vaughn235@gmail.com | portfolio.peterodum.com | tel 510 333 4728
Peter T. Odum
Seasoned Product Designer & User Experience Director
Leading teams to create elegant, user-friendly interactive experiences
- Versed in IoT, Consumer Robotics, Consumer Products, SaaS, Mobile, and Web.
- Skilled at creating broad interaction strategy and vision for technical products.
- Expert designer focused on user needs and interests as key strategic goals.
- Skilled manager of departments and teams with a track record of building successful teams from the ground up.
- Polished public speaker and workshop leader - thrives on large group presentations.
- Accomplished developer of design process - methodology, standards and documentation.
- Proficient with Agile methodology for games, applications, and web development.
- 20+ years designing user-centered experiences, 13+ years leading Creative teams, 9+ years designing consumer interactions, 6+ years designing mobile systems and applications (including work for top-tier mobile carriers and device manufacturers).
POSITIONS HELD
SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER, Weber Inc. Apr 2021 - Oct 2023
- Led product design for Weber Producer software application, managing culinary content and recipes for all connected grill products.
- Co-designed the new Weber Connect application, resulting in a 4.5+ star rating on the App Store.
- Co-designed forthcoming smart grilling products (hardware and software) that redefined the connected grilling experience at Weber.
- Refined onscreen and in-app interface for the June Oven, the top-rated smart kitchen appliance Forbes called “the magical gadget that actually delivers on its promises.”
- Wrote functional specifications and test criteria for software to manage all culinary content at Weber.
- Served as a nexus of communication between stakeholders (executives, designers, engineers and program managers) helping Culinary Content group to define and articulate their needs in support of global smart grilling initiatives.
HEAD OF PRODUCT DESIGN, Enlighted Inc. (Siemens) Aug 2019 - Feb 2021
- Led Design Group creating software for IoT products, documenting process and elevating visibility and culture of design at Enlighted.
- Crafted apps and web experiences using Enlighted hardware to enhance energy savings, workplace safety, space optimization, process management, and more.
- Successfully launched Configure software, setting Enlighted’s new visual standard and reducing sensor commissioning time and costs for users by approximately 50%.
- Helped guide hardware design decisions - new first-party sensors and switches (ERCs) as well as various form factors for next-generation tags and sensors.
- Pioneered design of Digital Services Platform, modernizing SaaS offerings.
- Orchestrated a 5-day Sprint Design Workshop to create and plan for next-gen IoT products.
- Conducted user research to guide short- and long-term software goals.
- Created and documented Software Product Design Process.
- Drove software redesign efforts, creating a global design system and updating visuals for internal and customer-facing software.
SR. MANAGER - CREATIVE GROUP, Anki 2017 - 2019
- Led user experience for robotics products - Vector robot and others (unannounced).
- Leveraged Computer Vision, Machine Learning algorithms, Natural Language Processing and other technologies to craft and refine compelling human-robot interactions.
- Managed and expanded a diverse team of creatives across UX, Visuals, Sound and Animation, through effective hiring strategies and balanced leadership.
- Developed unique documentation patterns for Robotics, accounting for user actions, app behaviors, and robot actions.
- Improved lean process for cross-team robotics development, balancing technical requirements with creative needs.
- Adapted project scope to fit available resources and ship robot and app releases on time.
LEAD USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER, RedShift 2016 - 2017
- Developed major visual and functional updates for Kaiser Permanente flagship mobile application ongoing across multiple releases.
- Helped shape vision for interactive experiences at Kaiser through executive presentations and creation of UX style guides for mobile and web.
- Co-created visionary pitch for Smart City management web tool for Panasonic, resulting in significant new work for the agency.
- Designed new responsive web concept as a product exploration for J.D. Power.
- Helped develop work process and training curriculum for UX discipline.
FREELANCE INTERACTION DESIGNER 2015 - 2016
- Consulted on and helped produce a major mobile redesign for a division of Ebay.
- Provided interaction strategy, design, working prototypes and documentation for major product initiatives for large corporate clients.
