Howdy! 🤠 I'm Marcelina and I'm a Senior UX Strategist and Designer. I specialize in alignment of business goals and product timelines while championing user-centric design systems.

This is not going to be a typical cover letter and I hope by the end I’ve convinced you of my nontraditional approach to my portfolio. The UX industry is difficult these days—standing out is almost impossible. I could write a perfectly written cover letter with every single keyword known to make even the toughest hiring managers’ mouth water. But I don’t think that holistically showcases me and let me tell you why.
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I was born and raised in Montana. It may not seem relevant but go with me here.

Life in the Wild West is unforgiving in many ways—between the extreme negative temperatures and unforgiving terrain, influences outside your control can create problems and make your day a little formidable. But no matter what, you grab your gear and get to solving any problem that comes your way. Even if you have no idea how to solve it at the moment, you still give it your best shot. In the end, the lesson you take away is preparedness, at least as much as you can. You strategize how to make the next time remarkably better. And this is exactly how  I take any UX project or problem the same way: head on, ready for anything, learning from my mistakes and strategizing for the future.

UX really can be like the Wild West. So many influences outside your control can dictate the direction of your daily work, causing issues that ripple down project timelines.  I believe in a strategy first approach that guides daily tactical work and delivers a broad spectrum analysis of multiple project timelines, how they meet business goals, and measures against UX success and progress metrics. My technical and strategic knowledge of UX has been built and refined over 7 years of complex work balanced around business needs, accessibility and user research. I developed these skills over years of extracurricular reading, training, and conferences, always maintaining a humble attitude, empathy towards users and business alike, and trying to keep my own bias out of my work.

When I’m not at my desk, you’ll find me binge-watching DnD campaigns, marveling at Montana’s sunsets while walking my energetic dog, or experimenting with new chocolate chip cookie recipes.