Hi, I'm Theresa Merchant, a UX designer
and Innovation Strategist

Work
About
I grew up in the mountains of Montana, spending much of my time downhill skiing, shooting archery, and playing soccer and my violin.
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I left beautiful Montana for beautiful Maine where I attended Bowdoin College. I danced, part of a modern dance group, a hip-hop group, and started a breakdance group. I also discovered how incredibly much I love art.
After graduating, I moved to the SF bay area in California. I became consumed in creativity: creating artwork, curated shows, and teaching at an art school focused on building creative confidence in our students.
Inspired by the political turmoil in 2016 I decided to actively the skills with which I would to make direct impact on crucial issues, such as problem-solving , innovation, and leadership.
I became a studio manager at the art school then COO for a few years. I took the time to explore and decided to shift my career into design, a structured process for innovating solutions. I applied human-centered design strategy to the organization I worked for and found some great opportunities to shape early stage projects.
I began NYU Tandon School of Engineering's MS program in Integrated Design and media in the Fall of 2021. I focused on UX, Innovation, and AI project management, and graduate May 2023.
Some of my favorite things

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The creative process
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Skiing (fast)
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Travel (Adventures, Culture, People Food!)
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Archery (especially on a hiking range)
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Cooking (a new creative outlet)
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Painting, Sculpting, Mixing Medias
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Backpacking and camping
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Game nights!
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Recently, and unexpectedly, video games
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Reading (or listening! Love an audiobook)
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Meditation and yoga
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Krav Maga-working on my green belt
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My dogs, Roman and Gryffindor
