Ux/Ui functional lead

My Role

Within a year of joining Silicon Mountain Technologies, I was promoted to UX/UI Functional Lead, becoming the senior UX/UI professional within the company. In this role, I was responsible for mentoring, training, and leading a team of UX Designers across multiple government contracts. My focus was on fostering a strong UX/UI practice within the company, equipping designers with the skills and resources to excel in their roles.

Homepage

Example training page

Building the UX/UI Toolkit

To ensure consistency and efficiency in our UX/UI processes, I developed a comprehensive UX/UI Toolkit—a structured knowledge base designed to document best practices, workflows, and training materials, built in Confluence.

I conducted training sessions three times a week, covering every phase of the UX/UI process, from initial research to final launch. This Toolkit, created in Confluence, became a go-to resource for both existing and new employees, providing detailed guidance on design methodologies, tools, and industry best practices.

Toolkit Highlights

📌 Centralized resource for UX/UI methodologies
📌 Step-by-step guidance on research, design, and implementation
📌 Continuous updates based on industry trends and team needs

Every section within the Toolkit included:
Templates – Ready-to-use frameworks for UX deliverables
🎥 Videos – Recorded walkthroughs of key UX/UI processes
📖 How-To Guides – Step-by-step documentation for tools and methods
🧑‍🏫 In-Person Training – Interactive sessions to reinforce learning

Mentorship & Leadership

One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is mentoring my team members on both their projects and career development. Since each designer works on different contracts, I maintain regular one-on-one meetings to offer guidance, troubleshoot challenges, and ensure they have the resources they need to succeed.

This mentorship program has led to increased confidence, stronger design skills, and greater collaboration among team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning.

UX/UI Design Challenges

Since many of our designers work within government contracts, their projects often come with strict constraints and limited design flexibility. To keep our creative skills sharp, I introduced UX/UI Design Challenges as part of our training sessions. These challenges encourage designers to step outside their usual project work and experiment with new ideas, tools, and techniques.

Design Challenges We've Tackled

🎨 Brand Identity – Developing a visual identity for a product or service
📊 Competitive Analysis – Researching industry trends and competitors
👤 Personas – Creating detailed user personas for target audiences
🔍 Iconography – Designing custom icon sets
📱 Mockups & Prototyping – Translating wireframes into polished designs
🌓 Dark Mode Design – Adapting interfaces for a dark mode experience
🤖 AI Design – Experimenting with AI-driven design tools

Tools & Technologies

As part of our ongoing learning, I introduced and trained the team on various industry-leading design tools, ensuring they could work efficiently across different projects.

🛠 Design & Prototyping: Figma, Adobe XD, Illustrator
🤖 AI & Automation: ChatGPT, Midjourney, Recraft
🎨 Inspiration & Ideation: Pinterest

Projects I’ve Led to Success

As the UX/UI Functional Lead, I have guided my team through a variety of complex and high-impact projects, ensuring that our designs are not only user-centric but also aligned with mission-critical objectives. From large-scale design systems to AI/ML tool development, my leadership has helped drive innovation and usability in high-security environments.

Large-Scale Design Systems for NGA

Developing a comprehensive design system for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) required a deep understanding of both usability and scalability. I led my team in:

  • Standardizing UI components to create consistency across multiple applications

  • Ensuring accessibility and compliance with government regulations

  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to integrate the design system into mission-critical tools

  • Implementing a scalable design library that improved efficiency across development teams

This project resulted in a more cohesive and efficient workflow, reducing design inconsistencies and accelerating development timelines.

Weather Simulation & AI/ML Tool Development

We worked on an advanced weather simulation tool that leveraged AI and machine learning to provide real-time forecasting and analysis. My leadership in this project involved:

  • Conducting user research to understand analyst needs and workflows

  • Designing intuitive data visualizations for complex meteorological data

  • Optimizing the UI for AI-driven insights, making information digestible for decision-makers

  • Iterating based on feedback from subject matter experts

Our work ensured that end-users could effectively interact with AI-generated insights, improving decision-making accuracy in critical operations.

Website Development & Digital Transformation

As part of our modernization efforts, I led a team in revamping multiple websites to improve usability, branding, and functionality. This involved:

  • Conducting competitive and user research to align designs with industry best practices

  • Redesigning information architecture to enhance navigation and accessibility

  • Developing responsive UI frameworks for seamless multi-device experiences

  • Collaborating with developers to ensure smooth implementation

These efforts significantly improved user engagement, reduced friction in customer interactions, and strengthened brand identity.

Managing in a Classified Space

Working in a classified environment presents unique challenges in UX/UI design, requiring careful consideration of security, accessibility, and compliance. My approach to managing design teams in these spaces included:

  • Establishing secure design workflows that adhere to classified environment protocols

  • Training designers on best practices for working in high-security settings

  • Ensuring usability within strict regulatory constraints, balancing security with functionality

  • Advocating for user needs despite limitations on data access and testing

Navigating these constraints, my team successfully delivered intuitive and efficient interfaces while maintaining strict compliance with security requirements.

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