Thao Waters
About Thao Waters
Thao Waters is a Senior Product Designer at Medallia, where she focuses on creating user-friendly technology. She has a diverse background in user experience design, having worked at various organizations including Fannie Mae and Appian Corporation.
Work at Medallia
Thao Waters has been employed at Medallia as a Senior Product Designer since 2019. In this role, she focuses on enhancing user experience by designing intuitive products that facilitate connections between businesses and their users. Her work involves understanding consumer mindsets to create user-friendly technology.
Previous Experience in User Experience Design
Before joining Medallia, Thao Waters held several positions in user experience design. She worked at Appian Corporation as a User Experience Designer from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was a User Experience Designer at Fannie Mae from 2018 to 2019. Additionally, she briefly worked at General Assembly in 2016, where she also contributed to user experience design projects.
Education and Expertise
Thao Waters holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Economics from the University of Virginia, where she studied from 2008 to 2012. She also completed the McIntire Business Institute program, earning a Business Certificate. In 2016, she participated in the User Experience Design Immersive program at General Assembly. Furthermore, she is certified in User Experience with a specialty in Interaction Design by the Nielsen Norman Group.
Background and Early Career
Thao Waters began her career as a Research Assistant in the Psychology Department at the University of Virginia in 2010. She later worked as an Administrative Intern for Semester At Sea in 2011. From 2012 to 2013, she served as a Human Resources Associate at MicroStrategy, followed by a role as a Client Services Specialist at CBRE from 2013 to 2016. These positions provided her with a diverse foundation in both administrative and client-facing roles.
Personal Interests
Thao Waters is inspired by the psychology of human behavior and enjoys observing people to understand what motivates them. This interest informs her design approach, as she seeks to make technology more user-friendly and intuitive. Her personal portfolio, available at thaowaters.com, showcases her work and design philosophy.