Katie Palermo

STRATEGIST | FACILITATOR | RESEARCHER

UX professional with 10+ years of experience delivering user-centered digital solutions across finance, omni-channel retail, and agency environments. Leveraging a Design Thinking certification and a mixed methodology toolkit, I translate complex challenges into actionable insights that influence design and business impact. Im passionate about efficiency by creating scalable internal processes and bringing a blend of rigorous product management, clear stakeholder communication, and team alignmentfueled by energy, optimism, and honesty.

KEY COMPETENCIES

Adaptability

Agility

Customer Centricity

Design Thinking

Expert Communication

Execution

Experience Strategy

Influencing

Expert Communication

Execution

Experience Strategy

Influencing

Iteration and Scaling

Honest Relationship Building

Organizational & Business 

Process Development

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION & EXTRA CURRICULARS  

Bachelor of Communications, Public Relations, Minor: Art, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2012

Smile, We Get to Make Beer, Executive Producer, Independent film, 2013

Design Thinking Certificate, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2018

Peer Nominated Spotlight Award, Wells Fargo, 2022

Collaborative Discussion Coach Certification, Interactivity Foundation, 2024



May 2022 - May 2025

Sept 2021 - May 2022

Sept 2019 - Sept 2021

  Nov 2017 - Sept 2019

Mar 2016 - July 2017

City National Bank - Contract

UX Product Owner and Senior Researcher

  • UXD PO within a SAFe agile environment, prioritizing initiatives across trains

  • Rigorous preparation and stakeholder fact finding leading up to PI planning

  • Created UXR scalable solutions with an emphasis of getting to the right questions and audience faster, ex intake forms, screener question repository

  • Executed strategic UXR ex. and multivariate prototype evaluation

  • Coached design team on research synthesis as part of democratization initiative

  • Established a UX bookclub for UX and engineering teams


Wells Fargo               

Senior User Experience Researcher & Strategy Specialist

  • Led generative B2B API shopping and discovery research initiatives

  • Used service design methodologies to evaluate current-state process evaluation through future-state concept prioritization in a matrixed environment

  • Facilitated cross-functional design thinking and persona activation workshops

  • Planned quarterly research roadmaps that aligned with product roadmaps


Dentsply Sirona            

Web UX Producer

  • Managed $3MM+ B2C digital projects, ensuring on-time delivery and risk mitigation

  • Streamlined internal processes to improve efficiency and organizational communication through design thinking and stakeholder listening tours 


Wells Fargo - Contract                          

Web UX Producer

  • Facilitated internal UX working sessions and  primary customer qualitative user interviews

  • Worked cross-functionally to prioritize efforts based on impact and effort.

  • Brought digital teams together to align on roadmaps and prioritize initiatives based on impact and effort


Wray Ward Advertising Agency                  

Digital Producer

  • Forecasted budgets, scoped digital initiatives, allocated design and development capacity/prioritization, while communicating relevant updates to stakeholders

  • Developed first ever QA process testing for website releases

  • Capacity planning, including identifying need and hiring/managing freelancers

  • Lead culture club and organized local community development meetups on behalf of Wray Ward


Lowe’s Companies, Inc. - Contract                

Online Promotions Specialist | Marketing Deployment Producer

  • Managed Lowes For Pros (LFP.com) daily production updates based on promotional strategy to collecting and sharing post-production analytics

  • Led omni-channel 375 store weather related piloted program and 14-store interactive virtual reality (VR) kitchen and bathroom refresh pilot program 

  • Liaison to store managers and conducted in-store ethnographic research to iterate and improve piloted programs

May 2025 - March 2026