Dawna Kelley
Designer and strategist
UX, product, and learning experience design.
EXPERIENECE
7+ Years
FOCUS
UX | Product | Research | Learning Experience
BASED
US | Remote
WHAT I DO
Design, strategy, learning & research
01 UX & Product Design
Research, wireframes, prototypes, design systems, and working end-to-end across teams to ship work.
02 Product Strategy
Scoping, prioritization, and shaping product roadmaps.
03 Learning Experience Design
Three years at WGU Labs designing courses, modules, and learning paths for adult students.
04 Research & Facilitation
User interviews, usability testing, workshops, and cross-functional facilitation.
SELECTED PROJECTS
What I’ve been working on
Shipping the StreetSmart MVP
Leading Product & UX on a municipal urban-livability platform: driving prototyping, research analysis, and the core user-input flow to ship the MVP on deadline.
PRODUCT DESIGN + STRATEGY
UX RESEARCH + STRATEGY
Steering away from a costly redesign
Leading a rapid research sprint that surfaced the real friction in a DevOps platform and redirecting an executive-led redesign into a targeted roadmap.
Building a leadership on-ramp
Designing an high-school course that draws underrepresented students toward healthcare leadership and feeds them into BHLI's existing college programs.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE + LEADERSHIP
HOW I WORK
A few habits I bring to every project.
01
Translator across disciplines
I've worked closely with engineers, business stakeholders, designers, and behavioral scientists. Translating between their priorities and constraints is a regular part of my role.
02
Design with, not for
I prioritize early and frequent user research. The strongest projects I've worked on were the ones where we kept listening throughout the work.
03
Systems before screens
Before I start designing, I want to understand how the broader system works: who touches what, what data flows where, and where the real constraints are.
04
Work seriously, but be ourselves
The teams I've loved working with cared about the work without losing what makes a team good to be on. That's what I'm looking for next.
THE THREAD
It always comes back to people.
I am a UX designer and strategist who focuses on tech for social and environmental good. I came to tech the long way, through a background in landscape architecture. That experience shaped how I think about design, and today it translates into a fascination with how people interact with systems, environments, and the world around them.
My work spans multiple disciplines because I am the teammate who jumps into whatever a project needs. If a client needs a 16-week curriculum tested with teenagers, I will run the user testing. If a team needs a product roadmap based on complex technical workflows, I will learn the system and map the path forward.
I focus on getting close to the people using the product, understanding what they need, and building things that work.
Let's make something good.
I'm looking to work with mission-driven teams. Climate, sustainable travel, and education are areas I care about most, but I'm open. If this seems like a good fit, please reach out.
(385) 307-9786