Rachael Cicero

Rachael Cicero

Design Lead in Seattle, WA, She/Her

About

I’m a product and experience designer with a background in strategy and operations, a master's degree in Human-Centered Design & Engineering, and experience working with companies like Twitter, Uber, Microsoft, and the City of Seattle.

Work Experience

2021 — Now
Design Lead / Associate Design Director at Artefact

Lead the execution and delivery of design, research, and strategy initiatives, managing teams of 2-6 individual contributors. Deliverables include UX + UI prototypes of varying levels, design research findings and recommendations, product strategies, and roadmaps. Lead overall project management, including developing project timelines, managing team resourcing, and providing quality assurance to project deliverables, ensuring highly crafted, actionable results. Clients have included Hopelab, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Microsoft.

2019 — 2021
Civic Design Lead at City of Seattle

Responsible for spearheading design and research efforts of City programs and services through the Innovation and Performance team. Led Human-Centered Design workshops for two cohorts of the City Leadership Academy, a program for employees who want to create change and model racial equity, social justice, and inclusion. Designed strategy for and led the research process that informed Seattle’s Fare Share legislation, guaranteeing a minimum compensation threshold to transportation network drivers (i.e., Uber and Lyft drivers).

2018 — 2019
Student UX Designer at Uber

This experience was part of my Master's in Human-Centered Design and Engineering program at the University of Washington. Partnered with product, design, and engineering partners to develop the "Favorite Driver" feature launched in 2020. Led the research and design of the feature to enhance trip predictability and experience consistency. Identified interaction opportunities and developed solutions for:

Favoriting a driver for the first time

During-trip favoriting

Scheduling a future ride with a favorite driver

Driver opt-in / acceptance

2017 — 2018
Design Program Manager at Artefact

Managed the delivery and execution process with Design and Research Directors, including facilitating stakeholder discussions, orchestrating design and research operations, driving cross-functional collaboration with team members and stakeholders, and balancing multiple priorities and needs. Employed agile project management on over 10 projects, often 3 or more at a time. Clients included Magic Leap, Samsung, Intel, Microsoft, and the Mastercard Foundation.

2014 — 2017
Project Manager - User Services at Twitter

Partnered with Product, Design, and Engineering to develop new and improved support agent workflows for significant product updates (10+), improving the user experience and support team productivity. Led a redesign of the Twitter Beta program’s bug reporting, bettering the onboarding and reporting experience for over 20,000 users/testers, leading to 200+ issues reported and triaged.

2013 — 2014
Project Lead - User Support at Keas (Acquired by Welltok)
San Francisco, CA

Led and managed the User Support division, developing KPIs, organizing support strategies, and overseeing daily operations. Conducted informal user research through surveys and email campaigns and partnered with engineers for QA and functional testing of new product features, including regression testing for iOS and browser-based platforms.

2013 — 2013
Account Coordinator at Health Advocate

Provided help desk support via email and phone, addressing technical inquiries and product features while managing accounts for over 10 clients. Assisted with onboarding and implementing new clients, successfully completing 5+ implementations. Collaborated cross-functionally with IT, Operations, and Account Management teams to improve reporting, internal workflows, and processes.

Education

2017 — 2019
Master's Degree Human Centered Design and Engineering at University of Washington
2008 — 2011
Bachelor of Science at San Francisco State University

Volunteering

2022 — Now
President at HCDE Alumni Leadership Board
2021 — 2022
Member of Core Planning Team at Seattle Design Festival
2016 — 2018
Volunteers Director at AIGA Seattle