, flyers, audio/video covers, and newsletters. During this time I began experimenting with web design and created two commercial sites for myself: Babyville, a parenting site, and Good Karma Café, a vegetarian cooking site. Good Karma Café was a popular destination for vegetarians until 1999, when I took the site offline to focus on my web design business.

Sep 1991Apr 1993

Director of Marketing & Merchandising

Whole Foods Market (Wilcrest)

Managed artists and computer assistants. Managed marketing and charity budgets for store. Developed unique signage systems for the store. Designed numerous pieces of marketing literature. Ordered merchandising props and was responsible for marketing budget. Executed projects designed to increase sales, and contributed to record revenue increases in the first year (for a new store in the chain.) Won a mandatory company wide contest called CMG (Cleanliness and Merchandising) for five quarters. Ran Christmas Gift Basket area, including design of baskets, supplies purchasing, staffing and sales.

Sep 1990Sep 1991

Catering Director

Worked with customers to design special events and then managed staff and experience throughout the event. Planned and hosted many types of affairs, from wedding celebrations to business meetings, working with chefs, store managers and outside vendors such as florists to ensure the customer would be satisfied and enjoy a worry-free event.

Oct 1987Sep 1990

Visual Merchandiser

JC Penney Company

Created visual merchandising and window displays throughout the store. Executed various company promotions. Team leader for other part-time and full-time visual merchandisers. My visual merchandising experience has contributed to my understanding of brand continuity and ecommerce sales.

How I Work

What Kristi Does...

Skills

Experience Architect
Organizing content, defining taxonomy and standard visuals, labels & interaction components, determining intuitive flow and instructing developers on the execution of the design is all part of the design and planning phase of a site or software product. This role is often referred to as an Information Architect - I refer to myself as an Experience Architect because I have usually also provided the creative direction and am concerned about the comprehensive experience, from pre-sale/visit to customer maintenance.
Social Media
Creating an online presence with blogs, community forums and using social media outlets like Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, etc. is something I have often done to help organizations looking to get more involved with customers and prospects online. There are many "fine arts" to doing this effectively, from the way to approach corporate blogging, to using a tool like Twitter for customer support and I can help clients or an employer use these tools in a way that benefits themselves and their users or prospects. I also have a lot of experience creating contests and campaigns online that have social integration hooks and components, as well as designing my own Twitter client and working on two Twitter analytics applications.
Usability Analysis & Testing
Competitive research and analysis, usability & design reviews, user testing, field studies, feedback surveys and an intuitive understanding of how non-expert users are going to react are skills I apply to make sites and software more pleasant and easier to use and comprehend.
Visual Design
I use Photoshop & Illustrator primarily to design print collateral and prototypes of products, sites, packaging and tradeshow displays. I am not an Illustrator but heavy manipulator of images and hire illustrators as needed or purchase artwork to achieve my aims.

Education

Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TexasHouston Community College, Houston, Texas

I attended college for basic and graphic design courses but did not seek a degree. I am a natural researcher and primarily self-taught.

Working with Kristi

I've worked with Kristi on several projects over the years. When I launched a new startup two years ago, I immediately brought Kristi on board to help with every aspect of the UI design and product branding; she was an integral member of the team. Everyone who sees the product remarks at how good the UI looks and how straightforward it is to navigate. When we were acquired last spring a significant contributor to our valuation was the quality of the UI and its ease of use. After the acquisition we had to rebrand the UI to be in line with the new company. Once again Kristi came to the rescue by helping us retool the UI for a consistent look and feel. Overall Kristi has been an invaluable resource. Her insight into how graphic design and navigation affect product perception is truly exceptional.

Dave Trahan

Braintree Technologies

There are many UI Experts in my list I worked with during my career but Kristi is on the top of my list. She is not only an expert of User Experience and User-Centered Designs but she is also an Architect of blending Context, Content and User Experience. I always admired her work.

Adil Soni

SigmaFlow

Kristi's design work is top notch. She works well with software engineers, able to translate vague product specs and delivers stunning, award winning product GUIs in time for market deployment. She redesigned the PentaSafe product line front end, enabling it to be effectively used by the customer base.

Albert Gorup

PentaSafe

For more testimonials visit my Linked In Profile and see Fresh ID client reviews

About Me

After serving clients around the world as the founder of Fresh ID, a creative services agency, I have recently closed that business and launched Mass Passion, where I am seeking clients or employment in the sports industry. I provide consulting and visual design for sites and apps as well as user experience assessment and social media expertise.

I have created business communications since 1993 for software organizations, retail and start-up companies. From a foundation in print design and retail visual merchandising, I added web site design, user interface design (gui design + information architecture + branding + usability), usability analysis and testing to my creative skill set. In 2008 I began working in the social media marketing space and have some expertise in social integration, content aggregation and crafting a digital presence.

I use a mix of strategy, creativity and technical experience, and solve complex design problems for web applications, ecommerce & content-rich sites and communities. I prefer light, clean and engaging interface design, helpful user aids that are context-sensitive and easy to find, documentation that's easy to comprehend and strong brand identity that ties the experience together, online, offline and in person.

I especially love working with teams and their fans and technology in the sports space. I am an avid fan of Kansas City Chiefs and Sporting Kansas City, and have done work for both organizations. I am a passionate promoter of MLS and founder of a unique community for women who love soccer called Women United FC.

Work Interests

Social media networking platforms and communities, and especially integration with existing sites and platforms is a passion. I see great functional uses that companies aren't taking advantage of yet, especially with Twitter, and would like to help them get the most of out what is freely available online.

Mobile application design is something I need to do more of. I've done a little.

Integrating retail store or stadium/venue experiences & digital customer experiences is something I would really enjoy. As someone who has helped with dozens of hybrid virtual events, I would particularly be interested in usability field studies in the physical environment, as well as improving digital/shopping experiences for ecommerce customers of an established or brand new retailer. I have a history as a visual merchandiser and would relish anything that combines what I do now with merchandising for the public.

Wanting more work specifically in the sports industry is why I closed Fresh ID. I love working for teams on fan initiatives and can help with promotion, packaging, identity, digital presence and site design, ecommerce/transaction design and design/formation of membership communities as well as field studies of the fan experience.

Professional Associations

Webgrrls International, Houston Webgrrls Chapter Founder

Certified Usability Analyst, Human Factors International

Usability Professionals Association member, Houston Chapter

Digital Eve, Houston Chapter Co-Founder

Created withVisualCV