Laura Rider-Hill is a UX Researcher and Product Designer based in the Greater Boston Area. She is a multifaceted designer with 10 years industry experience who utilizes human centered design to create tailored product experiences that are both highly functional & elegantly designed. She remains consistently engaged with the UX community to stay up to date with current trends & best practices.
EDUCATION
UX Design Program
Career Foundry | 2022
Bachelor of Fine Arts—Textile Design
Rhode Island School of Design | 2012
CERTIFICATES
Course Certificate —Sustainable Development
University of Copenhagen | 2021
SKILLS / INTERESTS
UX Design
Product Design
Competitive Analysis
User Research
User Journeys
User Interviews
User Testing
User Flows
Personas
Wireframes
Prototyping
Quantitative & Qualitative Research
A/B Testing
Information Architecture
Interior Design
Client Relations
Color Theory
Sustainable Design
Project Management
Quality control
Textile Design
Drawing/Painting
Photography
Teaching
COMPUTER PROGRAMS
Figma
Sketch
Adobe XD
Miro
Zeplin
Google Suits
Adobe Creative Suite
Microsoft Office
CAD
EXPERIENCE
Graphic Color Designer
Ahead LLC | 2015–2020
Hand-selected thread colors and materials for embroidery across product lines
Oversaw final designs to ensure quality and accuracy to client’s specifications while upholding company standards
Produced hard proofs of products for client approval
Executed proof staging, styling and photography for product catalog and client delivery
Designer & Curator
Locket | 2015
Led the curation and publishing of multiple rounds of content daily, including weekends
Oversaw discovery, copy-editing, and curation of all content for the Locket application
Handled all approval of content within Locket ensuring assets met company specifications, device standards and strict deadlines
Supervised international contractors and partnerships
Head of Design - Interior Designer
La-Z-Boy | 2012–2014
Led the interior design program and managed a small team of personal design assistants
Worked closely with clients to allow full realization of their vision and worked within their homes to ensure best fit
Designed detailed and client-specific interior floor plans and color schemes utilizing AutoCAD
Presented final designs, coordinated collections of materials and proposed room layouts through conceptual mood boards and visual assets
Oversaw execution of projects from ideation through to installation
Teaching Assistant
Rhode Island School of Design | 2011–2012
Assisted in teaching various painting techniques to students utilizing watercolor, oil, and acrylic paints
Facilitated critiques to ensure individual development of each student’s talents and personal styles
REFERENCES
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Barb Casagrande is the Vice President of Operations at Ahead LLC. She also served in the role of Art Director of the art department and was a Manager to me during my 5 years with the company.
Contact Information:
(781) 351-6777
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Ford Beatie was the Co-Manager of the art department at Ahead LLC. He oversaw my work and productivity and was my supervisor in the creative department during my 5 years with the company.
Contact Information:
(508) 384-8120
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Dean Blais was the Co-Manager of the art department at Ahead LLC. He oversaw my work and productivity and was my supervisor in the creative department during my 5 years with the company.
Contact Information:
(508) 985-9898
deanb@aheadhq.com
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Tesla Nooth was the Head of Color Picking at Ahead LLC. She was the one who trained me and who I would go to for questions and guidance.
Contact Information:
(508) 542-1738
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Beth Gramling has been a mentor to me most of my life and can speak to my personality and growth throughout my life.
Contact Information:
(626) 945-7225
Hello,
I am writing in reference to Laura Rider-Hill who worked for ahead from 2015 to 2022. During this time she worked as a graphic color artist within our creative department. As a graphic color artist Laura primarily worked with the Wilcom Embroidery Studio and the Wilcom Workflow application software. She also used Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Laura’s job was key to obtaining customer approval of embroidered samples, and generating production forms guiding our embroidery production floor as to what thread colors a design must use. Her work duties included:
Communicating with sales reps and customers regarding artwork approvals.
Selecting thread colors and colorizing logos using the Wilcom and Abobe software.
Following and interpreting instructions from a variety of logo guidelines, color standard documents, and order details.
Generating production documents for the embroidery production floor.
The entire time Laura worked within the creative team she was known for her keen eye for detail, eye for color, ability to follow instruction, and excellent work quality. Given the quality of her work, She was well trusted to work with our top accounts. Laura was very professional and pleasant to work with for all her coworkers as well as management.
Thank you, Dean Blais
Manager of Creative and Customer Service
AHEAD, LLC
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
To whom it may concern,
I have been employed by AHEAD USA, a leader in the embroidery and apparel business, in various positions for 22 years. I have been Laura's supervisor in the Creative Department for the last 5 years. I have seen many young people come and go in my role, and Laura is one that stands out among them. Laura's professionalism, attention to detail, and work ethics quickly earned her the respect of her managers and coworkers alike. As a result, she was advanced to a quality control position that was responsible for reviewing others work before it entered production. It is a high pressure roll, as it is the last step where a costly error could be caught, and she performed the job admirably. However, it's not only her technical skills that were impressive. Laura was an absolute joy to work with due to her positive attitude, friendly personality, and willingness to accept extra work and responsibilities. She became the department's "go to" person when work needed to be done correctly and quickly. On top of her professional skills, Laura's personal life impressed me as well. Laura moved across the country from California, her friends and family, and the life she knew, to Massachusetts and the hardships of having to do everything alone and on her own. I know she faced many challenges, both professional and personal, and could have easily quit and returned home. But Laura was determined to succeed on her own and she wouldn't let herself fail at her goals. I have no doubt that Laura will be a success following her passions. If you would like to reach out to me for more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at (508) 384-8120. I can only say so much in a letter like this, but would be happy to elaborate about Laura and my time working with her.
Sincerely, Ford Beattie