About Me

Hello! My name is Paula Popowski. I am a big picture thinker, I tell stories, and I solve problems that affect millions of people. I do this by designing digital products that are goal-driven, user-centric, and delightful to use.

I am a full-spectrum designer with degrees in Art History and Graphic Design, an MS in Strategic Brand Communication, and over 15 years of hands-on industry experience designing for higher education, information technology, e-commerce, finance, and arts and culture nonprofits.

I currently work as the Lead UX Designer for agency-facing products at COUNTRY Financial. In this capacity, I define and oversee the end-to-end user experience of digital products used by approximately 2000 Insurance and Financial Reps to make strategic planning decisions for their businesses. I work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary Agile teams to research, design, iterate, and validate rich web applications, and I participate in frequent sessions across the enterprise to define and socialize style guides, design principles, pattern libraries, and asset repositories used to champion and implement user-centered design methodologies across the brand.

My identity as a Product/UI/UX/Visual designer is grounded in a capacity for cognitive empathy, a deep interest in how people connect through verbal and visual communication, and a passion for problem-solving. My superpower is leading clients and project teams from ambiguity to clarity by setting direction that combines user, business, and development goals.