Michele Ronsen

Michele Ronsen Michele Ronsen is an influencer

User Research Leader, Keynote Speaker, Educator, Founder, UX Coach + Mentor

San Francisco, California, United States
28K followers 500+ connections

About

There are a few things neither a portfolio nor a C.V. address that may be helpful to know. For example, my earliest memory is of driving down the highway with my father. He asked me to look at a McDonald’s sign – the quintessential golden arches. He then handed me a crayon and asked me to draw what I thought the gear inside the sign (that made it spin) looked like. I was three years old.

Fast forward to how it played out: Professionally trained graphic designer and design strategist. Learned the ropes at Pentagram and Michael Osborne Design. Moved client side leading design teams to develop product, packaging, merchandising and retail experiences for Nordstrom. Journeyed into finance at BofA and Wells Fargo where real estate development and service design quickly became passions as I learned the mortgage benefits of employment in financial services. Completed the Leading By Design Fellows Program to secure a deep expertise in design and user research, user-centered design, UX strategy, and innovation acceleration. Which brings us to today, consulting for wonderfully diverse clients and teaching design and user research to people around the world.

I do my best work when I’m exploring new and disparate ideas, designing across disciplines, and helping others to do the same. I am a strong advocate and practitioner of human-centered and socially responsible design. Entrepreneurial in spirit, and collaborative by nature, I have an equally creative and analytical mind and a passion for tackling complex challenges that lead to positive change. I'm recognized as a fearless, jolly, and curious entrepreneur and a leader of design, research, and business-led solutions.

What I do isn’t a job to me, per se. Rather, it’s a fundamental part of who I am and how I live my life. My journey is to explore and enjoy life in many facets, to set an example for my growing family, and to help build and contribute to my personal and professional communities. I will forever be a student of life. Design thinking is in my DNA.

Services

Articles by Michele

  • Dear Academic Researcher -

    Dear Academic Researcher -

    It seems you are thinking of switching from academic research to UX research… and specifically to my space, which is…

    18 Comments

Activity

Experience

  • Cohere Graphic

    Staff User Researcher

    Cohere

    - Present 8 months

    San Francisco, California, United States

  • Curiosity Tank (fka Ronsen Consulting, LLC) Graphic

    Founder

    Curiosity Tank (fka Ronsen Consulting, LLC)

    - Present 13 years 4 months

    San Francisco, CA (and remotely)

    Curiosity Tank is a consulting and education firm specializing in human-centered research, design development, and hands-on learning programs. We conduct and teach design and user research to people and corporations around the world.

    Our solutions are affordable and repeatable. We apply our diverse research methods and traditional graphic design roots to deliver formidable results across all platforms, media, and markets.

    Our consulting and training services cater to individuals…

    Curiosity Tank is a consulting and education firm specializing in human-centered research, design development, and hands-on learning programs. We conduct and teach design and user research to people and corporations around the world.

    Our solutions are affordable and repeatable. We apply our diverse research methods and traditional graphic design roots to deliver formidable results across all platforms, media, and markets.

    Our consulting and training services cater to individuals and teams in the following areas:
    > Design thinking and innovation workshop design and facilitation
    > Qualitative research
    > Systems thinking
    > UX/interaction
    > Prototyping
    > Team, product and service design creation and evolution
    > UX, product and education strategy
    > Curricula development and execution
    Let us deliver something remarkable for you. Or better yet, let us help you do it yourself.

    Curiosity Tank is led by Michele Ronsen, a professional user researcher, designer, coach, and educator with more than 5,000 hours of adult design and user research teaching expertise in academic institutions and 20+ years of corporate training, workshops, design and research for Fortune 500s and start-ups.

    We love questions!
    > Learn more about us: www.CuriosityTank.com
    > Workshops for individuals: www.CuriosityTank.com/workshops
    > Corporate training: www.curiositytank.com/corporate-workshops
    > Speaking engagements and other questions: hello@curiositytank.com

    Clients include Stripe, Slack, Zillow, Invisalign, Xero, Microsoft, MileIQ, Autodesk, Square, Facebook, Kaiser Permanente, BNP Paribas, Best Buy, Blue Shield, PayPal, Mapfre, California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, and many fantastic startups and mom and pop shops.

