My Toolbox

• Axure RP

• Sketch

• InVision

• Figma

• Miro

• Optimal Workshop

• Omnigraffle

• Pencil & Fabriano Notebooks

• Whiteboards

• Post-it Notes

Industries

• Institutional banking

• Manufacturing

• Retail

• Government

• Education

My Story

My name is Chris Rygielski. I’m a Sr User Experience Lead with M&T Bank , in Columbus Ohio. I became a UX Designer in 2014 after playing multiple roles during a 20+ year career in software development. I've been a web developer, business analyst, release manager, and project manager before realizing my true passion is in UX.

How I Discovered User Experience

I came to point in my career where I was burned out, and struggling to find enjoyment at work. I decided to look back on my career and find instances where I found true enjoyment and a sense of self-fulfillment. I looked past times where I was told I did a good job, and focused on instances where I felt it, knew it inside me. Very clearly, the examples I came up with shared a common theme: I enjoyed when I had the time and responsibility to work with the business users directly. I was happiest during the times when I could listen to actual people with a problem or challenge, understand what they were facing, and where I could have a hand in the design of what we delivered. These were ultimately the most rewarding experiences.

My first Taste (In Retrospect)

During my soul-searching retrospective, one particular project jumped out at me as a time when I really enjoyed my work. I was working on an iPhone application for our sales force in Puerto Rico. We were replacing their old PDA devices they used to place orders, log issues, and track customer relationship management data. On this project, I was sent to San Juan to meet the team, observe their sales calls, and listen to what they struggled with, and what they needed out of the new application. In between trips to Puerto Rico, I created crude diagrams in Balsamiq to try out some ideas and bridge some language barriers. On my return trips, I shared my diagrams with them, and got feedback about why this wouldn’t work, or better yet, heard their excitement about how this other idea would improve their lives. I shared those diagrams with my developer, and he used them to create working code which I would then share with the sales team for further refinement and confirmation. The result was one of the best experiences I had with a customer, and the software was well received because of the shared ownership and collaboration we had.

I had stumbled upon my first user experience design role, and it was awesome. I didn’t know it by that title, or that what I had created were “wireframes”, or that I performed “observational research”, but I knew I liked it. My other career experiences from this retrospective followed similar themes, and with this clarity identified, a new career goal laid before me. The rest is history.

UX TEAM OF ONE -> UX LEAD

In the 5+ years since my career transition, I’ve worked as a UX Designer for various clients in different industries. I’ve primarily been a “UX Team of One” working with clients that are new to design centered processes. So I’ve been on the forefront of their UX adoption and have focused on moving them from “we need screens for X by Monday” to “what problems are we trying to solve over the next year”. Or in other words, I’ve focused on getting these clients to move to the left of the double diamond as a starting point for the engagement. 

In 2019, I took on the role of UX Lead, overseeing a team of designers for one of our larger clients in the institutional finance industry. I split my time now between hands on design and project coordination across the various efforts we have ongoing.  My primary focus is to help define usable applications, ensure a consistent experience across those applications, and raise the UX maturity level to drive design centered thinking. It’s a blend of roles I’ve had over my career from UX, project management, and business analysis, and I love it.