Michele Ronsen

There are a few things neither a portfolio nor a C.V. address that may be helpful to know. For example, my earliest memory is of driving down the highway with my father. He asked me to look at a McDonald’s sign – the quintessential golden arches. He then handed me a crayon and asked me to draw what I thought the gear inside the sign (that made it spin) looked like. I was three years old.

Fast forward to how it played out: Professionally trained graphic designer and design strategist. Learned the ropes at Pentagram and Michael Osborne Design. Moved client side leading design teams to develop product, packaging, merchandising and retail experiences for Nordstrom. Journeyed into finance at BofA and Wells Fargo where real estate development and service design quickly became passions as I learned the mortgage benefits of employment in financial services. Completed the Leading By Design Fellows Program to secure a deep expertise in ethnographic research, user-centered design, user experience strategy, and innovation acceleration. Which brings us to today, consulting for wonderfully diverse clients and teaching design and user research to students around world.

I do my best work when I’m exploring new and disparate ideas, designing across disciplines, and helping others to do the same. I am a strong advocate and practitioner of human-centered and socially responsible design. Entrepreneurial in spirit and collaborative by nature I have an equally creative and analytical mind and a passion for tackling complex challenges that lead to positive change. I'm recognized as a fearless, jolly, and curious entrepreneur and a leader of design and business-led solutions.

What I do isn’t a job to me, per se. Rather, it’s a fundamental part of who I am and how I live my life. My journey is to explore and enjoy life in many facets, to set an example for my growing family, and to help build and contribute to my personal and professional communities. I will forever be a student of life. Design thinking is in my DNA.