  • General Assembly San Francisco Graphic

    Instructor, Content Creator and Workshop Facilitator

    General Assembly San Francisco

    - 2 years 8 months

    San Francisco Bay Area

    Design, develop and deliver engaging Design Thinking and User Research course curricula, presentations, handouts and workshop activities to professionals at all levels

  • University of California, Berkeley Graphic

    Adjunct Faculty, User Research

    University of California, Berkeley

    - 1 year

    Berkeley, California

  • California College of the Arts

    California College of the Arts

    2 years 10 months

    • California College of the Arts Graphic

      Faculty (Design Methods & Research)

      California College of the Arts

      - 11 months

      San Francisco

    • California College of the Arts Graphic

      Co-Faculty (Intro to Design Research, Leading By Design Fellowship & Design Methods & Research)

      California College of the Arts

      - 2 years 10 months

      San Francisco Bay Area

      Intro to DR: Taught students how to deploy primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative ethnographic research, and other human-centered research techniques. Through an iterative process, including idea generation and rapid prototyping, students developed and presented solutions grounded in user needs.

      LBD Fellow Program: Taught executives and senior professionals the (design and MBA) skills to confidently lead change in their organizations and create lasting value by…

      Intro to DR: Taught students how to deploy primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative ethnographic research, and other human-centered research techniques. Through an iterative process, including idea generation and rapid prototyping, students developed and presented solutions grounded in user needs.

      LBD Fellow Program: Taught executives and senior professionals the (design and MBA) skills to confidently lead change in their organizations and create lasting value by bringing together Design Research, Design Thinking, Business Strategy, (Product Management), Rapid Prototyping, Leadership and Sustainability.

  • Academy of Art University Graphic

    Graduate Faculty and Curriculum Developer (School of Design)

    Academy of Art University

    - 6 years

    San Francisco Bay Area

    Taught conceptual development and mind mapping classes. Led independent and group directed studies focused on individual design thesis projects. Designed and delivered workshops to provide additional mentoring and guidance. Participated on thesis review committee evaluating graduate theses work for certification. Built new curricula focused on “Designing for Social Innovation.”

  • Wells Fargo

    Wells Fargo

    7 years

    • Wells Fargo Graphic

      Senior Vice President and Creative Director (Team Member Marketing)

      Wells Fargo

      - 6 years

      Led a diverse 20-30-person team of writers, designers, producers, and support agencies focusing 100% on engagement experiences for Wells Fargo’s 280,000 internal “team members.” Internal customers also included various product and service groups such as Research, Credit Card, Mortgage, Insurance, Enterprise Marketing, Benefits, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Relations and more.

      Partnered with technology team to redesign 100k page corporate intranet (product) in agile…

      Led a diverse 20-30-person team of writers, designers, producers, and support agencies focusing 100% on engagement experiences for Wells Fargo’s 280,000 internal “team members.” Internal customers also included various product and service groups such as Research, Credit Card, Mortgage, Insurance, Enterprise Marketing, Benefits, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Relations and more.

      Partnered with technology team to redesign 100k page corporate intranet (product) in agile environment.

      Directed several enterprise-wide, cross-functional strategic initiatives. Researched, concepted, prototyped and executed the innovation strategy for all marketing engagements and campaigns across media.

      Authored, reinforced, and evolved brand standards for a variety of segments, channels and media.

      Conducted and leveraged research, analytics, print, video, merchandising, systems and applications, online and interactive media, feedback loops, metrics, training and more to support goals, deliver assets and achieve targets.

      Responsible for $4 MM yearly operating budget in addition to all project expenses, freelance and support agency con-tracts.

      Key accomplishments:
      Brand-Driven Innovation: Created the company’s first Internal Brand Standards, a complex 100-page document de-signed to promote consistent execution, and enterprise-wide adoption as well as to articulate and demonstrate the Wells Fargo employee value proposition in action.

      Organization Design: Recruited, hired and mentored all team members, contractors and support agencies to incre-ase efficiency and innovation.

      Company Firsts: Championed and implemented online “firsts” including animations, videos, and HTML emails

      Implemented a user-driven culture and increased team innovation quotient

      Increased efficiency through templates, merchandising programs, paper reduction, message mapping and HTML e-marketing, yielding consistency in key messages and holistically coordinated experiences across the enterprise.

