My Career Began
with a foundation in Fine Art, where I studied Fine Art: Drawing and Digital Design and developed a deep appreciation for visual communication, composition, and the way people interact with information. I began my professional career as a Graphic Designer and Art Director, eventually growing into Senior Digital Design roles where I worked across branding, digital experiences, and complex business needs. As the digital landscape evolved, so did my interests. I became increasingly passionate about understanding not just how something looked, but how people interacted with it, what frustrated them, and how design could make their experience easier. That curiosity led me to begin helping smaller companies improve their websites and digital products, combining my strong visual design background with emerging UX principles. Over time, that work naturally evolved into a career in UX/UI and Product Design.
My Evolution
has given me the opportunity to work across a diverse range of complex environments and products, including experiences for the U.S. Army, UPS, Kroger, healthcare, insurance, and B2B enterprise organizations.
With more than 12 years of experience in UX and Product Design, I have led end-to-end design for web, mobile, SaaS, operational, and enterprise applications—from discovery and research through user flows, information architecture, wireframes, prototypes, high-fidelity UI, design systems, and implementation.
Working on products used in mission-critical and highly operational environments has taught me how to simplify complexity without losing the information users need to make important decisions. My background in visual design remains an important part of that process, allowing me to bring together usability, visual hierarchy, interaction design, and scalable design systems to create experiences that are both intuitive and purposeful.
Today
Today, what I enjoy most is walking into complex or ambiguous environments and helping teams understand where the real problem is before jumping into a solution. With a background and certifications in both UX Research and Design, I am comfortable conducting research, identifying user pain points, challenging assumptions, and translating findings into actionable product strategy and design. I work closely with Product Managers, Engineers, stakeholders, and users to help define problems, shape scope, explore solutions, and ultimately create experiences centered around real user needs and business goals. I see my role as more than simply designing screens—I help teams connect the dots between people, problems, strategy, and product. My ability to combine research, strategy, visual design, systems thinking, and collaboration has allowed me to successfully navigate ambiguity, influence product direction, and build thoughtful solutions alongside great people.
To learn more about my background and skill sets, contact me directly here: asmith@smithdezign.com.