I’m a User Experience Designer with 5 years of hands-on experience in UX design and 4 additional years in digital and print media design. With a background in anthropology and over 10 years of leadership and community-building roles, I’m passionate about translating research into meaningful, user-centered designs. My experience includes designing responsive consumer facing websites, and complex enterprise web-based applications, and dashboards. I thrive when facilitating design sprints and collaborative working sessions across cross-functional teams. I excel at managing stakeholder relationships, using strategic questioning in user interviews, and synthesizing complex ideas into intuitive, actionable solutions. Driven by curiosity and a collaborative mindset, I thrive in environments where I can facilitate creative problem-solving and align teams toward shared goals.
My Values:
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Honesty
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Collaboration
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Continued learning
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Open communication
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Empathy for greater understanding
Skills from my life before UX that transfered into my UX designs:
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Interviewing: I utilized strategic questioning in user interviews and meetings with stakeholders, product teams, and subject matter experts to uncover insight for intuitive design
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Web Design: designing user interfaces for 8 websites, 2 web-apps, 3 mobile apps, numerous iterations for individual pages, and end-to-end user flows
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Facilitation: Project planning & group dynamics meetings for 4 UX Design teams supporting 8 Product owners/teams, weekly stakeholder alignment meetings, several client meetings, and countless cross-functional collaboration working sessions
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Anthropology: fostered a profound understanding of human behavior and cultural contexts. This allows me to conduct richer user research and create designs that are empathetic to users' diverse needs and environments
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Manager/ Leader: my business background helps me understand and balance stakeholder, product team, and developers needs while still elevating user needs
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Photography: utilize composition techniques to ensure the user's eye is drawn to the most critical features
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Customer Service: building quality relationships with teammates, clients, stakeholders, and users
My Dream Company:
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Strong sense of collaboration and teamwork
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A product design team that believes in qualitative research
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Variety & new challenges in projects/products
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Growth opportunities within the company
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In a perfect world, a company with an outstanding commitment to its CSR programs (corporate social responsibility) or other community efforts to improve everyday life for all
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I thrive in remote environments, but I am also open to the right hybrid opportunity
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A great work-life balance culture
My Hobbies:
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Horseback Riding
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Paddleboarding
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Photography
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Backpacking
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Yoga
About Me
Recommendations
Kevin
UX accessibility standards lead
Nationwide
He has been my accessibility mentor and collaborator
I’ve had the opportunity to work with Shannon on a project, where she has consistently led with an accessibility-first mindset. As the Design Lead of the project, she ensured accessibility was prioritized from the earliest design sprints phase.
She played a critical role in identifying potential accessibility barriers and embedding inclusive design practices into every part of the user experience. Her works reflected not just WCAG compliance, but an empathy for users with diverse needs—visible clear focus indicators, proper focus/reading order, and meaningful screen reader support were thoughtfully integrated.
On top of that, she also served as a strong connector between design and development, making accessibility actionable and achievable for the team. Her responsibilities has directly elevated the accessibility maturity of the product and set a strong example for others.
Her impact goes beyond design execution—she’s driving a culture of accessibility. I'm looking forward to collaborating with her on future projects that continue raising the bar for inclusive design.
John
Product design lead
Nationwide
He has been my lead, mentor, and overall UX guru
I have had the pleasure of working with Shannon Cleary for several years on several key projects in the insurance space. She has excelled as an UX Interaction Designer and in the role as a Design Lead. Shannon's contributions have been invaluable, significantly impacting the project's success through her ability to think outside the box, create rapid prototypes, and adjust to a changing requirements landscape.
Shannon is a skilled interaction designer who has grown remarkably. She always has the end customer in mind, is passionate about accessibility, and works very effectively in creating early prototype designs for review by both UX partners and business. Her passion for user experience and commitment to accessibility made her an accessibility champion on her projects.
As the design lead, Shannon consistently delivered high-quality UX designs, building strong relationships with business and IT partners. Her organizational skills ensured our designs met both immediate and future needs. During a recent 2-day workshop, Shannon's fresh perspectives and detailed preparations enhanced team efficiency and participant engagement. She expertly facilitated several sessions with an audience consisting of business partners, IT developers, and representatives from other companies.
Shannon has shown significant growth in the last year with the soft skills critical for the role of design lead, such as incorporating feedback constructively and enhancing her communication skills. She has also made several well received presentations to business and UX leadership regarding her project.
Overall, Shannon's role has been crucial to the usability of the projects she has been involved with, and her dedication fostered productive discussions that improved the user experience.
Jessica
CL & ESS Claims Delivery Consultant
Nationwide
Collaborated when she was the acting product manager of 1.5y long transformation project
I am pleased to have the opportunity to recommend Shannon Cleary, with whom I had the distinct pleasure of collaborating on a project.
Shannon has been instrumental in developing UX designs for the new application. Her deep knowledge of the Nationwide design system, coupled with her strong customer focus, has resulted in an application that is both efficient for the user and visually appealing.
Shannon’s ability to collaborate effectively with team members and stakeholders further underscores her suitability for a higher role. She excels in incorporating feedback during our sessions, demonstrating her confidence and adaptability in swiftly adjusting designs.
I am confident that Shannon will continue to excel and bring even greater value in a more advanced position. I wholeheartedly recommend her for any position she seeks.
Ellie
UX Designer
Pinterest bootcamp project
Teammate
Shannon was an excellent team member to work with! Her instincts as a facilitator were invaluable, and she has an intellectual curiosity that makes her a natural at research. She's also lightning-fast, which comes in very handy when you only have two weeks to complete a project as a group. I would gladly work with her again!"
Jen
UX Designer
Pets'N'Stuff bootcamp redesign
Audience member
You're a master visual storyteller- keep up the great work.