Career Path of a Product Designer at a Non-profit Education Company
Ashley's career path began with coding in high school during the "wild, wild west for the internet" and evolved from an entry-level frontend developer at Dillard's, where they learned SEO, accessibility, and usability, to a user experience specialist, ultimately leading them to product design at a non-profit education company through roles at B2B companies, Verizon Wireless ("UX research 'cause they wanted to make sure what they were doing, the customers actually wanted"), and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.
User Experience, Web Development, Accessibility, E-commerce, Career Path
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Ashley McWilliams
Product Designer
Non-profit education company
Arkansas State University
Engineering, IT, Math & Data
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Scholarship Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Early exposure to coding in high school influenced career trajectory, leading to a business degree and a role as a frontend developer.
2. Gained diverse experience at Dillard's over seven years, evolving from frontend developer to user experience specialist, showcasing career growth and adaptability.
3. Transitioned through various roles in different companies, including B2B, Verizon Wireless, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, demonstrating a broad range of skills and experience in web development, UX research, and product design.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? What internships or jobs did you have before your current role?
I chose my path even in high school when I learned how to code. This was back in the nineties, so it was pretty much the wild, wild west for the internet. My college only had two options: a business degree or a computer science degree, so I went with business.
I'm not a computer science person, so I felt business was a better fit. It was great, I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot. Basically, it qualified me to run an IT department when I graduated. A few months after graduation, I got a job at Dillard's, the e-retail company.
They were headquartered near where I live, so that was easy. I was there for seven years. I started entry-level as a frontend developer because they needed somebody who knew HTML, and that was me. I worked with the e-commerce team on all of their sites. At their height, we were managing 12 sites at all times.
By the time I left, seven years later, I had done SEO, accessibility, usability, and Java training. I ended up being the user experience person, partnering with customer service. That's led me to where I am now.
I went from there to a small B2B company where I was in charge of everything on their web, including creating their international website. Then, from there to Verizon Wireless, I started out as a web developer. I quickly moved into UX research because they wanted to make sure what they were doing was what the customers actually wanted.
I got certified in user research there, as well as digital marketing, so I could work with the marketing teams. I was there for five years. Then I went to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi. Out of the e-commerce world, finally into something else, I was the user experience specialist there.
I led the front-end dev team for web and mobile. The biggest thing there was an award-winning mobile app redesign for their members. Then I came to LSAC first as an accessibility developer so I could help the dev teams with inclusive design and web accessibility. Now I'm doing product design, which takes me back into more of that user experience role.