About Me

Hi there! I'm Sumer (pronounced like the season) and I have experience in Product Management, Service Design, User Research, Information Architecture, and Visual Design. Welcome to my portfolio!

BACKGROUND

My academic background is a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy, Religion and Anthropology from Emory University. The primary transferable piece of my education is ethnographic research. This made for an easy transition into the UX industry after a 3-month long immersive program at General Assembly.

Many of my previous projects have been enterprise tools within the retail industry. That said, I strongly believe a correctly implemented design thinking approach can be applied anywhere and everywhere.

Design Thinking

My Process

  1. Empathize

    User advocacy remains my main priority on any product team. Capturing problem statements from my business partners in a workshop setting and then validating pain-points through user interviews is my favorite part of the journey.

  2. Ideate

    Untangling complex problem spaces and taking the full product ecosystem into account are some of my strongest skills. I generally concept out early ideas in low fidelity on FigJam or through Figma Make.

  3. Iterate

    Based on early user validation and engineering partner input on feasibility, I iterate as many times as it takes to gain alignment with all cross-functional and business stakeholders. Ensuring that most experience changes are implemented prior to being pushed to code.

  4. Test

    If the timeline permits, I prefer to get my user validation script peer-reviewed prior to testing the final high fidelity prototype. After a feature is complete, I track metrics against baseline numbers I defined and captured at the start.

LinkedIn Review



  • Sumer is a strong, strategic thinker who enjoys taking on complex problems. In her most recent product assignment, she demonstrated true dedication to deeply understanding our users.  She spent a significant amount of time weekly in our stores immersing herself in the day-to-day reality of our store associates. That firsthand insight directly elevated the experience of our Zebra handheld app.  She created a product pitch to realize both business efficiency as well as reduction in user pain points that is now coming to fruition.  Sumer naturally connects user needs to business impact, positioning her well not only as a thoughtful designer, but as a thoughtful product partner.





    Emily Sarkis, Senior Product Director









  • I had the opportunity to work alongside Sumer on an adjacent team as she built internal enterprise software solutions that serve as the backbone of in-store operations. She was highly dedicated to ensuring her work was grounded in the real needs of store associates and operational workflows. Sumer regularly spent time in stores to observe and understand how her tools were used in practice. This allowed her to design solutions that were well rounded, thoughtful, and truly solved problems end to end. Her attention to detail and commitment to quality ensured her work was both effective and reliable. Any organization would be fortunate to have her expertise and dedication.














    Jacques Debeuneure Jr., Senior UX Manager















  • Sumer is a thoughtful and extremely talented UX professional. She partners with Product Managers and Engineers to solve business needs while keeping user centered design principles at the heart of problem solving. She's an excellent communicator and achieves success in many arenas.


















    Shaun Atkinson, Senior UX Manager




  • Sumer juggled three of our highest-impact products simultaneously and handled that level of complexity with grace and confidence. She built strong relationships with business partners, who consistently loved working with her. She also invested deeply in user empathy, spending significant time in stores with users to truly understand their needs and context. That effort showed clearly in the quality and relevance of her design decisions. Sumer is widely respected across disciplines and brings a rare blend of strategy, empathy, and execution.






    Erin Rice, Senior UX Manager



  • Sumer is a strong, strategic thinker who enjoys taking on complex problems. In her most recent product assignment, she demonstrated true dedication to deeply understanding our users.  She spent a significant amount of time weekly in our stores immersing herself in the day-to-day reality of our store associates. That firsthand insight directly elevated the experience of our Zebra handheld app.  She created a product pitch to realize both business efficiency as well as reduction in user pain points that is now coming to fruition.  Sumer naturally connects user needs to business impact, positioning her well not only as a thoughtful designer, but as a thoughtful product partner.





    Emily Sarkis, Senior Product Director









  • I had the opportunity to work alongside Sumer on an adjacent team as she built internal enterprise software solutions that serve as the backbone of in-store operations. She was highly dedicated to ensuring her work was grounded in the real needs of store associates and operational workflows. Sumer regularly spent time in stores to observe and understand how her tools were used in practice. This allowed her to design solutions that were well rounded, thoughtful, and truly solved problems end to end. Her attention to detail and commitment to quality ensured her work was both effective and reliable. Any organization would be fortunate to have her expertise and dedication.














    Jacques Debeuneure Jr., Senior UX Manager















  • Sumer is a thoughtful and extremely talented UX professional. She partners with Product Managers and Engineers to solve business needs while keeping user centered design principles at the heart of problem solving. She's an excellent communicator and achieves success in many arenas.


















    Shaun Atkinson, Senior UX Manager




  • Sumer juggled three of our highest-impact products simultaneously and handled that level of complexity with grace and confidence. She built strong relationships with business partners, who consistently loved working with her. She also invested deeply in user empathy, spending significant time in stores with users to truly understand their needs and context. That effort showed clearly in the quality and relevance of her design decisions. Sumer is widely respected across disciplines and brings a rare blend of strategy, empathy, and execution.






    Erin Rice, Senior UX Manager

RESUME

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