Recommendations
Stuart Wells - Chief Technology Officer at Jumio Corporation
Nicole came to FICO to unify a large number of our on premise products into cloud connected decision management and fraud prevention applications. She not only hired an enterprise quality team of UX professionals, she hired the team to lead a angular based design system used by the new platform FICO products. She worked with the product management, development and professional services teams to develop the design strategy for the suite of FICO products. Her knowledge of the analytics and fraud prevention industry enabled her to build and lead a team of design professionals and foster a user centric approach to FICOs product development.
Abby Messier - Senior Product Marketing Manager at Jumio
I had the pleasure of working alongside Nicole during her tenure as the inaugural leader of the UX team at Jumio. Nicole's impact on our organization was nothing short of transformational and am honored to have worked with her.
Nicole possesses a rare blend of creativity, technical expertise, and leadership skills that make her an exceptional UX professional and a true asset to any organization. Her ability to understand user needs and translate them into innovative design solutions is unparalleled. She consistently delivered user-centered designs that not only met but exceeded our clients' expectations.
What truly sets Nicole apart is her leadership style. As the first leader of our UX team, she played a pivotal role in shaping our design culture and processes. Nicole's leadership was characterized by her unwavering commitment to fostering collaboration and creativity within the team. Under her guidance, our UX team became a powerhouse of innovation and a key driver of product success.
Nicole's influence extended far beyond the boundaries of the UX team. She actively engaged with cross-functional teams (beyond just Product Management and Engineering, but with other teams such as Marketing) to ensure a seamless integration of design principles into our product development lifecycle. Her ability to bridge the gap between design and development was instrumental in delivering products that not only looked great but also functioned flawlessly.
Beyond her technical prowess and leadership skills, Nicole is a pleasure to work with. Her positive attitude, enthusiasm, and dedication to her craft are contagious, making her a true team player.
Nicole is a seasoned UX professional and an inspiring leader. Her contributions to Jumio were instrumental in elevating our user experience and product offerings. I have no doubt that she will continue to excel in her career and make significant contributions to any organization fortunate enough to have her on board.
If you're looking for a UX leader who can drive innovation, inspire teams, and deliver exceptional results, I wholeheartedly recommend Nicole Sharratt.
Reinhard Hochrieser - VP Product Management at Jumio Corporation
Nicole is, quite simply, one of the most exceptional leaders in Product Designs I have ever worked with. Her deep understanding of design principles across multiple channels combined with an innate ability to lead and inspire is truly remarkable.
One of the qualities I admire most about Nicole is her user-centric approach to design. Her ability to not just understand, but anticipate user needs, often leading to innovative solutions that significantly enhance user experiences. Furthermore Nicole has a real sense of urgency, deep agile mindset and can adopt quickly to to new circumstances.
Beyond her incredible experience around Product Design, she built a world-class design team and is an excellent leader taking her teams needs as top priority and fosters a collaborative mindset across the organization that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Nicole is always willing to listen to new ideas and chime in to provide help whenever necessary.
Nicole is a true asset in any product design leadership role.
Michael Robertson - Senior Director, FICO Head of Design Systems
First off, I’m very proud to have worked with, and for, Nicole in two tours of duty during my UX career. Nicole was instrumental in bringing me to Silicon Valley and Ariba in 2000, and then to FICO in 2018. Her personal mission to build effective, intuitive interfaces for users has only deepened in those two decades. She is a highly skilled leader, mentor and team builder adept at recognizing designer/front end talent and empowering them to make the greatest impact on the business. As a discipline, design is continuously navigating the priorities of development, sales, marketing and product management. In this matrix Nicole seeks common ground and consensus whenever possible displaying an exceptional ability to create the relationships with her executive team that deliver results. At FICO she gave me responsibility to build a design system team that raised the bar for consistency, productivity and accessibility. I’m immensely grateful for her unflagging support.
Nicole’s organizations are notable for their consistently positive internal cultures, but Nicole’s cultural contributions and impact extend to the enterprise and beyond. At FICO she was a principal advocate for female leadership through the “Women at FICO” initiative. A variety of events and talks introduced FICO colleagues (female and male) to inspiring women leaders in many fields, including the FICO board, NASA and Sport. Nicole also volunteers her time to review UX student portfolios at San Jose State as a way to give back to the next generation of designers. Somehow she keeps all the plates spinning.
I’m always available to talk about Nicole’s accomplishments and leadership at length.
Daryl Huff - VP Advanced Technology at Jumio
One of the best things I ever did at FICO was to convince Nicole to join FICO as the leader for User Experience. She was a fantastic leader and motivator for not only her organization at FICO, but also for the entire development organization. She took User Experience to a level that we couldn't have imagined at FICO and I'm sure she'll do the same in her new role at Jumio.
Darina Bangieva - Product Designer at Jumio
Nicole is an exceptional human being and a multi-talented UX architect. I have been fortunate enough to be chosen by her and work closely with her at Jumio. She has been a fantastic motivator and a great leader who has constantly helped me find my best designer self while mentoring and guiding me. Last but not least, Nicole has been a real friend who was always there for our UX team.