- Interaction work on native apps for mobile and tablet.
DESIGN DIRECTOR, Captricity Inc. 2014 - 2015
- Led and managed UX initiatives for this highly successful SAAS web startup.
- Employed Machine Learning and OCR technologies in crafting UI for automated form recognition applications.
- Championed user experience for Product Division. Drove user experience for major new product initiatives.
- Created internal design pattern library to ensure consistency and uniformity of front-end solutions.
- Led internal education workshops and presentations to help staff create quality user experiences.
- Created Interactive Prototypes for new features so executives could interact directly with solutions before actual development started.
DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE SERVICES, Disney Interactive (Playdom) 2009 - 2014
- Hired, led, mentored and managed 20 artists and 14 UI designers supporting 11 game studios.
- Built user testing lab and practices at Playdom.
- Crafted and led stakeholder workshops and exercises, led presentations of art and interactive design work.
- Developed and documented standard best practices for social game interactions on mobile and the web. Identified key practices for monetization and retention.
- Evangelized user-centered design thinking, encouraged collaboration and knowledge sharing among designers and across the company.
SENIOR INTERACTION DESIGNER, Punchcut LLC 2008 - 2009
- Created interaction systems for cutting-edge mobile and tablet devices (as well as other consumer devices) and for the web. Designed systems, features, and apps.
- Designed system features (media player, etc.) for major hardware initiatives including the Palm Pre.
- Co-created comprehensive User Interaction Reference Guide for a major U.S. mobile carrier, detailing mobile experience approach for the next 4 years.
- Built and led client design exercises to uncover design requirements.
- Editor of Idlemode company blog. Wrote and shepherded overall content creation.
SENIOR USER EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT, Gyro International 2006 - 2007
- Led, managed and organized Digital Team for London-based international branding agency; clients included The New York Times, NetApp, Sun, LeapFrog, Virgin Atlantic.
- Designed all Gyro user interface documentation (templates, evaluation systems, etc.) and UI/UX best practices.
LEAD UI DESIGNER, Electronic Arts, Pogo.com 2001 - 2006
- Designed interfaces for Pogo.com website, and mobile and downloadable games.
- Built in-house user testing lab for testing of games and content.
- Designed and managed production of robust international EA online product registration system, localized to 16 countries.
SKILLS & SOFTWARE
Design Software: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Figma, Sketch, InVision, Axure, Balsamiq, Principle, Flinto, Lucidchart, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Apps G Suite. User Research and Testing: Usability Testing, A/B Testing, User Interviews, Heatmaps and Analytics Tools. Project Management and Collaboration Tools: JIRA, Trello, Asana, Slack, Confluence, GitHub. Coding and Development Knowledge: HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Responsive Web Design, Unity, familiarity with front-end frameworks (e.g., Bootstrap, SwiftUI). UI/UX Design Principles: Information Architecture, User Flows, User Journeys, Wireframing, Prototyping, User-Centered Design, Interaction Design, Design Thinking. Product Management Skills: Agile, Scrum, and Lean design methodologies, Product roadmapping, User stories and acceptance criteria, Product development and lifecycle management. Data Analysis and Visualization: Excel, Tableau, Mixpanel. Business and Strategy: Product strategy, Market research, Competitive analysis. Soft Skills: Communication, Collaboration, Problem-solving, Team leadership, Time management, Conversational French and Intermediate Spanish.
GAME TITLES SHIPPED
Star Wars Commander (mobile), Kitchen Scramble (mobile and web), Mobsters Criminal Empire (web), Gardens of Time, Deep Realms, Mobsters 2 Vendetta, Mobsters, Social City, City of Wonder, Verdonia, Wild Ones, Poker Palace, ESPN Sports Bar, L'il Farm Life, Big City Life, Galaxy of Wonder, Treetopia, Fish Friends, Sorority Life, Pogo Chess
EDUCATION
BFA Studio Art and BA Art History
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
President’s Scholar, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa