If your product experiences are confusing, you’re probably losing people. I help find the connection between your goals and your audiences’ needs, leaving people curious, enlightened, and ready to take the next step.
As an experience designer and strategist, I’ve been improving consumer and B2B experiences for over 20 years. I’ve been a writer, strategist, information architect, UX practitioner, speaker, and facilitator, working across industries including software, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, non-profits, the arts, and retail.
My passion is bridging the gap between a business vision and customer needs. I combine creativity, storytelling, and strategic thinking to plan for and build experiences that are useful, delightful, and effective. As an outgoing leader, I make space for narratives to unfold, find common ground between businesses and users, and tease out the simplest path to a solution.
I make digital products easy to use.
My Approach
What do we need to solve?
I’ll start by taking a look at the business case and asking questions to make sure stakeholders are aligned. I’ll use these insights to craft clear and focused vision and opportunity statements that your team can rally around.
Who are we trying to reach?
It’s easy to get so focused on project goals that we forget to consider how it will benefit our audience. I look at your product from the user’s perspective and identify their problems, desires, behaviors, and needs. I turn these insights into personas and journey maps that help your team find common ground through empathy.
How do we get there?
Once the business opportunity and user needs are identified, it’s time to establish a course of action. I combine qualitative and quantitative inputs to create a strategic “sandbox.” I help your team ideate and strategize within that sandbox to build the framework for moving forward.
How do we bring it to life?
With a strategy in place, the implementation process can begin. I help turn the best ideas into working prototypes that can be tested with users and iterated upon. I help move these prototypes to market-ready products, working closely with creative, technical, and business teams to ensure the solution is not only useful and usable, but feasible and scalable.
Skills
Strategy
Strategic Refinement
User Research & Testing
Personas
Content Strategy
User Experience
User Flows
Experience Maps
Wireframe Prototypes
UI Systems
Leadership
Workshop Facilitation
Presentations
Stakeholder Alignment
Product Oversight
Industries
As a versatile designer and strategist, I’ve worked across a range of industries. From software start-ups, to sustainable energy, to non-profit road races, I use a hands-on approach to drive innovation from ideation to execution.
B2B & B2C
Retail
Consumer Goods
Software
Healthcare
Finance
Education
Nonprofit
Food & Beverage
Hospitality
Energy
Manufacturing
Values
Originality
Originality, for me, is about asking why, thinking differently, and daring to color outside the lines—even when it means standing alone. It’s not rebellion for rebellion’s sake—it’s creative integrity. It’s wonder, wit, and the will to imagine what’s possible.
Zeal
Zeal isn’t a surface-level buzz—it’s the full-body, soul-fired enthusiasm that kicks in when I’m aligned with purpose. When something lights me up, I bring that spark to everything and everyone around me.
Reflection
I don’t run from the mirror. I turn toward it. I give myself time and space to process, understand, and grow. Reflection allows me to view challenges as opportunities to evolve, rather than threats.
Honors
AdFed Gold Pin Award
Twin Cities in Motion Marathon Campaign
2024
AdFed Gold Pin Award
Uncle Franky’s Rebrand and Website
2022
Webby Award
Target Mobile Shopping App
2010
Target Marketing Highest Honors
User Experience Toolkit (In-house resource)
2009
“The way Laura engages both business and technical leaders, and takes them on a deliberate march, is fascinating. She's very gifted.”
Mike DeBock, Executive Director, NextEra Energy
“Laura is curious, engaged, driven and accountable. Her strength, clarity of thought, integrity, and communication allowed us to hit important deadlines with great work.”
Mark Holterhaus, Director of Experience, Slalom
“Laura’s ability to think strategically while bringing innovative ideas to complex challenges made cross-departmental projects not only successful but genuinely enjoyable.”
Whitney Bauer, Head of Project Management, Superhuman
“Laura is a calm hand on the wheel. She strikes a Goldilocks balance between questions and facilitation.”
Rich Argentieri, President, NextEra Analytics
Portfolio
Granum
Brand and website experience for the merging of two landscaping software companies.
Twin Cities in Motion
Brand, portfolio, and website experience for a nonprofit movement organization.
Power Wizard
Product and website user experience for an online electricity provider brokerage service.
Stamps.com
An interactive campaign that brought the brand to life and encouraged user engagement.