Mary D. Price
UX Researcher
My philosophy background drives my approach: ask deep questions to uncover actionable insights and, through collaboration, help create engaging experiences that benefit the user and the business.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, went to UC Berkeley and got a B.A. in Philosophy, took a summer Italian intensive class, flew to Rome to embark on a Ph.L. program in Philosophy, received my Ph.L. (magna cum laude), returned to the United States and then jumped into web development. I dove into UX Research and took on a number of freelance projects before moving to Cincinnati and where I wound up at Ameritas and worked as a UX Specialist (with a focus of research) supporting the needs of multiple business verticals for life/group insurance.
Experience
November 2022 - Present
Senior UX Specialist
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
September 2012 - November 2022
Designer/Developer
Edward Price Company
Duties are designing and implementing designs for Local and Union websites and web portals. This includes discovery and research, UX/UI, design, and coding up designs in html/css/js using a Foundation Framework. Duties also include technical support for our products.
March 2022-July 2022
UX Researcher
Tales
Conducted heuristics analysis and remote moderated usability testing for Tales platform along with preliminary persona creation research.
April 2020-June 2020
UXR Apprentice
Curiosity Tank
Benchmarked a major health plan’s Find a Doctor tool against seven competitor tools. Researched and identified general industry pain points, trends, and approaches through use of interviews and heuristic analysis. Evaluated client and competitor task flows, features, functionality, and fields within a modified rainbow spreadsheet framework. Identified challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for client’s Find a Doctor tool.
January 2020 – March 2020
Freelance UX Researcher
Track it Forward
Analyzed user paths and progress for Track It Forward’s onboarding Hours Tour, identified pain points, iterated on the design process, developed low-fidelity wireframes, and provided a report detailing the analysis and recommendations to help improve experience and completion rates.
October 2015 – March 2019
Co-Founder, Operations Partner, Content Creator
The Breakaway
Co-founded The Breakaway: a thriving weekly swing-dancing venue offering lessons and social dances. Developed operational processes as Operations Partner for a term, and worked in Marketing to create a tone and copy for our online social media platforms (Meetup, Facebook, email campaigns, etc.).
Education
LOMA: Associate, Life Management Institute Courses
281: Meeting Customer Needs With Insurance and Annuities
291: Improving the Bottom Line: Insurance Company Operations
302:The Policy Lifecycle: Insurance Administration
Nielsen Norman Group
WORKSHOP: Journey Mapping to Understand Customer Needs, Measuring UX and ROI
Spring 2022
Delta CX Academy
WORKSHOP: Core Skills-Interactive Prototyping with Axure RP 9
Winter 2020
Curiosity Tank,
CLASSES: Plan Like a Pro, Interview Like a Pro
Spring 2020
UC Berkeley Extension
CLASS: User Research for UX
Fall 2019
The Writing Salon
Berkeley, CA
CLASSES: Writing from the Heart, Fantastical Fiction, Fiction Workshop
2017-2018
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
Rome, Italy
Ph.L. – Philosophy – Magna Cum Laude
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
B.A. – Philosophy