About Kathryn
Senior UX Designer & Experience Strategist
I’m Kathryn Adams, a UX designer and strategist with 20+ years of experience designing digital experiences for financial services, healthcare, education, nonprofit, and service-based organizations.
My work combines UX research, information architecture, journey mapping, accessibility, interaction design, and visual communication to make complex experiences easier to understand and navigate.
What I do
I help teams uncover friction, clarify user needs, organize complex information, and translate research into practical improvements to the user experience.
My work often includes:
- UX research and usability evaluation
- Information architecture
- Journey mapping
- Wireframing and prototyping
- Accessibility and responsive design
- Interaction and visual design
- Experience strategy
Experience across complex environments
My background includes enterprise and product work with organizations such as Vanguard, ECRI, and HealthEquity, as well as independent and client-facing UX projects.
That experience has given me a strong understanding of how to design for complex systems where clarity, trust, accessibility, and usability matter.
I’ve also developed independent Experience Strategy Reviews that assess digital ecosystems, user journeys, information architecture, and future-state opportunities.
A strong visual foundation
My career began in visual and interactive design, and that foundation continues to shape how I approach UX.
I pay close attention to hierarchy, typography, layout, content structure, and visual clarity—not as decoration, but as part of how people understand and use an experience.
Designing for clarity & trust
Across healthcare, financial services, education, and emotionally sensitive environments, I’ve seen how easily complex experiences can become confusing.
My goal is to reduce that uncertainty by designing experiences that are clear, intuitive, and purposeful.
Teaching and design practice
Alongside my professional work, I teach UX, graphic design, and digital media at the university level.
Teaching strengthens my ability to communicate design decisions, facilitate critique, and explain complex ideas clearly.
Experience at a glance
20+ years
Digital design, UX, and experience design
Focus areas
UX Research • Information Architecture • Journey Mapping • Accessibility • Interaction Design • Prototyping
Industries
Financial Services • Healthcare • Education • Nonprofit • Complex Services
Tools
Figma • Adobe Creative Suite • WordPress • Maze • Jira • Confluence
Education
MA Interactive Design—Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD)
BA Interactive Design, Cum Laude (SCAD)