User Experience Designer & Improvisational Comedian …
That’s right. By day I’m a senior user experience (UX) designer at a Fortune 500 financial services company. But on select evenings I perform with The Oxymorons – San Antonio’s premiere improvisational comedy troupe. I’ve been performing improvisational comedy since 1990, and have been involved in theater since about the age of 4 years. You’d be surprised how much overlap in skill sets are involved in improv and UX design.
My Family
I grew up in (and eventually moved back to) San Antonio, Texas. My father, Angel Jiménez, is a general surgeon, who swears he’ll retire sometime this year, and my mother, Sherry LM Jiménez, who passed away on October 1, 2012, was a retired RN/MSN in women’s health, and a freelance writer. My brother, Daniel Jiménez, is a well-respected computer science professor at the university level.
I’m also a very blessed wife and mom: My husband, Steven, is extremely supportive and just plain fun to be around. We have two elementary school aged children who amaze me daily. We also have a zoo consisting of two rescued dogs (one Beagle and one Great Dane/Lab mix), various fish, hermit crabs, mice and a pretty neat Bearded Dragon lizard.
My Education
My introduction to graphic design started in theater. Set design, costume design and makeup design were part of the core theater curriculum at Texas A&M University, where I studied for my undergraduate degree. In the early 1990s, I worked for the school publication, The Battalion. I did layout for their advertising sections. It was old school, but it started my fascination with layout, iconography and typography.
I continued my education with graduate studies in directing for theater at Texas State University. I did more set design, make up design and costume design while also learning to manage and direct a troupe of unruly college-aged actors. I did my thesis on Macbeth and did research using this new thing called “the Internet”. I wasn’t allowed to cite web pages, though. And when I wrote about communicating with authorities on Shakespeare through e-mail, my advisor had me change the word to “electronic mail”, since in a few years, no one would remember what “e-mail” was.
My Career
I began my career in web design in the late 1990’s. After moving to the Los Angeles area, I began working for a special effects company in North Hollywood, working on graphics and image enhancements for movies and music videos. My duties included researching this “new thing” called web design and making sure that the company developed a web presence. I started taking online HTML, CSS and JavaScript tutorials and I was hooked.
My career in web design and development progressed, working for various businesses including investment companies, national health care companies and a major airline. And, of course, the obligatory consultant work for products and services ranging from wedding dress manufacturers to a create-your-own personalized sash website to non-profit sites for police toy drive fundraisers and special needs support groups.
I accepted a position as a UX designer at a San Antonio-based financial institution and insurance company dedicated to the financial well-being of members of the military and their families, in October 2007.
If you want to get in touch with me, you can connect with me on Twitter or contact me.