CV

Professional Summary

KATRINA ALCORN is a global executive who leads diverse, high-performing teams on strategic product design and research initiatives from concept to launch. She's known as a dynamic, authentic, inspirational, and inclusive design leader who drives measurable business impact. Key results include increasing global ecommerce revenue by 5x, 340% ROI on design thinking, 10+% improvement in customer satisfaction and equal reduction in support cases, and a record number of design awards.

Expert in product design, CX/UX, design thinking, and innovation practices. Track record driving culture change and business results in high-tech, energy, financial services, and health care. Most recently led global product design and research function as Chief Design Officer for $20B software portfolio, managed $130M budget, and drove significant improvements in NPS scores and adoption rates. Taught design thinking around the world, and lectured at Harvard and Stanford. Award-winning author and sought-after speaker on topics ranging from design, AI, innovation, and women in leadership.

Request Full CV

Skills

Building/Leading Large Global Teams Product Design UX/CX AI Design Public Speaking Growth-minded Leadership Culture Transformation Design Thinking Strategy UX Research

Recent Work Experience

IBM | GM, Design | 2021-2023

Led 3,000-person global design practice for IBM and spearheaded new product management program office. Directly responsible for all product design in $20B software portfolio for Security, Data & AI, Automation, and Sustainability.

Autodesk | Dir. > Sr. Dir. Design | 2016-2021

Centralized and led a 100-person global design practice for all digital experiences where customers try, buy, access, manage, and learn to use Autodesk software products.

GE | Sr. UX Leader | 2015-2016

Developed/led customer-centric, design-driven process model for new software development and provided creative direction for new products leveraging the Industrial Internet (aka the "Internet of Big Things").

Hot Studio | Dir. > Principal, UX & Content | 2003-2009

Built and led the UX practice for this award-winning design firm (bought by Facebook in 2013). Key clients: Adobe, Salesforce, Charles Schwab, Gap Inc., Wells Fargo, LeapFrog SchoolHouse, Architecture for Humanity, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and eBay.

Studio Sungo | Founder | 2002-2015

Founded and operated user experience (UX) consulting agency with my husband, Brian Alcorn, as an LLC and later, S-Corp. Services: UX research; interaction design for web, mobile, and IoT; content strategy; user research; workshop facilitation. Contracted directly with clients or subcontracted through select agencies. Key clients: Visa, Abbott Diabetes Care, Blue Shield of California, UC Berkeley, and The Women's Foundation of CA. Contracted several months as interim VP, UX at Huge to cover a maternity leave.

Education

1997 - 1999

UC Berkeley | MJ, Journalism, documentary filmmaking

Activities: Produced thesis film, "The Mystery of Rath Pohl" about orphans in Cambodia. Aired on PBS stations in New York, San Jose, San Diego, and Philadelphia. Won prestigious department television award two years in a row.

1990-1994

Binghamton University | B.A., English

Activities: Theater; Dance; Study abroad in Santiago, Chile

Interests

Travel, dance, yoga, illustration, and learning languages (I speak conversational Spanish from a year living in Chile, and I speak enough Portuguese to get by for a month of backpacking in Brazil).