About

Hi, I’m Jamie Umak! It’s great to meet you. I’m an energetic, results-based designer and remote worker located in Frederick, Maryland.

Jamie Umak
White flowers in Cancún, Mexico
Me in front of a mural with butterfly wings
Me at Paisley Park with piano and guitar in background
Beautiful pie crust with roses I sculpted by hand
Purple and green plant leaves in Cancún, Mexico
Me and a white dove painted on a purple mural

The idea of interconnectivity has always fascinated me.

Background

I’m a Principal UX & Service Designer that uncovers design opportunities by understanding ecosystem interconnectivity and complexity to frame the right design problems and achieve measurable business and user outcomes. I do this by exploring and orchestrating the systems, relationships, loops, and overall macro-level of ecosystems.

Experience

I’ve been a human-centered designer for 15+ years, mainly within SaaS and enterprise technology. Throughout my experiences, I’ve led outcome-driven, user-centered design solutions across Fortune 500 companies in education, healthcare, information technology, non-profit, and government sectors. My strengths include simplifying complex products and services through discovery, user research, strategic systems thinking, and building thoughtful relationships as a design team leader and builder.

When I published my first web page, knowing that anyone in the world could view my work instantly amazed me. I was excited by the idea of connecting to a bigger world and I knew I wanted to start my journey to become a professional designer. This excitement and curiosity has evolved over time into a genuine passion for breaking down complex UX and service design problems, from the smallest to largest scale, to uncover innovative solutions for businesses. I’m committed to achieving measurable outcomes across complex systems by aligning business goals with design. These types of challenges are where I thrive and do my best work.

Interests

When I’m not busy designing user experiences for the big-picture, you can find me: lifting weights, running, making artistic desserts, finding geocaches, playing tennis, clearing the board on SpellTower, or rewatching The X-Files, Gilmore Girls, and Friends. I also create my own holiday cards. After deep thinking all day, it’s great to unwind and recharge for the next challenge!

My dedicated home office in Maryland (outer Washington, D.C. metro area) where I design and collaborate with people around the world.

Design Philosophy

  • Follow ethical business and design practices.
  • Advocates for the user to create human-centered designs.
  • Creates a seamless user experience for everyone.
  • Information should be accessible and understandable to all.
  • Design is about understanding and helping people.
  • Design doesn’t need to be complicated.

Professional Approach

  • Empathetic to others and all viewpoints.
  • Listens, observes, and examines every detail.
  • Curious and investigates until an answer is found.
  • Not afraid to think big and collaborate on new ideas.
  • Asks questions and then asks more.
  • Tells a story like you would to a friend.
Jamie Umak - UX Certification Badge from Nielsen Norman Group

UX Certified through Nielsen Norman Group with UX Management Specialty

I love attending conferences and learning from others through one of the best UX training programs available.

Interaction Design Foundation

Former Chapter Leader of Interaction Design Foundation Baltimore, MD

For six years I managed the IxDF Baltimore group, mentored designers, and organized design meetups for 90+ members.


Recommendations from Clients, Leadership, and Colleagues

Jamie is an absolute gem of a human. From our very first interaction—when I cold-messaged her on LinkedIn and she responded with such warmth—she has radiated nothing but kindness and thoughtfulness. Flexible and thorough, she has made my time volunteering with the American Red Cross such an enriching experience. Jamie’s clear guidance, deep intelligence, and infectious enthusiasm for good design are beacons. Anyone would feel lucky to work with her—I certainly do.

Nana T. Baffour-Awuah, Writer + Strategist @ whatnanawrote™

From the moment we began working together, Jamie was keenly focused on organizing the work and delivering to the high expectations placed upon her. As the project proceeded from planning to the design phase, she brought many ideas and suggestions forward which further enhanced the outcomes of the design project. I highly recommend Jamie as a design partner for those interested in maintaining high standards in the work process, client service, and the eventual deliverables.

ED H., Executive Director, Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership of Frederick County

Jamie is a talented designer and excellent employee and colleague. Jamie’s work is detail-oriented, creative, and beautiful, and she is gracious about her talents. She is pleasant, communicates well with her colleagues, is an excellent collaborator, takes initiative, has a great attitude and work ethic, is polite and considerate, and does all her work in a timely manner, meeting deadlines and efficiently balancing multiple projects. I have greatly enjoyed working with her for the past four years.

Kari P., Professional Photographer

I have been a business owner for 35 years. In 2009 I hired Jamie as a full-time designer. From day one, Jamie took on the job with professionalism, creativity, and hard work. Jamie has been—by far—the most talented, reliable, and professional employee I have ever had. Jamie worked for NatureScapes just 4 months short of 10 years. She will be missed and will never be replaced with anyone in the same league. She’s that good. Even though she worked from her home office, her work ethic, reliability, and schedule were all on point every single day of her tenure. Her design skills and creativity are second to none as is her forward-thinking of how people use our website, related interfaces, and email systems…

Greg D., President, NatureScapes

For over 3 years, Jamie has consistently surpassed management and client expectations with exceptional creativity, professionalism, and hard work. She has always been the go-to person for the more challenging jobs, and is in continuous high-demand from our project management and leadership teams. Her ability to arrive at the appropriate blend of form and function, whether staying within the bounds of pre-existing constraints or starting from scratch has repeatedly been a unique combination of capabilities, upon which we have relied many times. Seldom do we encounter an individual with as much creative talent who knows how to work in a team, how to take the lead, or work independently.

Eric D., Managing Director

Companies and Organizations I’ve Designed Solutions For

  • 7-Eleven
  • Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
  • American Academy of Ophthalmology
  • American College of Cardiology
  • American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
  • American National Red Cross
  • American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
  • Becton Dickinson
  • BOK Financial Corporation
  • Elsevier
  • George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health
  • Gilead
  • Ginnie Mae
  • Guggenheim Partners
  • The Hastings Center
  • HealthMark Multimedia
  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
  • Indian Health Service (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
  • Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
  • KeyBank
  • Kohler
  • Medical University of South Carolina
  • NatureScapes.net
  • New York Academy of Sciences
  • Nuvolo
  • Rimini Street, Inc.
  • ServiceNow
  • Speedway
  • Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP)
  • United Airlines
  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • United Way
  • Volunteer Frederick
  • Weinberg Center for the Arts
  • The Wellness Community
  • Wolters Kluwer
  • And many others!

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