I am Olga Romanova

About me

Born in Riga (Latvia), I am a senior product designer and visual artist residing in Denver, CO. My passion lies in advocating for the user and solving usability problems with a creative approach.

My experience

Northwestern Mutual   |  Senior Product Designer

August 2022 - Present

As a Senior Product Designer, I help to define and drive the future of the Northwestern Mutual product experience from awareness to long-term engagement for the field and the home office users. Some of my key responsibilities include the following:

  • Exploring divergent design concepts through wireframes, mockups, and prototypes, creating artifacts that communicate design rationale, and advocating for a solution by presenting the work.

  • Advocating for the users' perspective while adhering to Accessibility and Inclusive Design practices when collaborating with Product Managers and Engineers.

  • Supporting the design experience across Field Rewards Modernization space and collaborating with cross-functional members, including Engineering, Product, Content Strategy, and UX Research.

  • Working with Product Managers to conceptualize product ideas and shape them into multiple design variations, then collaboratively narrow ideas and establish requirements.

  • Overseeing and supporting user research to better understand user needs and behaviors, and usability testing to see how the solutions work for users, in collaboration with UX Researchers.

  • Creating production-ready design deliverables that use existing or new patterns and collaborating with Engineers to ensure our output's visual quality.

  • Contributing to a creative, supportive environment and mentoring junior team members, while setting expectations within the design teams to standards of quality, and creative direction.

MTX Group  |  Senior UX/UI Consultant

December 2020 - August 2022

As a UX/UI consultant my responsibilities are to consult with key stakeholders to understand business goals, moderate discussions to converge to the desired set of functionality, create low- and high-fidelity design concepts to drive development and align expectations with project stakeholders, design, develop and help support internal and client-facing applications, focus on the priorities to deliver the required task on time, and lead requirement gathering and use case discussions with business.

CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company | Senior Designer

October 2017 - December 2020

Some of the key responsibilities on this job were to administer the creative process from concept to completion while working closely with the project team; to convert marketing objectives into creative strategies while ensuring brand standards are met; to troubleshoot and provide feedback to creative team; and to lead and direct the creative team in the production of all marketing collateral while overseeing deliverables and timelines.

Nathan Grace Real Estate | Graphic Designer

June 2015 - October 2017

Assisted the graphic design team with the development of branding materials such as logos, personal branding, print and web advertisements, direct mail pieces, flyers, brochures, magazines, catalogs, presentations, infographics, etc.

My education

SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, TX  –  2015

B.F.A. in Studio Arts and B.A. in Advertising – Magna Cum Laude

COLLIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, TX – 2013

Associate in Science Degree GPA: 3.8

ART ACADEMY OF LATVIA | LATVIA, RIGA – 2007

Preparatory Art Classes (3 years)

Awards & Scholarships

Brookhaven College Art Department Student Exhibition Best in Show Award  –  2018

Mercedes–Benz Financial Services Scholarship for Emerging Artists  –  2017

Magna Cum Laude Graduate, Southern Methodist University  –  2016

AEFH Baxter + Korge Education Scholarship  –  2015

AAF Stickell Award – selected as one of the most outstanding members

J Term Scholars Award, Meadows School of the Arts

May Term Scholars Partial Tuition Assistance Award, Meadows School of the Arts

Frances B. Cowan Award in Printmaking, Meadows School of the Arts

Engaged Learning Scholarship, Southern Methodist University  –  2014

Friends of Taos Scholarship, Southern Methodist University in Taos

The Zelle Fund towards studies in New York, Meadows School of the Arts

Meadows Artistic Merit Scholarship, Meadows School of the Arts  –  2013

Honor Transfer Scholarships, Southern Methodist University

Sue Fonden Trammell Scholarship, Southern Methodist University

Group Shows

2019

Brookhaven College Art Department Student Exhibition | Farmers Branch, TX

Mercedes–Benz Experiencing Perspectives Exhibition | Fort Worth, TX

Solo Show [Down] at Fort Worth Community Arts Center | Fort Worth, TX

2018

Studio Art Classes Exhibition at Brookhaven College | Farmers Branch, TX

Mercedes–Benz Experiencing Perspectives Exhibition | Fort Worth, TX

2017

Mercedes–Benz Experiencing Perspectives Exhibition | Fort Worth, TX

2016

Texas Visual Arts Association National Juried Art Exhibition | Mesquite, TX

Mercedes–Benz Experiencing Perspectives Exhibition | Fort Worth, TX

2015

BFA Qualifying Thesis Exhibition, Pollock Gallery at SMU | Dallas, TX

Mercedes–Benz Experiencing Perspectives Exhibition | Fort Worth, TX

Traditions and Transformations, Meadows Museum | Dallas, TX

2014

Weight, Doolin Gallery at Meadows School of the Arts | Dallas, TX

Nothing in Common, Doolin Gallery at Meadows School of the Arts | Dallas, TX