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Bio


Hello

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Bio


Hello

 

Creating experiences is MY life.

On a rainy day years back, I sat on my less than comfy Ikea couch watching the 1957 movie classic, Funny Face. I adored Hepburn for her wit, elegance, and iconic fashion, but on this day, her words made me press pause to pen a quote, “Sympathy is to understand what someone feels. Empathy is to project your imagination so you actually feel what the other person is feeling. You put yourself in the other person’s place.” Only a year into my UX career, this quote stuck with me as a simple articulation of what the UX practice is. 

These days, I open my moleskin notebook and am greeted by this same quote, reminded of what makes my job so special. 

In the field of UX, research is fundamental to thoroughly understanding our audiences–how they think, feel, or what they do. It brings us facts, facts that we use alongside imagination to create experiences that answer user frustrations, help with unique situational needs, or offer interactions that spawn unexpected delight. However, truly exceptional experiences are built with an underpinning of empathy. Being hyper-aware of specific moments and emotions–consciously feeling what a user does–manifests a special enthusiasm in me to create a positive, and compassionate, path forward for users. Without empathy at the heart of what we build, it’s just an unmemorable interaction.

For me, UX is not just a career. It's a mindset that challenges me to find links between myself and others, to explore new ways to simplify the complex, to bridge gaps, to add delight to the dull, and to push the boundaries on what others think is impossible. I will forever strive to embody the emotions of the other side in order to create a lasting impression–whether it be at my kitchen table or on your e-commerce site. It’s MY way of life.

I've helped solve complicated design challenges at a broad range of companies including a national government agency, a boutique design firm, a service design mobile start-up, multiple global ad agencies, and a business intelligence firm. And, I'd love to tackle your challenges too. Let's work together.

Stay humble & hungry // Christine
 


I cannot recommend Christine enough for any team looking to identify and solve tough design challenges, chart a path forward despite ambiguity and bring cross functional partners along for the ride. Our team has learned and benefitted tremendously from Christine during her time at Northwestern Mutual.
— Sasha Tsimbler, Sr. Director of UX at Northwestern Mutual
I have rarely seen a client trust someone as they trusted Christine. She wasn’t just a vendor helping with their UX needs–they viewed her as a trusted partner, and in some cases as a friend, who truly understood the ins and outs of their company.
— Alan Finch, Design Director at Frog
Despite project hurdles and curveballs, Christine was always able to not only deliver on anything that was asked of her, but did so in quick turnarounds, ON TOP OF her weekly tasks she’d set for herself.
— Nicole Samartino, Product Design Producer at Apple
Christine has the compassion, confidence, effective leadership skills, technical expertise, and finesse with clients that make her an asset to every team she joins.
— Joey Unnold, Experience Manager at Monstarlab Americas
Christine always came prepared to create excellent user experiences, to push boundaries when possible, and to exceed client expectations.
— Lauren DeGeorge, EVP, Head of Client Services at Publicis
Her empathy for the user, meticulous organization, and of course great design work, resulted in a superior product for the project.
— Pradyut Pokuri, Lead Software Engineer at Bloomberg
She’s able to empathize with the user and create experiences that are both effortless and gratifying to use.
— Chaitanya Reddy Teegela, Senior Product Manager
She’s killer in front of a client and knows how to communicate confidently and succinctly to an audience. On top of that, she’s proven time and time again that a deck of wireframes can be an art form.
— Paul Chambers, Creative Director at MRY
Christine is knowledgeable, super organized, and cares deeply about every project she works on. She values dedication and expertise in herself as well as others.
— Sergey Kiperberg, IT Consultant at The Finkelshteyn Group
Christine is hands down the most passionate designer I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
— Mayank Arora, Sr. Technical Program Manager at Alo Yoga
 
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