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Annie Hensley
Director / UX Design
Biography
As Director of UX Design at Openfield, Annie is responsible for ensuring the team continues to deliver superior client and user experiences that result in tangible business outcomes. That includes fostering collaboration and crossover between our design and research teams, mentorship and career guidance, stewardship of Openfield’s culture and values, as well as, contributing to strategic decisions that ensure the company continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of EdTech clients and users. Annie is a lifelong runner who completed the Boston Marathon for a second consecutive year in 2023. She is an avid lover of parks of all sorts – theme parks, ballparks, and National Parks (even revisiting Parks and Recreation too many times to count).
Qualifications
As Director of UX Design at Openfield, she brings a wealth of experience with a B.S. in Design from the University of Cincinnati. With 10+ years in the field, she excels in facilitating design thinking sessions, fostering collaboration, and driving superior user experiences. As an IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies, she is committed to ensuring accessibility standards are met, creating equitable product experiences for all users.
RESOURCE
The 3-step guide to validating your EdTech product
Without proper user validation, many EdTech companies risk missing the mark with their products. If your concepts don’t actually resonate with your end users, they easily get lost in the crowded EdTech marketplace. It’s especially risky in light of funding fluctuations and the cessation of pandemic-era funding. You need to ensure that your products and services stand out as must-have solutions to users’ everyday needs. Our 3-step guide to validation will help your EdTech product get the best start possible.
RESOURCE
Not sure which prototype to use? Here’s your guide to strategic prototyping.
Prototypes are essential tools to ensure efficient, cost-effective and ultimately successful EdTech products. But how do you know which prototype to use for every scenario? Our guide demystifies the process of choosing the right type of prototype with a detailed tour through the different stages—from initial paper sketching to functional iterating.
ARTICLE: Annie Hensley
Scale up, speed up, save up: 5 benefits of partnering with an external agency for EdTech product design
You’re responsible for ensuring the successful development, launch, and management of your company’s EdTech products. But between internal politics, siloed communication, and limited resources for design and research, your job is anything but simple. Hiring a third-party agency like Openfield can provide the external support teams like yours so often need. We’re an ideator partner that isn’t beholden to internal politics, allowing for faster and more collaborative decision-making.
ARTICLE: Annie Hensley
Find a scalable solution for your next EdTech project with the right UX partner
As an EdTech product manager facing time and budget pressures, you might be looking for a shortcut to get your product to market faster. In these instances, cutting UX research or testing may seem like the best approach. However, while many shortcuts are designed to make tasks quicker and easier, not all shortcuts produce desirable results. In the world of EdTech product development, cutting corners in UX simply isn’t an option.
RESOURCE
The product leader’s guide to discovery sessions
Whether you’re launching a new EdTech product or making improvements to an existing one, discovery sessions are a critical step that will allow your product team and stakeholders to develop a shared vision and strategy. To make the most of this inherently collaborative, interactive process, you’ll need clear goals and a practical agenda. Download our free guide to learn how to conduct a meaningful discovery session for your next UX research and design project.
Case Study: New connected digital experience for students and instructors fuels rapid market dominance.
Openfield provided UX strategy and design that resulted in this intuitive, innovative suite of learning tools that facilitate campus communication and create a standardized ecosystem of support at every stage of the student lifecycle.