A message from Chief Information Officer & Vice Provost for Information Technology Lois Brooks:
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to announce Jess Jones as the Interim Director of the Center for User Experience and Interim Assistant Director within Academic Technology. She will assume the role upon the January 28 departure of Phyllis Treige, who will begin a newly-created Chief Experience Officer role at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
As User Experience Manager within the Center for User Experience, Jess has led a team of UX designers who work with partners across the university to understand user and audience needs, and then design efficient, people-centered experiences to meet those needs.
And as the university increasingly relies on technology to maintain our operations and deliver on our mission through the pandemic, I have every confidence that Jess will seamlessly carry on the important work of collaborating with our partners to continuously transform and improve the digital experience at UW–Madison for our students, faculty, and staff.
In her interim role, Jess’ immediate plans include the development of a community of practice for those across the university who contribute to the digital experience, allowing them to connect and learn from each other. Jess is also poised to continue fostering strong strategic partnerships with collaborators across campus, including the Office of the Registrar, Student Affairs, the Office of Undergraduate Advising, the Center for the First-Year Experience, the McBurney Disability Resource Center, and other key partners.
Jess joined the user experience team in 2013 and departed only briefly to work for a start-up. She was quickly drawn back to DoIT, driven to advance digital accessibility and inclusive design as core components to ensuring that UW–Madison is a diverse, equitable and inclusive place for all.
It’s a vision that Phyllis and Jess have built together with their talented team. Phyllis has a solid record of accomplishment in her time at UW–Madison and I’m confident in the continued success of the Center for User Experience with Jess at the helm. Please join me in congratulating Jess as well as bidding Phyllis a fond farewell as she blazes new trails at UC Santa Cruz.
Best,
Lois