mollyschaller

Molly Schaller

UX Researcher, UX Designer, Content Creator, and Project Manager

About

Molly holds a master’s degree in Emerging Media Design + Development from Ball State University and is a driven and efficient User Experience Researcher, Designer, and Analyst. She has more than 15 years of experience working as a consultant, project manager, content creator, designer, social media strategist, editor, and writer.

Work Experience

User Experience Researcher, Designer, & Analyst; Aug. 2019 – Present

Molly Schaller Consulting, LLC, Muncie, IN

• Executes quantitative studies, identifying and defining user needs, pitfalls, and activities in digital and physical environments and reports findings to guide clients in ways to improve user experience and engagement
• Conducts qualitative studies to collect data that provides a deep understanding of less obvious, nuanced parts of the user experience with which to guide subsequent iterations of digital and physical experiences
• Creates email campaigns to identify and recruit engaged users for studies, providing clients with authentic, representative audiences and ethnographic data
• Creates use case and task analysis diagrams
• Creates interactive wireframes and build low- and high-fidelity prototypes that clearly and effectively communicate ideas and concepts with clients, developers, and partners
• Evaluates website information architecture through heuristic evaluations and cognitive walkthroughs with users
• Gathers key stakeholder information and conduct meetings to create and maintain strong, open avenues of communication and understanding between clients, team members, and stakeholders
• Clearly presents data in meaningful presentations, collaborating with developers, clients, and team members

Industry Consultant; July 2009 – present

Molly Schaller Consulting, LLC, Muncie, IN

• Oversees social media platforms on behalf of clients through engaging visuals and consistent posting schedules to uphold positive brand image
• Administrates MailChimp account for client, growing subscribed audience from 1400 to over 60,000 in 3 years
• Composes and sends engaging email campaigns and monthly newsletters that increased client revenue by more than 1000%
• Manages and recruits a team of designers and contributors
• Creates budget and pay matrix for designers and contributors and reviews invoices
• Designs, writes instructions, & creates step-by-step photo instructions to be used as promotions on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram
• Coordinates promotions between clients and national craft supply chain stores to ensure placement across a variety of media platforms
• Creates and presents instructional programming, serving as an industry expert on behalf of clients on television and at industry trade shows and events

Product Manager (Part-time); April 2022 – August 2022

Annie’s, Fort Wayne, IN

• Designed products within project budgets while maintaining schedules and meeting deadlines for development, production, and fulfillment
• Contacted and coordinated with overseas vendors to satisfy customer demand with a focus on achieving sales, gross margin, and retention objectives
• Accurately input product attributes and key product specs into company database, working closely with the purchasing department
• Partnered with creative and marketing teams to showcase new items in print and online to create engaging images and increase sales
• Collaborated with VP of Products to create innovative and on-trend projects in yearly concept calendars

Web Designer; January 2020 – April 2021

Ball State University, Muncie, IN
Immersive Learning Course: Sitting at the Feet of Our Muncie Elders

• Lead ideation sessions with Senior Center staff
• Formulated website information architecture
• Gathered key stakeholder information
• Organize provided website content
• Redesign website in WordPress

Designer, Tech Editor, & Educator; 2008-2010

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Grants Pass, OR

• Designed projects and wrote how-to instructions
• Edited others’ projects for technical accuracy to ensure customer success
• Answered “Ask the Expert” questions from customers
• Reviewed web pages for layout consistency and flow

Editor-in-Chief, Simply Beads Magazine; 2006-2008

Dynamic Resources Group, Berne, IN

• Recruited, supervised, and created community relationships with more than 30 freelance designers and writers
• Wrote articles and product reviews for each issue, coordinating with marketing and vendors
• Developed issue themes that kept magazine content on trend and increased subscriptions and sales
• Structured and stayed on budget for each issue
• Collaborated with marketing, graphic design, and photography teams to maximize advertiser product exposure and readership pleasure

Production Editor; 1996 – 2006

Macmillan Publishing, Indianapolis, IN (freelance)

• Managed multiple technical book projects
• Kept authors on schedule with chapter submissions
• Edited text for grammatical and formatting consistency
• Copy edited final pass
• Coordinated with technical editors, indexers, and publishing team managers

Education

Bachelor of Arts in English, Minors in Creative Writing and Art

Ball State University

Research

User Interviews
Cognitive Walkthroughs
Journey Mapping
Heuristic Evaluations
Task Analysis
User Testing
Persona Creation
Use Case Analysis
Contextual Inquiry
Storyboarding
Ethnographic Research & Analysis

Skills

UX Research
UX Design
UX Consulting
Questionnaire Design & Development
Low- & High-Fidelity Prototyping
Project Management
Social Media Management
Graphic Design
Design Thinking
Transmedia Storytelling
Strategic Communications
Product Development
Information Architecture
Writing
Editorial
Photography
Brand Ambassador
Television Appearances

Tools

Microsoft Office
Qualtrics
Survey Monkey
Balsamiq
Figma
Google Jamboard
Knovio
Canva
Shopify Analytics
MailChimp
Ads Manager
WordPress
UXPressia
Adobe Creative Cloud