Arielle
Cote-Colisson
Leader | Strategist | Product Designer
ABOUT MEI’m a multidisciplinary design leader based out of Washington D.C., committed to driving innovation, elevating design standards, and cultivating a collaborative and user-centered design culture to improve business objectives and create compelling customer experiences.
I have 14 years of experience working in the financial services and the fintech industries ranging from a 30+ employee startup to a 16,000+ employee Fortune 500 company.
I am passionate about product design and strategy, scaling design capabilities and impact, democratizing access to design thinking, and bridging the gap between design and other functions across an organization. I like to balance the macro and micro aspects of projects, ensuring high-level strategy and detailed execution align with the overall vision. I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and get involved in all aspects of the design phases.
MY PHILOSOPHYMy philosophy revolves around the intersection of creativity, functionality, and empathy. I believe that design should primarily serve a purpose and evoke emotion. By fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued, I strive to cultivate innovative solutions that resonate with people profoundly.
Embracing iterative processes and feedback loops, I advocate for continuous learning and refinement, pushing boundaries to create experiences that leave a lasting impact.
Ultimately, my goal is to champion human-centered design principles, ensuring that every project reflects a deep understanding of user needs, cultural contexts, and technological advancements while inspiring meaningful connections between people and products.
SKILLSDesign Leadership
Fostering a collaborative and creative environment. Attracting and managing top talent. Mentoring and developing team members. Representing the design team cross-functionally. Bringing cross-functional ideas to life by overseeing project workflows, ensuring design quality, and consistency. Scaling and maturing design.
Engagement Management & Partner Success
Identifying strategic design engagements and assessing designer capacity & skillsets to ensure designers are focused on the right engagements and delivering business impact. Building bridges across design and other teams.
Design Impact & Business Results
Helping determine how to measure the impact of design and how to create transparency around that impact to continue to expand the types of design engagements and teams design works with across an organization. Demonstrating business results and impact through reporting and shareholder updates.
Human-Centered Design
Planning and execution across 5 steps of the human-centered design process, workshop planning & facilitation, creating human-centered design curriculum & training to democratize human-centered design cross-functionally.