Elizabeth Marks

Professional Experience

ZenBusiness Inc.

December 2020 - Current

Overview
- Driving both qualitative and quantitative research projects for the entire Product Team at ZenBusiness. Collecting and analyzing data and effectively sharing findings appropriately scaled for a variety of organizational levels.
Skills being practiced:
- Practicing top-notch communication skills. Constantly in communication with product teams and research participants to answer research questions.
- Empathizing and redefining what empathy looks and feels like everyday. Working to understand user’s expectations, frustrations, goals, and reasoning process can helps me develop solutions to real user needs.
- Participating in every stage of the design thinking process - empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test - offering opportunities to learn more about our target users.
- Choosing appropriate methodologies to accomplish research goals.
- Presenting research in a clear and articulate way.
- Documenting a research repository to preserve research for future reference.
- BONUS: Also functioning as Design Operating Support when needed.
Tools used
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Google Suite, Jira, Confluence, Calendly, UserTesting.com, Figma, Optimal Workshop, iMovie, Draw.io.

Hub for Innovation and Learning Technology

March 2018 - May 2020

Overview:
- Worked on a web-based platform called #iTeachMSU that’s goal was to help facilitated networking and research exchange throughout the University
Skills practiced:
- Planning, leading, and synthesizing research sessions using qualitative and quantitative methods
- Developed and proposed best practices for website usability, interaction, information architecture, visual design, and content
- Proposed actionable insights based on research for various teams (software development team, content creation team, stakeholders, etc.) through reports and presentations
- Developed and analyzed high and low fidelity mockups
Tools used:
- Invision, Draw.io, Sketch, Microsoft Office – (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Asana, Slack, WCAG 2.0, Qualtrics, Hotjar, Google Products – (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Survey), Pencil and Paper

Mondora - Milan, Italy

March 2019 - June 2019

Overview:
- 5-month internship based in Milan, Italy with Mondora, a User Experience Design Firm
Skills practiced:
- Gained understanding of Italian user experience culture and practices
- Offered unique American perspective to broaden teams understanding of expanding marketplace
- Reviewed Italian-to-English translation on documents for international clientele
Tools used:
- Slack, Google Products – (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Survey)

Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters

April 2018 - December 2018

Overview:
- Humanities Without Walls granted researchers at Michigan State University and Ohio State University for the Building Healthcare Collectives (BHC) project. BHC project aimed to create an infrastructure for healthcare professionals, humanities researchers, community partners, and activists to work together to solve key problems facing the U.S. healthcare system.

Skills practiced:
- Strategized content and design of website
- Monitored social media for news trends and promoted research grant via social media
- Developed grant wide communication plans
- Internal and external research on Michigan State University’s approach to the collaboration of humanities and healthcare
Tools used:
- Twitter, Zoom, Google Products – (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Survey)

Michigan State University Information Technology

November 2017 - May 2018

Overview:
- Remediated coursework to be accessible for student accommodations and taught the importance of accessibility to faculty at Michigan State University.

Skills practiced:
- Developed work plans for creating accessible courses
- Strategized and problem-solved solutions to accessibility violations within course content, while keeping the integrity of the professor’s original course goals
- Collaborated with team members throughout IT services on solutions, goals, and improvements for moving the university’s accessibility forward for the future
Tools used:
- NVDA, Color Contrast Analyzer, JAWs, Kaltura Media Space

Design for American and User Experience Club

August 2017 - May 2020

Overview:
- Design for America is a national network of college student that tackle social challenges within the local community using human-centered design (HCD).
- User Experience Club is a club of XA (Experience Architecture or UX) students who want to take their learning outside of classrooms in forms of seminars, workshops, and speakers.
Skills Practiced:
- Redesigned internal organization structure to ensure sustainability and student retention
- Taught human centered design and how to practice it for executive social good within a local community
- Facilitated innovation workshops with junior designers on envisioning exercises grounded in research insights
- Organized meet ups with professionals in the UX industry for students to make connections
- Responsible for all external communication and community outreach

Front End Development: HTML, CSS, Sketch, Invision, Draw.io, Lucid Chart, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office – (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Axure, Optimal Workshop, Asana
Back End Development: Python, JavaScript, JSON
Accessibility: WCAG 2.0
Research: Qualtrics, Google Analytics, Hotjar