About Me

Hi, I’m Sara Danielle Reiss — a senior UX designer, strategist, and researcher who specializes in untangling complex systems, bringing clarity to legacy platforms, and building experiences that work for real people.

I've spent 15+ years designing for impact across government, higher ed, health tech, and enterprise organizations. Most recently, I led major digital modernization efforts at the U.S. Department of Labor, improving public-facing platforms and internal systems used by thousands of employees.

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What I Do Best

I help teams and organizations transition from:

  • Bloated content & outdated tools ->

  • To clear, inclusive, scalable experiences.

I bring:

Systems thinking: Big-picture vision + grounded execution.

UX research: From stakeholder interviews to unmoderated testing.

Content strategy: Navigation, voice, accessibility, and IA.

Implementation know-how: Especially in gov, Drupal, or constrained tech stacks.

Cross-functional leadership: Translating between teams, coaching collaborators, aligning goals.

A handwritten brainstorming mind map on paper discussing topics related to college, style, tone, and media content, with notes on learning, storytelling, and audience engagement.
A hand-drawn sketch of a style guide featuring doodles of a pencil, a person saying 'blah blah blah,' a framed photo of a girl in artistic style, a logo for 'LOGO,' a food photo surrounded by utensils, and a media graphic with a cat and text 'MEDIA.'

A Bit More About Me…

I’m not interested in shiny features for their own sake. I care about how people actually use things, and what gets in their way. I thrive in environments where UX isn't just a surface layer — it’s part of the infrastructure. Give me a legacy system, overlapping stakeholders, or a form no one wants to touch, and I’m in my element.

I’ve built UX practices inside agencies, written guidelines adopted org-wide, and helped shift how teams think about user needs and measurement. I also design with a strong focus on accessibility, human-centered AI integration, and universal service delivery.

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Interested in Working Together?

I'm exploring senior UX leadership opportunities in tech adoption, human-centered innovation, and enterprise digital transformation.

View My Work
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