My experience ranges from coordinating remote shoots to management of the branding, design and development of marketing for new businesses.
Using both waterfall and agile methodologies, I have led the creation or redesign of workflow processes at each company on my resume, as well as helped small business owners develop their own unique processes.
Below is a collection of my favorite projects and the new hybrid workflow process I developed for a UX/Digital Design team. Plus a video training on how to choose the right project management system for you or your team.
Fins Car wash was added to the AAA lines of business in 2018. As one of my first major projects with AAA, I was in charge of working with the FINS marketing manager and director to develop the marketing plan for Fins.
My team was tasked with creating the branding and all marketing materials, along with design of the new website and app. Initially, I worked with a vendor to develop the site, but after a year, we decided to redesign and take development in house.
Fins has ongoing marketing campaigns that take up approximately 30% of my teams’ workload. These campaigns include email, social, landing pages, print materials, digital billboards, and app updates.
The join application for AAA membership was clunky and not at all user friendly. The challenge was to create an application that was easy to understand and complete, as well as increase member acquisition.
Through market research, wire framing, and user testing, we were able to create a new join application that put the user’s experience first and resulted in a higher number of completed applications.
I took this project from testing (10 stores) to chain-wide (8,000 stores) in 6 months. This project saved the company over $4M in the first year.
Store specific signage (SSS) eliminates the need to neutralize pricing on promotional space, enables versioning foundation for in-store signage, increases margin gains, reduces labor (fewer signs to hang), and brings greater awareness of savings to customers.
SSS allows for the use of different sign types to call out sales in Zone 2+ stores.
Messaging SALE! vs. Low Price at shelf for these items resulted in an 18% incremental unit lift* in zone 2+ SSS stores.
SSS also strengthens the brand by calling out “Everyday Low Price” message at base zone stores (vs. “Low Price”)
As the project manager for the UX/Digital Design team, I created a new workflow process to move from a traditional waterfall to a more agile flow.
Below is the new process, followed by an explanation of each phase.
1 – Digital Team Request Review Phase
After the intake process, the request will be added to the UX/Digital backlog.
Katie and/or Cathie will review the request and verify that all of the necessary information has been included and is correct.
*All requests will need to be submitted by noon on Wednesdays to be considered for the following week’s sprint.
2 – Digital Team Grooming/Planning
A grooming session will be held with the digital design team on Thursdays. We will discuss items on the backlog, confirm LOB requirements/acceptance criteria, and alignment with business priorities.
The backlog will be prioritized on a weekly basis to position the team for the following week’s commitments.
3 – Digital Team Committed/Scheduled Work
Each Monday the digital design team will meet to discuss commitments for the week based on priority. We will commit 80% of our time to requests on the backlog and allow 20% for last minute/high priority requests.
Cathie/Katie will assign resources to the appropriate tasks and communicate commitments to LOBs. LOB communication will also include what to expect going forward if their request will span more than one sprint cycle.
4 – Digital Team Committed/Scheduled Work in Progress/Delivery
Assets will be delivered within the week for review/feedback depending on scope requirements. If the LOB requests additional edits/updates or changes the original scope, the project will be added back to the backlog and discussed in the next grooming session. The goal will be to add to the next sprint, unless priorities no longer align.
Finding a project management platform that works for you is so important!
Before looking into a new system, ask yourself these questions: