Maria Pereda
Maria leads design at Clio, helping increase access to justice while improving the lives of lawyers. Previously, she’s led teams at Roadmunk, Schoology, Critical Mass and GE. In her spare time, which is never, Maria is learning to play guitar.
In 2018, she made a promise to never buy clothes again, and to this day, she continues to make her own clothes.
Presentations
Leadership By Design 2021
Dear Design Leader – Explanations & Experiences with Leading Designers
Leadership isn’t easy, and finding someone to ask questions to, or to give coaching and advice can sometimes be a challenge. Fear not, design leader, Maria and Helen, along with Meena as guide and expert interjector, will address your burning question about design, leadership, design leadership, and likely a few other things.
UX Camp Winter 2021
Don’t Let Ambiguity Be the Death of Your Design Project
It seems like everything is fast-paced and we don’t always have the luxury to get all the answers we need before we start diving into our design process, which can be frustrating—if not paralyzing! Dealing with ambiguity is part of the design process, and yet it can feel overwhelming every. single. time. Even worse: the more we climb in our careers, the more it seems we’re expected to be experts at everything, and context switching between.
Gathering information, or just enough information to get started, is a key element of success in the design process. We’ll explore different frameworks to help you understand and identify risk tolerance, decision-making techniques, and how to keep moving while still reaching outcomes.
Leadership By Design 2020
Beyond Tactical Onboarding: What Every Designer Needs to Know to be Successful
Good design leaders know that designers must think beyond the interface and user needs and work on the business, not just in the business. We ask them to balance business needs, to design with intentionality, and make appropriate trade offs given the complex ecosystems that surround our organizations and their industries. We focus so much on hiring for tactical craft skills, but it’s the ability to be strategic within an organization’s business context that makes our design team members truly effective.
In this talk, we will learn how to conduct activities from day 1 to help designers understand the industry better, to apply critical thinking to their choices, and start working more strategically. I will share how, at Roadmunk, we use frameworks like Porter’s 5 Forces and Blue Ocean Strategy as part of our design onboarding process. This allows new hires to not only get acquainted with our industry, but to form early relationships with other departments, and hit the ground running.
Leadership By Design 2019
Tailored by Design: A Year of Making My Own Clothes
This January, I challenged myself to go the entire year without purchasing clothes. If I wanted some new pants or shirt, I had to make it myself. The kicker? I did not know how to sew. That’s right, I needed to start from scratch in a new field, or the only new clothes I would have would be the emperor’s.
I’ve been a designer for over 15 years and sometimes it’s easy to forget how it feels to be a beginner. It’s both unnerving and exciting at the same time. Learn about my successes, failures, and unexpected learnings making my own clothes for the past year.