Jackie Appell Wheeler - Sr. Director Strategic Marketing at Jumio
I've had the good fortune to work with Nicole at three different companies over the years, and I can say without hesitation that she is absolutely tops in her field. She has an incredible eye for UX, of course, but she's also just a fantastic colleague. She and I worked side-by-side on the diversity, equity & inclusion committee at Jumio, and the dedication she brought to that volunteer role was just as pronounced as her commitment to her regular responsibilities. She brings intelligence, great humor and warmth to her interactions and is also a straight shooter who isn't afraid to call out decisions that need further exploration. I would gladly work with Nicole again!
Dan Russon - Global VP People and Culture at Jumio
Nicole is a fantastic person to work with and an even better leader and human being. Organized, logical and with a creative flair that makes her great at her job, Nicole is also an excellent advocate and driver of DEI initiatives. Very easy to recommend heartily - any company would be lucky to welcome Nicole to their team.
Abhijeet Singh - Product Manager - Jumio
Working with Nicole at Jumio has been a rewarding experience. Her ability to build a design based culture which revolves around target user experience is really admirable. Of course she is excellent in product design skills and it shows in everything she does, but her special ability to take everyone around her to participate in the design journey and related decision making is just commendable.
From her, I learnt that design is a practice, which starts as early as product ideation and goes hand in hand with it all the way. This belief of her has led to countless improvements in the product design and user experience function at Jumio.
I never met anyone who didn't have great things to say about her. She is a true professional and a leader, but also very approachable, easy to talk to and always ready to help and guide.
Any organization will benefit greatly by having Nicole lead their product design and user experience functions.
Joshua Prismon - Chief Architect - Index Exchange
Leaders like Nicole are an invaluable asset to any organization to successfully drive critical cross-functional initiatives. She has been well known to build highly-functional teams across multiple domains. Her presence automatically creates a positive energy all around and inspires everyone to be at their best.
Nicole is one of the most supportive, yet fearless, team leader I ever had who consistently went above and beyond to foster a positive and collaborative work environment. She not only understands the importance of creating a space where team members feel valued, safe, respected, and encouraged to be creative; she genuinely concerns herself with the well-being and personal growth of her team while they are professionally engaged delivering multiple projects.
With decades of experience in research, design, and UX, Nicole also posses unique techniques to advocate for customers and users which helps every stakeholder to constantly remember what we're doing, why we're doing it, and who we're doing it for. Organizations who truly wants to be customer-centric can't go wrong with having a leader like Nicole on their team.
Praveena Varadarajan - Vice President / Senior Partner IBM
I had the pleasure of working with Nicole at FICO. As we were transitions the products from a legacy system to the digital presence, Nicole was instrumental is Crafting the user interface design for the suite of products at FICO. She is a thought leader and influences her team to build the design for the products. She was a great influence on the management team to build the right product design. She hired a team of user interface experts to help build the UI interface for the products. She is a great person to work with and always energizes every member on the team to work to their best potential. Nicole will be an asset to any organization.
Thanh Tran - Lead Engineer & Scrum Master at FICO
Had the great opportunity to work on Nicole's User Experience team. She is a great and supportive leader who drives collaboration and change. She was able to implement many great UX initiatives and push for UX advocacy and consistency across products. Leaders like Nicole are so rare. She is able to get so much done and support your individual careers goals while brightening the energy in any room she goes into. She really cares about and connects with all her employees and is great at identifying each person's strengths and how to best use their skills on the right product or project. Nicole is not only a great leader to have on your team, but an amazing person to learn from and work for.
Subhashis (Sub) Mukherjee - Director, FICO User Experience
I had the privilege of working with Nicole as we built the Decision Management Suite and reformed all of FICO's core products. Nicole always brought creativity, empathy for users, and a keen eye for design, but also displayed the ability to be pragmatic and balance those goals against the limitations of software development and that legacy code bases and products. The team she built at FICO was world-class, and as a leader, she was a crucial part of our success in transforming both the culture and the products at FICO.I had the privilege of working with Nicole as we built the Decision Management Suite and reformed all of FICO's core products. Nicole always brought creativity, empathy for users, and a keen eye for design, but also displayed the ability to be pragmatic and balance those goals against the limitations of software development and that legacy code bases and products. The team she built at FICO was world-class, and as a leader, she was a crucial part of our success in transforming both the culture and the products at FICO.
Dustin Vaughn-Luma - Principal UX Designer at Capital One
Working with Nicole was an absolute pleasure. She is a highly influential design team leader with a attitude that encourages innovation. During my time at McAfee, she drove the design leadership around the industry's first mobile cart and continues to stimulate the growth of sound UX design that impacts McAfee's products and services.
Nicole is an effective motivator, creative thinker, and design mentor. I am honored to know her as a colleague and as a friend.
Gin Chieng - Product Designer at Meta
I had the utmost pleasure working at Trend Micro and Intel Security with Nicole as my user experience design mentor in both setting. Nicole is a perfect blend of user experience leader and meticulous tactician. She not only get things done, she gets the right things done – and she makes sure she and everyone around her has fun in the process, too. Her warm and open personality makes her a great person to consult and discuss with.
Nicole is an amazing person to work with and I hope I would be able to work with her again in the future.