KAYLA GRAVES

SR. DESIGNER

STRATEGIST

INNOVATOR

Based in PA, USA

Who am I?

I am an inquisitive person by nature. I have always loved solving problems and would fly through 2,000 piece puzzles at 8-years-old. My love for quickly identifying patterns and solutions has followed me through life and extended into everything I do, which is what led me to joining a full-stack coding bootcamp. While in the process of building my first app using jQuery and APIs, I realized I was more passionate about the look and feel and thus pivoted into learning UX/UI design instead.

Prior to getting into product, I spent years working in the restaurant industry. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life, picking up on their oddities in the hour and a half they were in my presence, and quickly analyzing what they needed and why before they even had to ask. The restaurant industry imbedded the importance of teamwork, communication, and constantly refining processes (often in real time) into my approach to product design. Similar to working in restaurant, I see UX as an all encompassing, behind the scenes, song and dance. As a restaurant manager, I had to be mindful of everything going on in the building at any given time and aware of how every component worked together to create a beautiful guest experience.

I extend this practice to my approach to product by ensuring I know both my product vertical and adjacent products intimately, allowing me to work faster and better foresee potential dependencies. I revel in the idea of someone considering something I designed with their needs in mind as a seamless addition to their day to day. An experience so seamless, they never even consider what happened behind the scenes to create it. I aim to deliver products that leave a lasting impression on not only the user, but also my teammates, client, and the business.

As the daughter of an entrepreneur, I also have seen seen the multi-faceted aspects of a successful business and am constantly considering business implications, market positioning, and the value provided to customers as I design.

I love seeing how people live all over the world

and if I can’t hop on a flight, I do so through food and internet research. The ability to occasionally immerse myself in other cultures while traveling over the years has caused me to consider how everything from color to typography may translate in different cultures.

Kayla in Thailand
Me in Bangkok, Thailand

Random Facts

Things I Like

daily meditation, functional mushroom coffee, a good workout and a great pasta

Things I Sort of Don't Like

bananas (unless in a smoothie), brownies, going too long without brain food, leaving any issue or conflict unresolved

Every morning I...

meditate then start my day by reading for at least 30 minutes! I read everything from product/industry related non-fiction, to thrillers, fantasy, historical non-fiction, medical non-fiction, and the occasional self help! My goal is to read 15 books this year.

My favorites so far:

How to Change Your Mind
by Michael Pollan
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
Hidden Valley Road
by Robert Kolker
None of This Is True
by Lisa Jewell
Favorite Place on Earth

Italia! Again, it's the pasta (in addition to the beautiful, historically-rich country of course)

Favorite Quote

"Nothing can dim the light which shines from within."

-Maya Angelou