Allie Powell

I’m Allie, a Product Designer who's been growing products from discovery to implementation for over 10 years.

Currently, I'm working as a Senior Product Designer with argodesign, where I'm working with a cross-functional team at Sam's Club to build the platform for Merchants. Previously, I was working with the talented team at Comcast, and before that, with Honeywell, where I helped launch the Honeywell Home App.

Bio Highlights

Full-Stack

I enjoy solving problems in a variety of ways based on need, not a limited toolset. With a background in visual design, my expertise spans research, strategy, prototyping, and implementation support.

Research-Driven

Design should never be created in a void, and I emphasize seeking out qualitative and quantitative data to found designs on. Not only can it give teams a higher degree of confidence in the chosen solutions, but can be a powerful source of inspiration to continue moving forward.

Team Mindset

There's often many different ways to solve the same problem, but I think the best solution accommodates the uniqueness of the team. I always have the goal to figure out how a team works best and what I can do to support that.

Always Learning

This career demands a constant need to stay on top of what’s new, and I love riding that wave. This includes listening to podcasts (my latest favorite is Lenny’s) or attending local meetups.

Experience

My Start

My design journey started with publications and graphic design but I shifted to UI/UX after designing an app that failed a usability test. This experience ignited my fascination with the diverse ways in which people approach designs, a fascination which continues to drive me to create intuitive and impactful products today.

Mid

After multiple design internships during college, I joined Honeywell, where I helped build the Honeywell Home App used by 4+ million users. Following two years there, I moved to Comcast to work on the syndicated version of their Xfinity xFi app.

Recently

After multiple years working on smart home apps, I realized I wanted to learn from a variety of industries, and was grateful to do so with an opportunity at argodesign, a product design firm founded by the former Chief Creative Office at Frog.   

At argo, I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with cross-functional teams from a range of fortune 500 companies, including: Salesforce, DreamWorks, United Rentals, and Northwestern Mutual.

Approach

Problem-Oriented

Getting to the root of the problem, is at the heart of all innovation! I think it’s always important to get to the real root of an issue in order to solve it.

Don’t Overcomplicate

I don’t think designs need to be fancy to be successful, and often advocate for the simpler solution if it works, so teams can move on to the next thing.

Embrace Diversity

I’m a firm believer that embracing diverse perspectives creates stronger results, and how teams build ever lasting products. One of my strengths is facilitating these types of conflicting feedback to drive clarity.

Systems Approach

It is extremely rare, if not impossible, to design a one-off solution. I think it’s always important to leverage past internal work, look at a users full toolset, or see how a particular feature impacts the rest of the product.

Off Hours

A builder at heart who loves the outdoors, I purchased an old plumbing van with my partner and we've spent the past couple of years turning it into a campervan. We have entirely built the interior ourselves – it includes two dog crates, a fridge, a sink and a queen sized bed. It is very fun continuing to explore the outdoors with it, but it has been also extremely fun to build.
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My build process has been similar to how I approach design. It starts with me determining the goal – maybe I’d like to make coffee outside of the van. Then I figure out how I can make that happen – what can I attach a table to? How do others do it? What restraints do I have in terms of my current build and given the time I have to complete this? After some research and prototyping, I get to building. I often have to adjust my plan as I go, when I learn new things, but it has been a great way to experiment and learn new skills like plumbing, sewing and woodworking. Overall, it has been an amazing lesson in perseverance, project management, and learning how to continually learn.

Work

About

Resume