Hi, My name is Gabrielle.
I'm a creative, user-centric problem-solver whose expertise lies in my passions
--- UX/UI Design, Accessibility &
Front-End Development.
I fell in love with all things web when I was introduced to “the internet". The technology, design and sense of community behind the internet was magical in itself. As I was teaching myself HTML on my Gateway computer in high school, I dreamt of becoming a Disney Imagineer and designing stellar sites for the most magical place on earth, Disney World.
During college, I started my first internship at Sherwin-Williams Corporate Headquarters as a Web Analyst Co-op. Thanks to my internship, I got the opportunity to attend an IAI (Information Architecture Institute) Conference at Progressive Insurance. That's where I had my 'aha' moment that I wanted to devote my career to helping users interact with technology.
My first IA project was the redesign of the Corporate HR Employee Benefits site. With the redesign and development of the site, I seized the opportunity to teach myself CSS.
MoreIn 2008, after a recruiter asked me if I knew how to use a camera and PowerPoint, my career as a Technical Writer began as a fluke at Fluke Biomedical. Pursuing the career path seemed logical and I was eventually recruited by Philips Healthcare and Nelson Stud Welding.
I gained valuable UX skills as a Technical Writer - empathy for the users of my products, knowing the right questions to ask, learning to simplify and create visuals for complex concepts.
MoreI worked full-time throughout my college years as I pursued my Bachelors of Arts in Communications at Cleveland State University (2009) and Masters of Science, IAKM (Information Architecture and Knowledge Management), User Experience Design, at Kent State University (2014).
In 2004, after starting my career at Sherwin-Williams, attending an IAI conference and discovering the IAKM program at Kent State University, I realized I wanted to a career in bridging the gap between technology and users.
I individualized my coursework to support a breadth of knowledge and perspective across several disciplines - business, communications, design, research, technology and psychology - to complement my anticipated Masters degree.
MoreI moved from Ohio to Northern Virginia after getting my first role as a UX/UI Designer at CACI International.
In my first 6 years at Media Services Center, I served a variety of roles - Accessibility SME, Lead Designer and Designer/Developer - advocating for the user on 20+ projects including employee sites and mission critical apps. I taught myself JavaScript to support my development projects.
Upon returning from maternity leave in 2021, I realized I was ready to move on, I landed a UX Designer role on the AMOD program, where I was quickly promoted to Team Lead - driving Accessibility and Design System initiatives. Unfortunately, CACI lost the contract in April 2022.
Upon redeployment at CACI, I took a Front-End Developer role as a great opportunity to gain modern front-end frameworks experience. Since polishing the UI on the newest app, I've been advocating for a design system - consistency in the UI - across all apps.
I've realized I want to return my focus to design and land the job in an organization that values UX design as I imagined when I graduated from my Masters program.
I'm ready for the next chapter - the ideal rewarding role which will provide me the resources to build a better UX while contributing to the greater good.
I worked alongside Gabrielle for three years while at CACI and she never failed to impress me.
Gabrielle was an amazing person to work with, fun, hard working, always learning, and most importantly: extremely talented. She always had the ability to complete a project under even the toughest circumstances, always delivering above-and-beyond; impressing the customer consistently.
With a natural talent for design, user experience (UX), user interface (UI) design and development, she is always challenging the "why" from the user's perspective and offers creative solutions that not only make the interface easier and less cumbersome, but look and feel just as good. Her ability to work within and learn various codebases/frameworks--sometimes concurrently--quite seamlessly is simply the icing on the cake.
I couldn't recommend Gabrielle more highly. Her raw talent coupled with her ability--and eagerness--to learn and grow doesn't come along everyday.
I hired Gabrielle as a UX/UI Designer at CACI and managed her for several years. I was impressed by her experience and her experience proved to be invaluable. She comes highly recommended.
Her enthusiasm, flexibility and natural talent made her a solid asset to our team. It didn’t take long for her to ramp up. Gabrielle is a fast learner - she was quick to adapt to our design process and to become quite proficient in JavaScript.
Gabrielle not only has the chops to design and develop stunning sites, but she has the skills and expertise to craft compelling user experiences. Her background and passion for UX shined through in everything she did. .
I had the opportunity to work with Gabrielle on multiple web projects.
Gabrielle was excellent in UI and web page design and development. Her coding was skillful, her designs were unique and innovative, so clients were always happy.
She was always thoughtful and considerate, an excellent team player who can also work independently and do a fantastic job.
She is very highly recommended.