United States

UX Design

Branding and Identity Design

Service Design

Product Design

Generalist Product Management

Branding

UX Testing

UX Research

Service Design Research

✊🏿🏳️‍🌈 Diversity & Inclusion

Maria Di Paolo

Research + Design Consultant

Portfolio

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Time management

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Team player

Organisation skills

Presentation skills

Customer service

Conflict resolution

Leadership

Project management

Public Speaking

Accessibility

Brand positioning

Brand strategy

Content strategy

Human computer interaction

Market research

Product strategy

Prototyping

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Tone consistency

Typography

Usability Testing

User research

Whitepaper/ebook Writing

Video editing

Qualtrics

Trello

Typeform

UserTesting

Adobe Illustrator

Airtable

Asana

Canva

ChatGPT

Figma

InVision

Jira

Lucidchart

Miro

Monday

Notion

Adobe Creative Suite

Lookback

Sketch

Introduce yourself, define mentoring expectations and goals. Learn and grow together.

General mentorship

Making remote and globally distributed teams work for you and your needs.

Working remotely

Learn essential burnout prevention techniques and replenish physical and emotional energy.

Managing burnout

Talk to people who have learned to manage their imposter syndrome.

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Navigating micro-aggression, getting paid what you are worth and finding a community.

Being a woman in tech

Understanding factors that lead to a motivated team - recognition, communication and more.

Keeping team members motivated

Understand the process of training, motivating and directing your team members.

Managing people

How to create a positive workplace culture that drives collaboration and productivity?

Fostering a good team culture

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

Strategies for maximizing your design internship or co-op program.

Getting the most out of my internship

Tips for transitioning into a new role or company.

Changing roles

Get actionable feedback on your resume or portfolio.

Resume and portfolio review

Practice HR, technical and behavioural interviews with mentors.

Practice mock interviews

Methods of prototyping and solution validation. When to use which kind of prototype (eg. Webflow, Notion, etc)

Prototyping methods and tips

Tips on how to work and collaborate with designers.

Working with designers

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Explore different generative and evaluative research techniques. User research synthesis and presentation.

Conducting good user research

How to create personas, and leverage them in design.

Creating and leveraging user personas

Ways to provide constructive feedback to team members.

Giving effective feedback

What is a successful user onboarding flow and how to achieve it?

Onboarding new users

How to conduct interviews, what to ask, and how to analyze your results? (eg. user interview)

Conducting effective customer interviews

As a curious researcher, I have a passion for human-centered design and unpacking complex problems. Through extensive research, I support and lead teams to design and co-create sustainable, innovative solutions to enhance business value and, ultimately, the human experience.

Some methods:
Human-centered design, strategic design, brand strategy, UX research/design, concept testing, usability testing, journey mapping/design, ethnographic interviews, qualitative/quantitative research for small + large businesses, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, + startups

Corporate clients: 
Google, Microsoft, Citi Ventures, Pfizer, AbbVie, Merck, Takeda, Alcon, Teva Pharmaceuticals, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Enfamil, Kingspan
NYC Local clients: 
New York City Campaign Finance Board, Brooklyn Public Library, Parsons School of Design, Tenement Museum 

Industries:
Startup, End of Life/Death Care, Healthcare, Pharma/MedTech, Mental Health (Therapy, Coaching), Tech/AI, Nonprofit, Government, Elections/Voting, Retail, Higher Education, Food & Beverage (F&B), CPG, Finance, CRM, Construction

Through extensive design research and human-centered design methodologies, I lead teams to develop innovative, need-based user experiences and solutions for our clients, primarily in healthcare, finance, and tech.

Some methodologies I lead and leverage are qual/quant research, ethnography (IRL/mobile), journey design/development, diary studies, concept design/development, rapid iterative testing, usability testing (mobile/desktop), content/positioning strategy, and a whole lot of workshop development/facilitation.

Using a human-centered framework, I led teams to develop breakthrough products and innovative services alongside large-scale clients, primarily in the healthcare and tech.

For projects directly relating to the 2020 General and local elections, I created and tested designed prototypes for the NYC 2020 Voter Guide, as well as nationwide Cure Forms helping voters to fix their rejected mail-in ballots (spearheading the first research of its kind). See link below for full report.

(Previously Oversoul) For this early-stage, end-of-life solution startup, I led market + user research, developed carefully curated messaging, and led the development of their initial investor pitch deck.

For a large-scale CPG client’s newly developed mobile app, I led recruitment and facilitated multiple user interviews testing new concepts and prototypes, including a community feature for mothers.

For this venture-backed startup enhancing team communication through machine learning + data science, I led qualitative research including usability and concept testing for their newly created ‘team pulse check’ dashboard.

As a strategist, I led campaign and identity work through facilitating thoughtfully designed workshops for Brooklyn Public Library, Tenement Museum, and the agency itself.

Through design thinking methodologies, I led teams to surface insights and cultivate a deeper understanding of users. I have a passion for leading brands to develop deeper, clearer messaging by connecting them to these users and their innate voice.

Maria Di Paolo🇺🇸

About Maria Di Paolo

Expertise

Sessions with Maria Di Paolo