Work Experience
ATB Financial
Intermediate Product Designer (Oct. 2023 - Present)
Accessibility subject matter expert for ATB's Design System
- Defined and documented the general accessibility guidelines for all of ATB's digital products (WCAG 2.2 AA)
- Ensured 9 new UI components met the defined standards by collaborating closely with the design system team's lead designer and developer
- Provided comprehensive written accessibility documentation for 5 design system components
- Initiated an internal practice for accessibility for all of ATB's digital products. Collaborated biweekly with a group of 30+ stakeholders from product management, software development, and leadership to define a process for incorporating accessibility at all stages of the product development cycle
- Evangelized global accessibility efforts by co-presenting with a colleague from software development to over 100 stakeholders within the organization on the importance of incorporating digital accessibility
- Co-presented a workshop on accessible data visualization to an audience of 50+ stakeholders
Product Designer for ATB's online business banking platform
- Led the design for Global ACH Transfers, a brand new digital cross-border payment solution used by over 80,000 clients
- Created a concept for data visualization within the business banking platform
Junior Product Designer (Apr. 2021 - Oct. 2023)
Product Designer for ATB's online business banking platform
- Led the design for Global ACH Transfers, a brand new digital cross-border payments solution used by over 80,000 clients
- Facilitated the design of a feature that allows clients to view their monthly fee statements online
- Updated the design of the Interac e-Transfer feature to comply with new Interac branding guidelines
- Collaborated with another designer to redesign the ATB Business app mobile navigation menu, with a focus on accessibility
UX Designer Summer Student (May 2020 - Sep. 2020)
Product Designer for ATB's online business banking platform
- Followed user requirements documentation to design mockups using Sketch/Invision for 3 new features in an online business banking platform
- Adjusted 2 existing Axure prototypes to fit updated design requirements
- Collaborated closely with the UX Research team to conduct user research in the form of A/B testing for my designs
- Assisted with accessibility heuristic analysis for an online retail banking platform
- Added documentation on a new UI component to the design style guide
Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts
Freelance Web Accessibility Consultant (Nov. 2022 - Dec. 2022)
Independently completed a comprehensive accessibility analysis (WCAG 2.1 AA) of the Nina's website. Steps for the audit included:
- Automated audit using axe DevTools
- Manual audit using VoiceOver
- Usability testing conducted with a participant who is visually impaired
Provided recommendations for fixing accessibility issues found in the audit. Recommendations included re-design suggestions that aligned with the Nina's existing brand identity.
University of Alberta
Teaching Assistant (Jan. 2021 - Apr. 2021)
Teaching assistant for CMPUT 302, a course that teaches students the fundamentals of good user experience design.
- Supported students with questions on the course material
- Independently graded assignments
- Supplied material for the midterm examination
National Research Council Canada (itwêwina)
UX Designer (May 2019 - Nov. 2019)
Independent contract to provide a user interface and user experience redesign of itwêwina, the online Cree dictionary hosted by the University of Alberta. During my time at this position I:
- Interviewed my client and gathered feedback on what users liked/disliked about the original site design
- Created 2 iterations of basic wireframes in Adobe XD and translated these into over 100 high-fidelity mockups for mobile, tablet and desktop using Sketch
- Ensured designs met WCAG 2.0 web accessibility standards for keyboard accessibility and color contrast
- Applied a mobile first design approach to ensure that the site would be accessible on all devices. This was also done to meet the requirements of the primary user who would mainly be accessing the site on a tablet device
- Added high quality documentation with sample CSS for the development team using Zeplin
- Viewed the designs on both a phone and tablet using the Sketch Mirror app to verify that design specifications were correct
- Viewed the designs on both a phone and tablet using the Sketch Mirror app to verify that design specifications were correct
Intuit
Front End Software Developer Co-op (Jan. 2019 - Dec. 2019)
During my time at Intuit I was a front end software developer with an emphasis on web accessibility. I developed features and fixed bugs in the product Quickbooks Online, which is utilized by over 4 million customers. During my time in this role I accomplished the following:
- Completed design training and applied my knowledge from this training to interview a client and work with a group of 2 other team members to successfully enact a solution for the client's problem
- Implemented 5 large scale visual designs using SCSS and React inline styling to help facilitate a complete visual overhaul of Quickbooks
- Independently developed a plugin for the open source library Chart.js to solve a bug that would have blocked my team from releasing a new feature
- Completed comprehensive training on software accessibility and used this knowledge to fix several critical bugs relating to UI accessibility issues (visual keyboard focus, appropriate color contrast for page elements, adding ARIA labels for screen readers)
- Completed a full accessibility audit report of a code plugin owned by my team and used JIRA to triage all of the issues found
- Gave instructional presentations on how to design and develop WCAG-compliant software
- Fixed Selenium automation test bugs and refactored existing test code
Education
University of Alberta
Bachelor of Science, computing science major and psychology minor. Graduated April 2021
Certifications
Interaction Design Foundation
Visual Design: The Ultimate Guide (Issued Jan. 2024)
Accessibility: How to Design for All (Issued Jan. 2023)
Honours and Awards
FY24 Q1 Quarterly Award (ATB Financial)
Issued Aug. 2023
"Diane has taken on a leadership role in helping to guide and evangelize efforts around incorporating best practices for accessible design into our digital products. To this end, she has pursued independent learning, connected with design and development team members across our different product teams, and shared her learning in various sessions with broader audiences. She hosts a bi-weekly focus group to workshop related accessibility issues and to spearhead the collaborative introduction of these considerations into our larger design process. She also works with our design system team to ensure that accessibility guidelines are represented in our component libraries and other design resources crucial to the ongoing development of ATB digital experiences.
Diane's passion for championing accessible design practice comes from a place of deep client obsession and a desire to create experiences that empower everyone that banks at ATB, making it possible for all Albertans, regardless of their physical abilities. Her ongoing commitment to this effort is a testament to her character and her capability."
FY22 Q3 Quarterly Award (ATB Financial)
Issued Feb. 2022
"Diane continues to be a champion of accessibility for our digital products, specifically on the business banking team. Her tireless work on turning the eA report into meaningful, actionable design updates has been outstanding. She continually asks questions, ensuring design decisions are considering accessibility. Her passion and energy is making us design better products, and more importantly, ensuring that our products will be able to be used by ALL Albertans."
Accessibility Champion (Intuit)
Issued Jan. 2019
Intuit’s Accessibility Champion award recognizes a commitment to building exceptional customer experiences for all Intuit customers, regardless of physical, cognitive, mental, and sensory abilities. The award includes education, awareness, and customer outreach.
Volunteer Experience
Workshop Presenter and Design Mentor (Mar. 2024)
Co-hosted a workshop on accessible data visualization at Ada's Team's Protojam event. Presented to a group of 20+ students and provided mentorship as they worked through the event's design challenge.
Vice President Promotions and General Volunteer (Feb 2017 - Jun 2021)
Vice President Promotions (Feb. 2018 - Apr. 2019)
During my time as VP Promotions I:
- Was responsible for updating Ada's Team social media accounts and webpage
- Designed over 20 posters and social media graphics to advertise events.
- Doubled the amount of followers on Ada’s Team Instagram
General Volunteer (Feb. 2017 - Feb. 2018, Apr. 2019 - Jun. 2021)
I have volunteered 100+ hours over all with Ada's Team as a general volunteer.
Volunteer Speaker and Panelist at Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing (Nov. 2018)
- Helped prepare and give a talk titled "Making the Workplace Better for Everyone"
- Participated in a panel about how to start and maintain a successful student group
- Gave both presentations consecutively in front of an audience of approximately 30 people