ABOUT ME

HEY, I'M JEN!

I love learning and I love creating. I'm a learning experience designer who thrives on creating learning that's both enjoyable and effective.

I'm currently on the lookout for my next role in learning design and excited to show you why I'd be the perfect addition to your team!

View Resume

HOW I WORK

Design Philosophy

I design learner-centered experiences by first understanding where learners are and what they need. I believe effective learning combines engagement & enjoyment to encourage active participation & meaningful behavior change. My goal is to leave learners feeling confident applying what they’ve learned.

My Approach

I collaborate closely with SMEs & stakeholders to identify the gap the learning experience needs to bridge, then design practical, learner-focused solutions through an iterative, feedback-driven process. I’m a reliable, self-directed team member who manages projects effectively and works well in remote and asynchronous environments.

Tools I Use

Articulate Storyline 360

Articulate Rise 360

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Camtasia

Notion

Trello

Google Workspace

TalentLMS

HOW I GOT HERE

While not always holding the title of Instructional Designer, I've been designing learning my whole career. My journey into ID is part of what makes me so good at it.

Travel back in time with me through every chapter of my career to better understand how each experience shaped me into the learning designer I am today.

Where It All Began

Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education

LESLEY UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

My degree in education gave me a strong foundation in how learning works and how to design learning around the needs of different learners.

Through my coursework and student teaching experiences, I began developing the skills that still shape how I approach learning design today, including:

Learner-centered learning design

Identifying knowledge & skill gaps

Designing learning to bridge performance gaps

Facilitating & delivering learning experiences

Designing accessible learning for diverse learners

I’ve always loved learning. I was the kid who came home from school and sat down immediately to do my homework, and the big sister who set up an easel and made my siblings play school. From a young age, I enjoyed learning and helping others learn.

As soon as I was old enough, I became a tutor, and going to university to study education felt like the natural next step. Even then, I knew I wanted to help people learn, and my degree became the foundation for how I think about learning and design today.

Teaching Around the World

ESL Teacher

SOUTH KOREA, CAMBODIA, VIETNAM, ECUADOR, & ONLINE

Teaching learners from different cultures and language backgrounds while living independently on the other side of the world, shaped how I think about learning and adaptability.

These experiences strengthened skills I continue to use in my work as a learning designer, including:

Clear & intentional instructional communication

Designing practice-based learning experiences

Adapting learning for diverse & multilingual learners

Flexibility & adaptability in changing environments

Learner-centered facilitation

After earning my teaching degree, I wasn’t ready to settle into a classroom in the US, so I accepted a teaching position in South Korea and moved across the planet on my own. The experience pushed me to become more adaptable, independent, and comfortable in unfamiliar environments.

Over the next eight years, I taught learners both in classrooms and online while living and working across Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Teaching learners from different cultures and language backgrounds strengthened my appreciation for clear communication, flexibility, and practice-based learning, and sparked my love for designing creative, engaging ways to bridge learning gaps for diverse learners.

First Job in Learning Design

Curriculum Designer

LCI ACADEMY, GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA

Stepping into a curriculum designer role at a private English academy in South Korea marked a turning point in my career.

Collaborating with the academy director and teachers to redesign a phonics program moved my focus beyond individual lessons and toward learning systems, allowing me to develop skills in:

Program-level curriculum design

SME & teacher collaboration

Evaluating & improving existing learning materials

Designing learning for print-based delivery at scale

Applying visual design & structure to support learning clarity

Returning to one of my favorite places, South Korea, I accepted a role as a curriculum designer at a private English academy. The school was ready to redesign its phonics program, and I was responsible for creating a new set of workbooks, which pushed me to think beyond individual lessons and consider how learners would move through the curriculum as a whole.

Designing those workbooks was the first time I had ever been fully lost in a creative flow state while working. I loved thinking through the learner experience and solving the puzzle of how to make learning both effective and engaging. That clarity and excitement made it obvious that learning design was the direction my career needed to take.

Founding a Learning Resources Business

Instructional Designer

NICE GIRAFFICS

Founding Nice Giraffics gave me the freedom to fully lean into my passion for learning design and explore ideas from concept to creation.

I was energized by the opportunity to design learning experiences exactly as I envisioned them, and in doing so, developed skills that continue to shape how I work today, including:

Graphic & visual design to support learning

Managing projects independently from idea through delivery

Strong self-management & time-management habits

Working autonomously while staying focused & accountable

Balancing structure, usability, & engagement in learning materials

Extremely excited about the possibility of creating learning materials for a living, I started my online business, Nice Giraffics. Managing projects from research and ideation through development and delivery, I created and sold learning resources for teachers and parents, including ESL modules, digital games for online teachers, and at-home phonics workbooks sold on Amazon. I spent three years working full-time on this.

While the business didn't grow the way I hoped, it taught me far more than I expected. Designing independently helped me understand the importance of collaboration, feedback, and iteration in creating strong learning experiences. I also strengthened my time management and self-direction, and ultimately realized that while I enjoyed the creative freedom, I no longer wanted to work for myself. What I truly love is learning design itself, not the operational side of entrepreneurship.

The ID I Am Today

Learning Experience Designer

YOUR COMPANY NAME GOES HERE ;)

This past year has been a deliberate and focused period of growth, where I intentionally filled the gaps between my background in education and the full scope of instructional design.

I took ownership of my development and built the skills needed to confidently design effective learning for adult audiences, including:

Applying adult learning theory to learning design decisions

Using instructional design models to guide learning solutions

Proficiency with industry-standard authoring tools

Action mapping to identify performance gaps & learning priorities

Storyboarding & structuring learning experiences before development

Designing scenario-based & interactive learning experiences

Now, I’m ready to focus fully on instructional design within an organization. While exploring roles that aligned with my love for learning, I was excited to discover instructional design as a profession. For the first time, I had language for the work I had been doing all along and a clear direction for where I wanted my career to go.

Since then, I’ve intentionally built the skills needed to step into an instructional design role with confidence, diving into adult learning theory, instructional design practices, and hands-on development. As I step into an in-house instructional design role, I’m ready to do the work. I bring curiosity, enthusiasm, and a strong commitment to designing learning that people enjoy, participate in, and learn from. I’m excited to contribute to a team, continue growing, and use learning design as a way to make a meaningful impact.

Explore My Work

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