The Design With a Big ‘D’ series digs into the scope and depth of the Dallas-Fort Worth UX/UI industry as the region becomes a hot spot for design talent and companies. To follow the series and get the news on what’s now and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, sign up for Dallas Innovates Every Day.
SERIES: PART 5
UX/UI designers and experts are integral parts of many company operations and span across almost every industry. The Dallas-Fort Worth region has no shortage of thought leaders who are helping create the solutions for some of today’s most popular products.
Here are six you need to know.
Ben Judy, 7-Eleven
RETAIL
BEN JUDY // 7-ELEVEN
Head of User Experience
Ben Judy formed a new user experience team at 7-Eleven, taking the No. 1 brand in convenience retail from a UX team of one to a team of 18 designers and researchers in less than six months.
Marti Gold, Sirius XM
ENTERTAINMENT
MARTI GOLD // SIRIUS XM
Director, User Experience and Design, Connected Vehicle
Marti Gold is a UX leader with more than 20 years of enterprise-level design experience. She specializes in problem analysis, user interface and interaction design, rapid prototyping, and the development of corporate UX standards. Marti is the author of “UX Style Frameworks: Creating Collaborative Standards” released in September 2015.
Jeremy Johnson, Projekt202
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
JEREMY JOHNSON // PROJEKT202
VP of Customer Experience
Jeremy Johnson has been working in UX and digital products for more than 15 years. Starting as a designer but quickly moving to managing and selling, Jeremy’s scope of influence is now focused on moving organizations to experience-driven methods.
Ron Dagdag, ThyssenKrupp Elevator
TECH
RON DAGDAG // THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR
Senior Software Engineer
Ron Dagdag is a Senior Software Engineer at ThyssenKrupp Elevator, where he supports developers with their Windows, Web, and 3D application development. On the side, Ron is a Hackster Ambassador and Littlebits Chapter Leader in Dallas where he organizes workshop events.
Debra Gelman, AT&T
BUSINESS SERVICES
DEBRA GELMAN // AT&T
AVP, Digital Design & User Experience
Debra Gelman manages a team of designers and researchers who take a user-driven approach to design, using quantitative and qualitative customer insights to innovate and inform how products will look and function.
Sybil Mulokwa, Alkami
FINTECH
SYBIL MULOKWA // ALKAMI
Manager, UX Strategy & Design
Sybil Mulokwa and the UX designers at Alkami are user-centered to deliver products that make a difference and are easy, engaging, and delightful to use. Her team leverages the RITE methodology — so breakthroughs are more process-orientated than product-orientated.
Photos were provided by the companies.
A version of these stories were published in September 2018 in a Dallas Regional Chamber brochure: “Design With a Big ‘D'”.
READ NEXT
PART 1: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
The DFW Experience
Part one examines DFW as a UX hotspot. Today, four out of 10 Texas user-experience professionals work in Dallas-Fort Worth.
PART 2: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
How the Big Design Conference Came to Be
Part two looks at the beginnings of the conference. Big Design co-founder Brian Sullivan shares its origin story.
PART 3: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Corporate by Design
Part three shares insights for how design pros help companies such as Walmart, Accenture, Bottle Rocket, Sabre, and more gain competitive advantage.
PART 4: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Leading by Design
Part four covers a few big thinkers who are leading by design at companies such as Capital One, BBVA, Intuit, and USAA. Whether it’s slaying piles of paper receipts at tax time or making shopping an adventure, these Dallas area thoughtleaders are making their marks in their respective industries. The common thread? Dogged persistence.
PART 5: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Meet 6 UX/UI Experts Delivering Solutions
UX/UI designers and experts are integral parts of many company operations and span across almost every industry. The Dallas-Fort Worth region has no shortage of thought leaders who are helping create the solutions for some of today’s most popular products. Here are six you need to know.
PART 6: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Norm Cox, Iconoclast: Creating a Legacy in Design
Tap a menu on your smartphone to pay for your coffee, or edit a Word doc. Either way, you can think of Norm Cox. The North Texan was was on the Xerox team that developed the graphical user interface systems that we still use today.
PART 7: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
XR: The Experience Extended
In the service economy, winners will be companies who can best anticipate customer needs and can provide the best customer experience. Enter Extended Reality. Here are four DFW companies making bets on its future.
PART 8: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
A Look Into the Future:
Industry Leaders Say Universities Provide UX Firepower
From developing autonomous trucks to incorporating science and the arts, universities in Dallas-Fort Worth are churning out UX-perts
PART 9: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Teaching the Next Evolution of UX Design Thinking
Multi-dimensional UX: Preston McCauley has been working to help UX professionals discover new ways to approach the craft.
PART 10: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Societal Urgency:
UTD’s Cassini Nazir on the First-Person Experience
It would make sense that the best education in user-experience would involve a first-person experience. It’s about finding needs and figuring out how to fill them.
PART 11: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
By the Numbers: Tech Roots Give DFW the Edge in UX/UI Boom
The user experience sector is exploding in Dallas-Fort Worth. That’s a good pairing with the region’s history as a high-tech hotbed.
PART 12: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Creative Vault: Your Guide to Resources for Designers and UX/UI Pros in DFW
There are plenty of area associations, events, organizations, and educational institutions to help designers brainstorm, commiserate, learn, and hone their skills. Here’s our resource guide to get you started.
#DesignThinking #UX/UI #DesignWithABigD 
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R E A D N E X T
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Arizona-based Tallwave provides customer experience (CX) solutions to strengthen ties with customers. It's a movement the design company sees accelerating post-pandemic. CX, a relatively new term, is a broader form of UX that extends beyond the product. DFW was named top spot for UX professionals in a recent 2021 Jobs on the Rise report.
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Juliana Oliveira and her sister Sara de Oliveira co-founded Athlete-Centric Design to transform pro athletes’ lifestyles—not just with luxury design, but by improving their performance on the field through health and wellness elements. Now they hope to score by having their approach adopted as a best practice in the sports industry nationwide.
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The first TOCA Social launched last August in London, attracting cast members from "Ted Lasso" and top Premier League players. The Dallas location, slated to open in 2023, will offer a three-floor, 56K-SF experience of dining, drinks, and interactive soccer games in 34 "TOCA boxes." The top two floors and their huge decks will offer "bonkers" views of the Dallas skyline—and may be a magnet for corporate events.
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The DFW Alliance of Technology and Women held its 19th annual Executive Forum last week, urging attendees to "crack the courage code" and empower women in business. Afterward, DFW*ATW's president, Shanthi Rajaram, spoke with Dallas Innovates about her takeaways from the event—and how being "comfortable with the unknown" helped her start her own entrepreneurship journey.
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Animation and game design is booming—and UTD is on the forefront. Here's how its School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication has become a national leader. ATEC is producing graduates who go on to work for top companies like Blizzard Entertainment, Gearbox Software, id software, Disney, and 900lbs.
