As a "child of the internet", Missy began exploring Photoshop in 2003 as a means to understand the online world. She then went on to graduate from Mississippi State University in 2013 with a B.F.A. degree in graphic design. The world has evolved since the days of ICQ, and Missy is no stranger to making sense out of chaos, having done so at IBM Cloud for 6 years and at RapidDeploy. She has been known to enjoy dabbling in all manners of creativity including photography, cosplaying, and cooking up a storm.
Discover and Understand as-is scenarios and assumptions 🕵🏻
Research and Analyze relationships and problems 🧐
Brainstorm and Ideate ideas, MVPs, and big sky concepts 💡
Connect and Collaborate on prioritization and feasibility 🤝
Test and Iterate by listening, reflecting, and refining 🧪
Handoff and QA by syncing with dev and submitting design bugs 👾
Launch and Celebrate! Be sure to rest and rejuvenate! 🎉
Repeat and Elevate after observing product performance and feedback 🔁
+ Loves investigating available user feedback, supporting research efforts, and exploring quantitative data to understand current situations and desired business goals in order to inform future product strategies
+ Enjoys the benefits of a structured, intention-defined meeting (complete with notes and next steps for follow up). Got feedback? Will document for iterative consideration into the design concepts
+ Believes in the pay-it-forward energy by coaching and mentoring others (having helped establish 20+ friends from Mississippi to Austin and also, guided dozens of product designers through Pathrise's program)
+ Have access to boundless stories from the wonders of being "that person" that strangers love to chat to (yay for active listening!)
+ Flexible to remote-first, remote-flex, or on-site to north Austin locations
+ Will add some weirdness (and a huge heart) to your team :)
Her simple business philosophy: Do right by people. ✨
I really enjoy the thoughtfulness with which you approach design challenges and your willingness to put unfinished and unpolished content in front of other RD teams and customers alike. You bring a lot of warmth to our team, and I appreciate the kindness you show others on our team, at RD, and beyond.
Lucas
Having you on the Team has provided us with so many opportunities to sense check how we're approaching the implementation, allow us to course correct and drive up quality.
Craig
I was blown away by how impressive she was with such a great positive energy every meeting. (after tearful hundreds of rejections, she knew that sometimes just a few words of warm encouragements really hits the spot) I wouldn't have landed my current role without her words and supports.
Clara
You can find me coaching other designers through the interview process at Pathrise so that they can also snag their dream roles and projects! 🌟
Led and executed efforts to transform legacy systems on RapidDeploy’s cloud native application for 911 call takers, dispatchers, and first responders
Supported IBM Cloud's acquisition of infrastructure company SoftLayer, redesigning the billing and accounts experience alongside support and docs.
Guide members to achieve their personal goals of bettering communicative skills.
Promoted and sold Gunnar's blue-light lenses at RTX Event 2019 in Austin
Hyped and encouraged PAX South 2017 attendees to try an exclusive pre-launch demo of Rime
Welcomed guests to Curse's E3 2016 Afterparty in Los Angeles
Assisted with the production setup and breakdown of Dreamhack 2016, a 3-day weekend expo in ATX
Ushered SXSW 2016 Gaming guests to participate in giveaways, feedback surveys, a photo booth, and video game tournaments
Oversaw the excellence of the housing experience for 26 floor residents. Organized program events to promote diversity, awareness, action, and positivity
Organized meetings to discuss current showings and present topics of anime culture. Arranged group trips up to 45 individuals to conventions
Self-taught visual design principles by taking on multiple design requests including forum signatures, websites, and event posters
Born and raised in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in a town mired by a longstanding history of fear-based culture and history, I grew up feeling trapped and powerless as a perceived "outsider." In addition to Asian Americans only making up less than 1% of the 35,000 residents, have you heard an Asian person with a deep Southern drawl? No matter where I went, I felt out of place.
However, my curiosity beckoned me to persist and hold onto hope. After connecting with family in the Philippines, I wanted to understand and appreciate the world's expansive variety of expressive cultures. Even though I was locked away from the world, books and available access to the internet enabled me to explore people's stories.
Inspired by MacGyver's scrappy improvisation and Professor Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture, I exercised design fundamentals through research, experimenting, failing, observing, and adjusting for the next exploration. Not only did I advance my proficiency in HTML/CSS, but I also learned community moderation and remote collaboration with hundreds of people over the course of 5 years throughout my middle/high school years (thanks, Neopets!).
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- People-ing is hard. Always iterate on the ability to communicate—and listen. More possibilities may arise.
- Like user controls, aim for people to have options to grow and evolve, not feel stuck and lost.
- Design proactive experiences for people to weather through the toughest times together.
- A simple question that has great ROI: How can we make [x] better?
- Anticipation and preparation of user needs is being a good host.
- Self-perceived differences can be strengths on the right team.
- Sometimes, going back to foundations is moving forward.
- Trust is transparent. The lack of it is opaque.
