# Lauren Willis > Sr. Manager, User Experience Design @ AppFolio | Creative Strategy, User-Centric Design Location: Pleasanton, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/laurenwillis Experienced manager with over 15 years in product design and 9 years managing teams of managers, designers, researchers, and content strategists. Proven track record in building trusted teams to create innovative user-centered experiences. Expertise in driving product strategy, implementing and overseeing design processes, and collaborating cross-functionally to deliver impactful solutions. Strong leadership skills, empathic leader who values candor, nurtures talent and fosters team growth, combined with a deep understanding of user research, interaction design, and prototyping. Passionate about leveraging user-centered design to drive business growth and create innovative solutions that exceed user expectations. Eager to learn about your company and the impact we can create together. ## Work Experience ### Sr. Manager, User Experience Design @ AppFolio Jan 2025 – Present ### Sr UX Design Manager @ Workday Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 | Pleasanton, California, United States • Senior Manager for Recruiting and Higher Education • Led design for Workday’s first successful acquisition - Hiredscore, resulting in the implementation of Workday’s first AI Agent • Consistently earned top manager ratings (Peakon) across Research, Analytics, and Design teams (250+ people) for 4+ years • Spearheaded design and launch of Recruiter Hub, a product that not only transformed the way recruiters worked by reducing time-to-fill by 15% but also revolutionized Workday products and navigation as a whole with 26+ Hubs implemented today • Led an org of 15+ designers and managers in multiple locations and time zones - mentoring and promoting talent, resulting in the highest team retention and 5+ promotions • Led UX for multiple SKUs in Recruiting and Higher Education sectors, driving cohesive user experiences across platforms while managing large-scale, complex projects across multiple teams, resulting in GM sponsoring design initiated projects • Collaborated with Product, Design, Strategy, and Operations to define and execute the product roadmap, fostering strong cross-functional relationships and ensuring a user-centered focus • Navigated ambiguity while driving clarity and bringing together user, technology, and business needs in multiple projects ### UX Design Manager @ Workday Jan 2017 – Jan 2022 | Pleasanton, CA • Scaled and implemented a 2 week design sprint across 10 product design teams (70+ UX practitioners), resulting in a 20% reduction in project cycle time and a 10% increase in product innovation output/time • Defined a design-driven Recruiting product vision, shaping strategy and the roadmap for the next 5-7 years ### Associate UX Design Manager @ Workday Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Pleasanton, California, United States • Managed a team of designers, researchers, content strategists, and interns • Created successful partnerships with Product, Development, and Operations resulting in 10% of every sprint to focus on UX enhancements ### Product Designer @ Workday Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | Pleasanton, CA • Original design lead on Recruiting, the #1 selling product at Workday • Led a Design Thinking Workshop for numerous Recruiting customers (75+ people) at Workday's annual Rising conference • Conducted in-person usability studies and observations with multiple customers and users • Maintained and updated Workday's Design Pattern Library company wide • Organized at least one volunteer event a year for UX Services, 50+ people ### UX Design Lead @ Tapjoy Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | San Francisco Bay Area • Was responsible for the UX and UI of Tapjoy’s business-to-business dashboard • Developed a thoughtful experience that transformed the dashboard into a self-service product • Created a new process for Product and Engineering to partner with design in order to develop user-centered products ### UX Designer @ Electronic Arts Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Redwood Shores, CA • Led interaction design for the redesign of Origin.com, through user-centered design principles in a cross-functional agile environment • Designed flows for the global identity system across web, client, mobile, and console, integrating IA maps of the user journey to ensure a seamless experience between game teams and users • Created and maintained a Design System for Origin.com • Widgetized ‘Buy Now’ pages across EA, benefitting the user and creating a strong unified brand for EA • Successfully worked with outside agencies while providing detailed wireframes and design justifications to developers • Created cross-platform designs which provided solid, concise, and consistent interactions that furthered the brand • Efficiently partnered with Product, Engineering, and Operations while explaining the importance of UX across all platforms ### Interaction Designer @ FANDOM Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area · Journey: Intern >> Visual Designer for Sales and Marketing >> Interaction Designer for Product · Created all premium advertisement specifications and custom ads for new website rollout · Helped Wikia premium sales team double advertising revenue from 2009-2010 · Designed, developed, and wrote marketing for Wikia's media kit · Managed a small team of sales and marketing designers · Developed and maintained new product style guide that aligns design and front-end engineering · Collaborated with Creative Director and UX Director to develop new user-facing products and tools · Was responsible for evolving the experience and visual aspects of new products launched · Created initial concepts, wireframes, user flows, and multiple visual designs per product · Redesigned Wikia's core feature, the Rich Text Editor, while working closely with front-end developers to execute design · Worked closely with engineering to unify user experience and UI details throughout the site, reusing code when appropriate · Successfully worked with project managers and engineers across multiple time zones (England, Poland, & USA) ### Freelance Designer @ LMGraphics Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 | Bay Area, CA · San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival 30th Annual commemorative tote bag - competition won · Created logos, brand identities, and printed collateral for various clients, including Invisible Children and ConnectWell ### Design Illustrator Intern @ Frecklebox.com Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 | Santa Clara, CA · Provided designs for new products to be sold in mass print · Gained technical knowledge in new design software, DirectSmile, in order to quickly produce custom fonts · Pre-pressed applications for digital and large format print ## Education ### Graphic Design FIDM ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/willisdesigns - Portfolio: https://laurenwillisdesign.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/laurenwillis JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/laurenwillis/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13