    • Wells Fargo Graphic

      Vice President and Creative Director (Funds Management)

      Wells Fargo

      - 1 year

      San Francisco

      Built a more strategic and efficient creative team by merging three legacy teams into one entity. Launched a targeted national advertising campaign to motivate external brokers, dealers, institutional and retail audiences to buy, invest or sell mutual funds.

      Ensured SEC and FDIC compliance.

      Identified and analyzed seasonality, work quality, talent, organizational structure, client needs, and all processes.

      Determined, authored and executed revisions to brand standards…

      Built a more strategic and efficient creative team by merging three legacy teams into one entity. Launched a targeted national advertising campaign to motivate external brokers, dealers, institutional and retail audiences to buy, invest or sell mutual funds.

      Ensured SEC and FDIC compliance.

      Identified and analyzed seasonality, work quality, talent, organizational structure, client needs, and all processes.

      Determined, authored and executed revisions to brand standards. Educated management, partners, staff and external agencies.

      Developed creative strategies, provided design direction, and managed team of 20 staff plus freelancers.

  • Bank of America

    Bank of America

    6 years

    • Bank of America Graphic

      Senior Vice President and Design Director (Retail Banking and Distribution)

      Bank of America

      - 3 years

      San Francisco

      Concepted and built the first internal Store Design team in bank history, authoring innovative strategies, implementing processes, managing budgets and applying knowledge of sustainable materials and LEED green building principles.

      Conceived, designed and prototyped 2D, 3D, and 4D components for the bank of the future including fixtures and merchandising.

      Produced user-centered, sustainable solutions to provide a holistically branded retail banking experience.

      Managed…

      Concepted and built the first internal Store Design team in bank history, authoring innovative strategies, implementing processes, managing budgets and applying knowledge of sustainable materials and LEED green building principles.

      Conceived, designed and prototyped 2D, 3D, and 4D components for the bank of the future including fixtures and merchandising.

      Produced user-centered, sustainable solutions to provide a holistically branded retail banking experience.

      Managed creative talent, research, prototype vendors, cost analysis and timelines.

    • Bank of America Graphic

      Vice President and Senior Art Director (Brand and Communications)

      Bank of America

      - 3 years

      San Francisco

      Reorganized and hired talent, migrating it from a production facility to a strategic creative entity.

      Orchestrated all internal and external materials for official Olympic banking sponsorship of the Salt Lake City Games.

      Led team in the design of user-centric experiences including websites, advertising, signage, exhibits, credit, debit and smart cards, catalogs, merchandise, ATM screens, advertising, umbrella and subsidiary brands.

      Supported debt and smart card…

      Reorganized and hired talent, migrating it from a production facility to a strategic creative entity.

      Orchestrated all internal and external materials for official Olympic banking sponsorship of the Salt Lake City Games.

      Led team in the design of user-centric experiences including websites, advertising, signage, exhibits, credit, debit and smart cards, catalogs, merchandise, ATM screens, advertising, umbrella and subsidiary brands.

      Supported debt and smart card, commercial lending, small business, home equity, student loans, and sponsorships.

  • Nordstrom Graphic

    Art Director and Product Innovator (Nordstrom Product Group)

    Nordstrom

    - 3 years

    San Francisco and Seattle

    Traveled internationally researching new cosmetic products and services for private label development, specializing in color, treatment and home fragrance as well as soft goods. Conceived, designed, named, and priced products. Gained deep expertise in life cycle design, including global research, prototyping, launching, retail/wholesale financials, delivery and maintenance.

    Created first in-house Cosmetic Art Department to manage all cosmetic design needs. Established comprehensive…

    Traveled internationally researching new cosmetic products and services for private label development, specializing in color, treatment and home fragrance as well as soft goods. Conceived, designed, named, and priced products. Gained deep expertise in life cycle design, including global research, prototyping, launching, retail/wholesale financials, delivery and maintenance.

    Created first in-house Cosmetic Art Department to manage all cosmetic design needs. Established comprehensive design standards.

    Prototyped and delivered all holiday, packaging, and merchandising solutions for nationwide store purchase.

    Facilitated market focus through trend research as it applied to fashion, retail and overall design.

    Sourced and negotiated all merchandising component and packaging costs. Developed multiple, cost effective, easily merchant- disable solutions for all visual and brand needs.

