I am currently a Manager of User Experience at Starbucks in Seattle, Washington. ☕️

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In this role, I am building the center of excellence for UX and Design across North America retail digital platforms and devices. This work has me focused on building a great multi-disciplinary team of user research and design, driving the creation and strategy of our retail design system across physical equipment and digital interfaces, and crafting inclusive and delightful user experiences and product design across several capital tech innovation projects to further enhance and enable the great connection between customers and our barista partners. 🧋

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My day has me jumping from Stores of the Future design visioning, to locking down icons for iPads used by 180,000 partners, to having a inspiring growth conversation with a member on my team, and then having a virtual beer with an engineering peer to end the day. 🍻

Previously I was at Avvo, where I joined a growth-stage start up as their second product manager creating an industry-leading legal marketplace. It was exciting to be at the forefront of building an innovative product through a human-centered design lens, and we even earned an award from the American Bar Association for breaking barriers in legal. I was with Avvo for 4.5 years in both product and UX management roles until acquisition by Internet Brands, the parent company of WebMD. Since then my team went off to companies such as Facebook, Google, AirBnb, Dropbox, Amazon, and I even have a few who joined me at the 'bux. I feel fortunate to have a strong network and am always excited to empower our talented women, gender non-conforming, and BIPOC communities. 🏆

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I have also had stints at Microsoft, UW, and Possible driving product and design strategy. In every role, I thrive on building great team culture, strategic execution, and having a lot of fun doing it and bringing everyone along for the ride. Let's just say I'm a people person. 🙌🏽

Last but not least, contributing to the UX and Design community is something I love and comes naturally to me. I guest lecture at the University of Washington on human-centered design and industry, I mentor with Hexagon UX focused on women and non-binary folx in our field, and I love to present at meetups, podcasts, and conferences. 🎤

Indian-American born and raised in Detroit, co-founded @Findlayand51st, and now rockin' in Seattle for 15 years working in tech and these days living my best with my wife 🏳️‍🌈 @heymeredith who is a delightful nerd and crushes it every day as an Engineering leader at a big colorful internet company. 💪🏽

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I would love to hear from you!

Most of my time is spent taking care of my team and being a great partner to my peers and our stakeholders. Recruiting and retaining takes quite a bit of my time. I provide coaching on strategy, storytelling, emotional intelligence, and leadership, making sure people get opportunities to grow their skills and innovate. I love a respectful, super collaborative relationship (with some healthy friction) with my product and engineering teams. I learn so much from them and I hope I can influence them as well.

What makes a good leader? Openness, transparency, mentorship, guidance, someone that has the team’s back and genuinely wants to see each other succeed and grow.

Where you can find me:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/itspuja
pujaparakh@gmail.com