Ashley Ray

About

With a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Capella University, I have a robust educational background complemented by a UI/UX Design certification from Springboard. My professional journey began as a Project Coordinator at Strategic Education, Inc., where I collaborated with various teams to enhance course material quality. I then advanced to Process Improvement Lead, spearheading projects to optimize user flows and information architecture. Recently, I served as a Product Designer at Hangtight, conducting usability testing and delivering new user flows and prototypes. Additionally, I have experience as an Assistant Event Planner at The Simply Elegant Group. My expertise spans user research, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing, all aimed at improving customer experiences and operational efficiency.

Experience

• Process Improvement Lead (Course Materials) · Strategic Education, Inc03-01-2016

  Served as the SME (Subject Matter Expert) for all Course Materials projects at this $1B+ public company. Initiated and led several projects focused on improving internal user flows and information architecture to more consistently prevent a poor customer experience. Organized and led cross-functional trainings, facilitated change management, rolled out new processes and systems in an agile development environment, and served as the Course Materials team's main liaison with internal Course Designers and external vendors. Course materials team lead on transition from waterfall to agile course development in order to more efficiently create and revise courses. Led rollout of new resource request process for instructional design team to consolidate multiple work flows into one centralized and streamlined flow.

• Project Coordinator · Strategic Education, Inc03-01-2015 – 03-01-2016

  Partnered with instructional course designers, the interactive design team, developmental editors, and other contributors as assigned on course material adoptions to provide customers with quality content in a seamless manner. Conducted quality assurance evaluations of course material orders against the courseroom to ensure a positive customer experience. Solicited feedback from relevant stakeholders to improve user flows.

• Product Designer · Hangtight02-01-2023 – 10-01-2023

  Completed heuristic evaluation and competitive analysis to optimize usability. Conducted moderated usability testing of application to identify common pains and needs. Delivered new user flows and interactive prototype based on usability testing results.

• UI/UX Design Student · Springboard03-01-2022 – 04-01-2023

  Intensive course in UI/UX methodologies and technologies. 700+ hours of hands-on course work with 1:1 expert mentor oversight and completion of 4 in-depth portfolio projects. Mastered skills in user research, information architecture, sketching, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing as part of a framework focused on the discovery, design, and evaluation phases of user-centered design.

• Assistant Event Planner · The Simply Elegant Group11-01-2017 – 08-01-2020

  Part-time event planner on nights and weekends.

Education

• University of MinnesotaBachelor's Degree, Communication Studies
• Capella UniversityMasters of Business Administration
• SpringboardUI/UX Design Career Track, Certification

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