  • Academy of Art University Graphic

    Undergraduate Faculty (School of Design)

    Academy of Art University

    - 5 years

    Taught junior and senior level graphic design courses focusing on the importance of branding through a variety of design disciplines. Demonstrated creative strategies for developing effective and scalable visual brand identities.

  • Designer

    Michael Osborne Design

    - 2 years

    San Francisco

    Successfully managed Nordstrom cosmetic account

    Developed strong client relationships, gained a firm knowledge of web design, branding, merchandising and packaging systems.

    Conceived, designed and presented all new brand storyboards and potential solutions.

  • Pentagram Graphic

    Design Intern

    Pentagram

    - 3 years

    San Francisco

    Worked directly with partners and senior designers in all aspects of major environmental and graphic design projects.

    Executed 2D, 3D and small model prototypes and storyboards.

    Partial client list: AIGA, Chronicle Books, Coca-Cola, Columbus Salami, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Potlatch, and Williams Sonoma.

Education

  • California College of the Arts Graphic

    California College of the Arts

    Fellowship Leading By Design Fellows Program

    -

    This immersive and experiential graduate level program blends design thinking, business strategy, leadership and sustainability into a holistic framework. For senior professionals seeking to accelerate and deepen their capacity to innovate, solve complex problems, address critical local and global issues, and lead positive change.

    Thesis Focus: Why Are We So Fat?
    Obesity is a complicated epidemic affecting nearly 65% of U.S. adults. I applied design thinking frameworks and…

    This immersive and experiential graduate level program blends design thinking, business strategy, leadership and sustainability into a holistic framework. For senior professionals seeking to accelerate and deepen their capacity to innovate, solve complex problems, address critical local and global issues, and lead positive change.

    Thesis Focus: Why Are We So Fat?
    Obesity is a complicated epidemic affecting nearly 65% of U.S. adults. I applied design thinking frameworks and strategies to propose scalable solutions (including qualitative and quantitative research) refining the approach until I realized viable proposals. The end result illustrates the story of why it is actually easier (and often less expensive) to buy M&Ms than apples, and recommends
    far reaching solutions to achieve meaningful change.

  • Harvard Business School Graphic

    Harvard Business School

    Certificate Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders

    -

  • Academy of Art University Graphic

    Academy of Art University

    BFA Graphic Design

    -

  • Syracuse University Graphic
  • San Francisco State University Graphic
  • University of California, Berkeley Graphic

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • The Hamlin School Graphic

    Tech Advisory Committee

    The Hamlin School

    - Present 4 years 4 months

    Science and Technology

Skills

Publications

  • Hands-on with Design Thinking: Explore Phase

    Autodesk

    The design industry has gone through significant changes of roles and responsibilities over the past ten years. If you’ve been in the industry as an educator; it’s obvious. As a student it may not be yet. The world is smaller than it was before, and technology and globalization have played a key role in bringing experiences to our hands. We as designers today have become more cross-functional in our scope, and expectations are high for the products and experiences we deliver. Design thinking…

    The design industry has gone through significant changes of roles and responsibilities over the past ten years. If you’ve been in the industry as an educator; it’s obvious. As a student it may not be yet. The world is smaller than it was before, and technology and globalization have played a key role in bringing experiences to our hands. We as designers today have become more cross-functional in our scope, and expectations are high for the products and experiences we deliver. Design thinking has become a necessary piece of our process if we are to drive sustainable and positive change socially, economically, and behaviorally.

    This blog series covers the five steps of Autodesk’s User Centered Design and Design Thinking process for educators and practitioners — Understand, Explore, Prototype, Refine, and Solve — and includes several homework assignments for hands-on practice. In our last post, we covered Understanding and learned how to implement practices of empathy in order to uncover and grasp people’s wants and needs. This foundational step sets the tone for our design process and ensures that we’re designing for impact.

    See publication
  • Hands-on with Design Thinking: Prototype Phase

    Autodesk

    Welcome to part three in this series about the five steps of Autodesk’s User Centered Design and Design thinking process — Understand, Explore, Prototype, Refine, and Solve. It includes several homework assignments for students of various levels and encourages hands-on practice. We’ve been articulating these steps because of the drastic changes in the design industry over the past few decades that have profound impact on how we as designers define our processes, and how we as educators are…

    Welcome to part three in this series about the five steps of Autodesk’s User Centered Design and Design thinking process — Understand, Explore, Prototype, Refine, and Solve. It includes several homework assignments for students of various levels and encourages hands-on practice. We’ve been articulating these steps because of the drastic changes in the design industry over the past few decades that have profound impact on how we as designers define our processes, and how we as educators are helping to shape both these processes and the students who apply them.

