Nicole Davis

hello@nicoledavis.co
Dallas, Texas

Professional Summary

UX Director with 14+ years of experience in digital design, specializing in translating creative vision into impactful solutions. Proven expertise in transformational strategy, leading design teams, and consistently meeting and exceeding OKRs, stakeholder expectations and project deadlines.

Associate
Design Director

Credera Consulting
November 2022 - Current

Responsible for leading teams to create first-in-class consumer websites, web & mobile applications, eCommerce solutions, customer portals and branding across multiple industry categories that include Fortune 100 companies.

  • Responsible for leading teams to create first-in-class consumer websites, web & mobile applications, eCommerce solutions, customer portals and branding across multiple industry categories that include Fortune 100 companies.

  • Leads teams and steward clients toward more strategic design solutions

  • Sets the vision and design direction and thoughtfully and purposefully solve problems for people, backed by research and user-understanding

  • Mentors junior designers as they take the design vision forward producing additional mockups, flows, prototypes, and hi-fidelity assets.

  • Participates in project discovery activities with our XD Insights & Strategy team members (building a story, doing competitive research, creating user personas, helping to define overall strategy and vision, etc.)

  • Collaborates with Credera management consulting and technology leads to deliver comprehensive client solutions that serve real business needs, are technically sound, and deliver an amazing customer experience

    Notable Client: Mercedes-Benz
    (agency of record)

Design Lead

Rightpoint Consulting
December 2018 – October 2022

Sr. Art Director

Responsible for the conceptualization, leadership, and execution of digitally comprehensive experiences for over 10 globally recognized clients. Inspire and engage cross-functional teams and drive the design concept from ideation through build.

  • Work alongside designers to concept and oversee the production of bold, innovative, award-winning experiences for our nationally recognized clients.

  • Motivate designers to execute work that is creatively brilliant, strategically on point, and seamlessly executed, on time and on budget.

  • Manage the creative process by reviewing and enhancing every step of the way.

  • Engage with strategy and analytics teams to ensure creative work is in line with strategic goals and on message for the audience.

  • Effectively pitch creative work to clients and stakeholders.

  • Provide leadership/motivation and convey the vision and values of Rightpoint and lead by example.

  • Continually research marketing trends, strategies, and new technologies to provide exceptional and current client deliverables.

Notable Clients: Toyota, Southwest Airlines, Cadillac, Clorox, Yamaha

Rightpoint Consulting
October 2017 – December 2018

Responsible for the execution, presentation, and on-time delivery of high-quality experiential design. Focused on timelines, design planning, and the day-to-day operations of the project.

  • Managed client relationships and expectations for creative projects with varying budgets and objectives.

  • Anticipated design issues and proved to be proactive in developing effective solutions.

  • Fostered a highly communicative, collaborative team culture.

  • Contributed to the creative process through original ideas and inspiration.

  • Met aesthetic and technical criteria to complement design usability and enhance functionality.

  • Presented concepts during internal and client reviews.

  • Created and enforced uniform style guides for project consistency across contributors.

Notable Clients: American Airlines, General Motors, Mitel, Greyhound

Digital Design Manager

Santander Consumer USA
August 2016 – October 2017

Managed design matters within the team, helping to ensure that the multi-disciplinary contributors designing for the experience are inspired to think out-of-the-box, work together smoothly and that everything is delivered on time and within budget.

  • Spearheaded design process to align with broader brand initiatives.

  • Partnered with senior leaders to drive change by evaluating methodologies and tools

  • Produced designs that met statutory and regulatory approvals

  • Researched and implemented design trends, technology, and processes across the group.

Project Highlights: Carvana.com, Maserati Design

UX Designer II

Santander Consumer USA
June 2014 - August 2016

Defined interaction models, user task flows, and UI specifications and designed the best user experience from those findings. Worked with the creative director to incorporate the visual identity of Santander Consumer's products into features before presenting it to stakeholders for sign-off and worked closely with members of the Development team to ensure prototype to production integrity. User satisfaction was improved by over 50% after our redesign efforts.

  • Presented UX designs and solutions to senior staff, evangelizing for user-centric design decisions.

  • Applied both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to continuously improve end-user experiences.

  • Managed cohesive design quality across projects, adhering to prescribed themes and functional choices.

  • Collaborated with the Creative Director to create a holistic UX vision and strategy.

Project Highlights: chryslercapital.com , Santanderconsumerusa.com

Media Director

Symphonic Source, Inc.
May 2012 - June 2014

Directed a wide range of marketing efforts for the company's suite of products, including identity, site design, SEO, social /email strategy and design, media, and PR materials for both print and web.

  • Envisioned, designed, and launched revamped website to better convey the company brand.

  • Increased brand awareness through the creation of innovative print and digital productions for major publications.

  • Built and maintained positive business relationships with clients while advocating for the company.

  • Developed advertising tactics and implemented new solutions for increased brand awareness.

Project Highlights: cloudingo.com site design and marketing materials

Education

Degree: Bachelors of Fine Art
College: The University of Texas at Dallas
Concentration: Design and Visual Communications, Studio Arts
Accolades: Summa Cum Laude Graduate, Arts & Humanities Dean's Advisory Board

Degree: Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences
Collage: Eastfield College
Concentration: Digital Design, Advertising, Marketing

Publications

Media: Time Magazine
Article: The Generation Y Hotel

As a commissioned artist for NYLO hotels, my paintings were featured in Time Magazine. 

Certifications

• Accessibility and WCAG 2.0 UX
• Sustainable + Accessible Design, Parsons School of Design, The New School

Skills

  • UX Direction & Leadership

  • Transformational Strategy

  • Effective Communication

  • Toolkit
    - Figma
    - Jira
    - Sketch/Invision
    - Adobe Suite
    - Miro
    - HTML/CSS

Recommendation

“Nicole is a designer you want in your corner. Proactive, detail-oriented, well-rounded, insightful—oh, and super talented (obviously). Skilled at every step of the design process from research to execution, Nicole is the kind of Swiss Army Knife that's a major asset to any team. I had the pleasure of managing Nicole in her role as Design Lead at Rightpoint, and she always impressed me by excelling not just at the skills needed for her job description, but with all the things that are easy to overlook and hard to achieve: her enthusiasm for her work, her empathy for her teammates, and her passion for her clients. And crucially to any agile team, Nicole can adapt to any tricky situation with grace and pivot at a moment's notice—another incredibly valuable but often under-appreciated skill. I'd confidently recommend Nicole for any design role and know that she'd knock it out of the park.” - Amy Rumbarger

Director, UX

TIAA
November 2022 - July 2023

Spearheads the digital transformation of TIAA’s B2B recordkeeping products by applying Design Thinking methodologies. Directs User Experience strategy for the Onboarding line of business, managing a diverse, multi-disciplinary UX team to deliver client-centered solutions.

  • Leads a team of designers that partner with research, content strategy, data science, legal and compliance, product management and engineering teams to establish modern best practices for end-to-end experience design and delivery.

  • Big picture, considerate thinker who understands business objectives, weaving viability, desirability and viability into design decisions.

  • Drives the experience with an outcome focus, actively scanning the end-to-end experience for new approaches, blending different ideas to challenge the teams with creative, yet effective solutions.

  • Builds trust-based relationships across boundaries and encourages collaboration. Shows up authentically and adapts my own style to communicate impactfully.

  • Leads as an accountable achiever, raising the bar for performance, while taking accountability for my actions.