WHO IS ZOE?
Hi there, My name is Zoe and I'm a mom. I'm a designer. I'm a baker.I'm an enthusiast. I'm a problem solver too!.
Welcome to my page! Sit down, relax, and take a look around. There’s a lot of pretty great things here. My name is Toonlaya Rogers, but everyone calls me Zoe. (It’s a Asian thing—most of us were giving two names at birth—one is for everyday life and one is for when you get in trouble.)
I currently live in metro Washington, D.C., but I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. My journey to the United States started 25 years ago when I moved to Pittsburgh to pursue my Master’s Degree. Fast forward to 2020; I now have a beautiful family and a job that I absolutely love.
I’m married and have two adorable kids. My passions include design, food, and travel (probably in that order). In my spare time (before my youngest was born),I taught cooking classes and sold cupcakes.
I really enjoy designing, and I also love to explore and take on new challenges. If you’d like to chat, please feel free to reach out. (I can’t promise that there will be cupcakes, but I can’t promise that there won’t be any either!)
Location: Bethesda,MD
Mobile: +1 703-338-2527
Email: toonlaya@gmail.com
Linkedin: /toonlaya
WHY ZOE?
A friend recently asked me what I’ve learned after 20+ years in this field. It made me think back and I realized that hey, I have so many unique qualities and strengths. I won’t list all 100 of my amazing traits, but here’s few to give you a better idea of who I am.
#1 I work, play, (and most importantly) celebrate hard..
For better or worse, I’m known to give my all to family, friends, colleagues, and team. At home, my son and daughter get my full attention. When I’m in the office, I focus 100% on my clients and team members. I also think (hope) that I fully celebrate accomplishments and precious moments. I try to live by my motto: Being passionate about what you do is a tried and true way to enjoy the moment.
#2 I draw from ALL experiences.
I draw my inspiration from everything around me. This is especially true when dealing with hiccups that arise from fun stuff like qualitative and quantitative research, individual or team expressed hypotheses, subject matter expert opinions, and industry trends. In my opinion, processing, prioritizing, decisive decisions, and accepting data are crucial to creating an exceptional experience. At other times, I simply trust my gut!
#3 I visualize the end experience (but can start and iterate from a Minimum Viable Product —MVP)
I’d like to share a personal story. In 2013, my husband and I bought a split-level contemporary built in 1964 (with all of its original features and painted baby blue). While my husband (and our realtor) were super skeptical, I had already started making a 5-year plan. (What can I say? When I see something amazing, I get excited.)We’d start with the kitchen, floors, and bathrooms, and prioritize what delivers savings and maintains the look and comfort of a modern home. We’ve stuck to this plan and have made minor (and many major) improvements. In the process, we’ve transformed this old house into a beautiful home that our family and friends enjoy.
I take this same approach to any problem in any industry. Regardless of company size or industry, I’ve demonstrated my ability to identify, deliver, and iterate on the most appropriate MVP.
#4 I care about (quantifiable) results
For me personally, there is nothing worse than designing in the dark. I think that personal value (what it means to you and how far we got), business value (what owners and/or shareholders realize from these experiences), and customer value are the center of any experience.
@CUSTOM INK
I often tell my team, “If you can solve the problems here, you can solve problems anywhere!” The main challenge is to create an Omni-channel experience and strategy that provides a seamless experience throughout our customers’ journey; when you are selecting your product, creating your design, or placing an order either on the phone, online, or in person. You should be able to continue your journey without interruption. This requires a lot of coordination, communication, and creativity.
I make sure that we have the right team players with the right mindset. I also provide them with the right environment to thrive. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to reshape the product design team and its culture. I created the hiring and training plan based on the strengths and the needs of the team and the business, promoted people to a right position, created a physical space for them to collaborate, put processes in place (peer review, show & tell, critique, retro etc.), and most importantly, set the North Star[a1] . All of these components helped the team run more efficiency.
my colleagues say that I am always on the go. (Guilty.) Even with all my duties, I also manage up (yep, that’s right), which in my opinion is more challenging than managing down. Most C & V levels have a pretty intense schedule, so my communication needed to be spot on. I also manage the stakeholders' expectations and help bring new ideas and strategy to the business. Below are several highlights (outside of product iteration) that I’m really proud of and enjoyed doing.
@ OWEN SOFTWARE
Owen Software was a Series A funded startup that connected high school students with universities, determining and assigning the university curriculum for students focusing on Science, Technology, English, or Math (STEM). I joined the organization after the v1.0 product launch. We began building v2.0 with the goal of accelerating the go-to-market and pursuing a Series B investment round.
This experience was unique for me because: (1) I’d previously never worked in education, (2) it was the first time I worked under super strict budgets and timelines, and (3) it was also the first time working with a specific customer base — high school juniors and seniors, counselors, professors, and teachers. I learned that regardless of the difference in resources and industry, having and executing against a plan and process is critical to expeditious experience design. From research, concept, prototype(s), to final assets, we completed the PATHEO v2.0 MVP in less than 6 months.
@ MARRIOTT
It feels like so long ago but during my time at Marriott, I had the privilege of being part of a team that developed a $10 million channel (marriott.com), to over $11 billion by the time I moved on. With such rapid growth in a short time span, my biggest takeaway was that I needed to wear multiple hats to lead, follow, and contribute in whatever way was needed. Even after all these years, I still reflect on two projects: (1) replatforming Marriott online hotel websites and (2) redesigning the marriott.com homepage.
Still want more? You can check out the “Time Machine” section, I have more design work there. Since I’ve been doing this for so long it’s hard to pick my favorite. Also, if you are interested to hear more about non-customer facing projects (such as; component library, design system, design for CMS, design for SEO, usertesting stories, team process, team structure, or how to raise two kids and still advance my career) please feel free to reach out. I have more to share.
Last but not least, I was very fortunate to have such a strong team to support me throughout my career, and they all deserved the credit for their hard work.
Enjoy your day and thanks again for visiting!
Zoe (Toonlaya)