    I was a student too. My formal education was twenty years ago, a time when design could be summed up by the aesthetics of type, form, and material. For years, I studied, critiqued, created and questioned the design of various “things.” It was physical. “Experience” wasn’t yet part of the lexicon, but I sought just that: experience. Allow me to share a personal one.

    See publication
  • Hands-on with Design Thinking: Refine Phase

    Autodesk

    Building a Design Thinking skillset is a practiced process. By the time you’ve completed the first three steps in Autodesk’s Design Thinking process — Understand, Explore, Prototype, Refine, and Solve — you may also have unknowingly traveled down a path, or multiple paths, that deviated from established criteria in one way or another. While the premise of user-centered design is to include the user every step of the way, it’s plausible that new findings, stakeholders, budget, technology or…

    Building a Design Thinking skillset is a practiced process. By the time you’ve completed the first three steps in Autodesk’s Design Thinking process — Understand, Explore, Prototype, Refine, and Solve — you may also have unknowingly traveled down a path, or multiple paths, that deviated from established criteria in one way or another. While the premise of user-centered design is to include the user every step of the way, it’s plausible that new findings, stakeholders, budget, technology or something within your control has inadvertently modified the direction. This is where Refine comes in: the second to last step in Autodesk’s Design Thinking process.

    We’ve already covered Understanding: the step in which we learn how to uncover and grasp wants and needs through practices of empathy. In Exploring, we took strides to define for whom we are designing, what success looks like and then generating ranges of solutions to meet needs. In Prototyping, we reviewed testing, learning, and iterating to validate those proposed solutions.

    In the next phase, Refine, we revisit the original design challenge and its success criteria to ensure our solutions are meeting set goals. Here, we take a fresh look at our highest fidelity prototype, review it, and take stock of how it meets the original and possibly revised goals. Remember, these goals may have morphed through the process, or it’s possible that you may have departed from the destination accidently.

    See publication
  • Hands-on with Design Thinking: Solution Phase

    Autodesk

    In this series, Michele Ronsen of Ronsen Consulting explores Design Thinking through blogs and activities. Before reading the article below, check out the first four blogs in the series, which cover the Understand, Explore, Prototype, and Refine phases of Design Thinking.

    Welcome to the fifth and final blog article about Autodesk’s five step Design Thinking Process: Solution. This is where you present your final work. Doing this well is just as valuable as producing outstanding work, if…

    In this series, Michele Ronsen of Ronsen Consulting explores Design Thinking through blogs and activities. Before reading the article below, check out the first four blogs in the series, which cover the Understand, Explore, Prototype, and Refine phases of Design Thinking.

    Welcome to the fifth and final blog article about Autodesk’s five step Design Thinking Process: Solution. This is where you present your final work. Doing this well is just as valuable as producing outstanding work, if not even more so. It’s paramount that you do not underestimate the importance of this final deliverable. In fact, work that’s presented thoroughly and expertly will often outshine work that that isn’t as well done. Why? Several reasons:

    A successful presentation will bring people together and encourage rich dialog and deep connection.
    Shared experience is greater than any individual experience and possesses the power to align disparate views and gives the opportunity to progress those views with a unified vision.
    Presenting your recommendation is sometimes your last opportunity to influence your audience’s beliefs and behaviors.

    See publication
  • Hands-on with Design Thinking: Understand Phase

    Autodesk

    In this series, Michele Ronsen of Ronsen Consulting explores Design Thinking through blogs and activities. Design Thinking is a methodology for creative problem solving. Though designers and organizations define Design Thinking differently, the central process remains the same.

    • start with a problem statement
    • gather information about that problem with empathy and human-centered approaches
    • create as many solutions as possible
    • test prototyped options with…

    In this series, Michele Ronsen of Ronsen Consulting explores Design Thinking through blogs and activities. Design Thinking is a methodology for creative problem solving. Though designers and organizations define Design Thinking differently, the central process remains the same.

    • start with a problem statement
    • gather information about that problem with empathy and human-centered approaches
    • create as many solutions as possible
    • test prototyped options with potential users
    • eventually, choose a refined or unified direction for the design

    See publication

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