Adventure. Ambition. Authenticity. Adaptability. And always, always love and kindness.

I am passionate about empowering and liberating people by listening to their stories and designing experiences that help them rise above barriers. In my 9 years of experience, 4 of which were in leadership, I’ve solved complex design problems in a variety of spaces - including social, criminal, and environmental justice, financial tech, and healthcare IT. And with a long-standing focus on nonprofit and cause-connected work, I have developed vast knowledge for a multitude of vulnerable populations.

Outside of my design work, there are many things that bring a spark to my life! I teach climbing classes and organize inclusive climbing meetups for POC, queer, and plus-sized climbers. When I’m not hiking or camping, you’ll find me involved in community-based activism, reading adventure memoirs, watching live music, thrifting, embracing minimalism, or spending time with my pup, Ollie.

✌🏼 ❤️ 🏳️‍🌈 🌎

My User-Centered Design Process

  • 🔬 Understanding the Problem and Environment

    - User research
    - Market and comparative research
    - Subject matter expert and stakeholder interviews
    - Understanding business drivers
    - Determining dev requirements and limitations
    - Priority mapping

  • 🧐 Brainstorming Ideas

    - Iterative design and feedback
    - Information architecture and sitemapping
    - Wireframes and mockups
    - Prototyping and interaction patterns
    - Design system integration

  • 📱 Testing Solutions

    - Internal and external design feedback
    - A/B testing
    - Moderated and unmoderated testing

  • 👨🏽‍💻 Delivering Value and Continuing to Improve

    - Dev collaboration
    - Analytics and benchmarking
    - User feedback and testing
    - Backlog management

Let’s dive deeper into my design work

Clear My Record - A fresh start through expungement

Through the KC Chapter of Code for America, a non-profit group helping government and civic organizations create digital solutions to address social needs, I led the design work for two criminal expungement apps - in Missouri and Kansas. These apps, which help non-violent felons expunge their record, gives individuals an opportunity to better support themselves, their families, and society. Through partnerships with UMKC Law School and Kansas Legal Services, the app enables attorneys to more quickly determine an applicant’s eligibility, complete the necessary paperwork, and file the expungement with the court.

Tax applications - Modernizing decades old software

While at H&R Block, I pioneered a new user experience team and mindset. Previously, all UX design resources had been focused on the client experience, while the experience of the tax professionals fell to the wayside by means of outdated and inefficient applications. The team I created and led was the first to focus solely on the tax professional experience across the thousands of nation-wide offices. By evangelizing design systems and human-centered design principles, both the field staff and app developers saw the value in this work and we delivered monumentally better experiences for our tax pros and clients.

Homeless Help - A centralized place to find resources

LA County has the highest homeless population of any county in the country. And although there are countless resources available in the area, there are also countless websites and offices people have to navigate to find this help. Homeless Help, a portal for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness and their service providers, was a project I led through One Degree and the LA County local government. By creating a centralized app to find resources, save important documents, message case managers, and apply for benefits, a process that was once tedious and delayed can become more accessible, easier, and hopeful.

Kansas Protection Order Portal - Safety and support

Prior to 2020, the process to get a protection order in Kansas was entirely in-person on paper. And when courthouse visits were no longer an option, I partnered with the State of Kansas and UMKC Law School to create a digital alternative. Carefully considering the intricacies involved with bringing this process into the home, where potential abusers could be, we created an app that is safe, secure, and supportive. Despite courthouses re-opening, this app is still widely used across the state.

Electronic medical records - For mental and public health

During my time at Netsmart, I established and led the user experience team that created applications for medical providers throughout the world. Focusing on mental and public health, we created a variety of products that integrated novel approaches to medication management, applied behavioral analysis, addiction recovery, and integrated care. During this time, we also implemented the company’s first design system.

Fundraising event materials - American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society depends upon fundraising to provide services to cancer patients, caregivers, and oncologists. As the lead event designer, I created all of the materials for two large fundraising events. Bringing in hundreds of guests and raising more than half a million dollars yearly, the materials for these events included invitations, programs, event posters, and social media promotions.

  • 👩🏻‍🎓 Education

    Northwest Missouri State University
    Bachelor’s of Science - Interactive Digital Media: New Media - 2015

  • ⚡️Skills

    UX & UI | Leadership | Accessible and Inclusive Design | Dev collaboration | Research & Strategy | Design Systems | Testing | Design Ethics | Workshops | Agile Methodology | Project and Product Management | Brand Development

  • 🛠 Familiar Tools

    Figma | UXPin | Miro | Adobe Creative Suite | Slack & MS Teams | Jira | Trello | Azure DevOps | Aha | UserZoom | Usertesting.com | Optimizely

  • 👩🏻‍💻 Industry Experience

    Financial Tech | Healthcare IT | Social Justice | Civic Tech | Public Health | Media | Small Business and Entrepreneurs

Experience

Lead Product Designer | KC Digital Drive | Nov 2022 - Present

Lead UX Designer | Code for America - KC Chapter | Sep 2018 - Present

Product Design Specialist | One Degree | May 2021 - Dec 2022

Lead Product Designer | State of KS | Nov 2020 - Aug 2021

Design Team Lead & Sr UX Designer | H&R Block | Jul 2018 - Apr 2021

Lead Event Designer | American Cancer Society | Dec 2018 - Sep 2019

Lead UX Designer | Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network | Nov 2018 - May 2019

Senior UX Designer | Netsmart | Jun 2015 - Jul 2018

Visual Designer | BD Owens Library | May 2014 - May 2015

Design Editor | Northwest Missourian Newspaper | Aug 2014 - Dec 2014

Radio DJ | 97.1 The ‘Ville KVVL | Jan 2010 - Jun 2015

“I would definitely recommend Bree for any design and design management projects in the future. Especially for projects that are mission-based or intended to benefit the social good.”

– Marc B.
Design Manager, One Degree

Involvement

2023
KC Climbing Community Inclusion Chair
Code for KC Volunteer (2017 to Present)

2022
Urbavore Organic Farm Harvest Hand
ScrapsKC (Creative Reuse Store) Volunteer
KC Poetic Underground Performer

2021
Miro Workshop Speaker
NWMSU Mentor and Speaker (2016-2021)

2020
Co-lead of H&R Block’s Young Professional Network (2019 & 2020)

2019
Speaker at UXPA (UX Professionals Association) National Conference

2018
UXPA KC Board Member
American Cancer Society Volunteer (2012-2018)

2015
Big Brothers Big Sister “Big”

Accomplishments and Recognition

2023
Bought a camper van 😎

2022
Climbing Wall Instructor certified through the American Mountain Guide Association

2021
Road tripped around the country for two months with my pup, summited my first 14’er!
Nominated for KC Chamber’s Young Athena Award

2020
Survived a near-fatal car accident
Published designs in the book “Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay”
NWMSU Distinguished Alumni/Mentor

2019
H&R Block “Calculated Risk Taking Award
UXPin’s Featured Designer of the Month and featured on their Youtube and podcast

2018
American Cancer Society’s Volunteer of the Year