Endlessly curious & driven, I am an interdisciplinary leader, designer, strategist, & emerging technology specialist who merges human-centered design with advanced technologies. I guide teams in crafting groundbreaking, user-centric experiences & excel at navigating extreme ambiguity while integrating diverse insights to inspire strategic clarity across business areas.
With extensive experience across research, product, industry, & consultancy, I balance a perspective of experimental innovation with pragmatic execution to deliver impactful, scalable solutions.
Meta | Reality Labs Research – Redmond, WA
Research Design Manager, September 2021 – Present
Strategic & creative leader within this world-class technology research organization, leading a diverse team of designers, prototypers, & user researchers working to understand, imagine, & shape the future of human-oriented computing, AR, & VR. We explore with bold ideas in spatial computing, optics, display, biometric sensing, contextual AI, & novel interaction paradigms to inform future products.
Microsoft – Redmond, WA
Principal Program Manager, Ethics & Society, January 2021 – September 2021
Returning to my previous Microsoft team in a new leadership capacity, orchestrated cross-functional efforts to develop design & engineering practices in support of Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standard, helping accelerate technological innovation while prioritizing the well-being of society & the environment.
Boston Consulting Group | Platinion – Seattle, WA
Design Principal | Seattle Studio Lead, September 2019 – January 2021
Founding member of Platinion’s Smart Environments Group, a highly specialized practice within BCG’s interdisciplinary digital transformation division. Responsible for experience design research, strategy, & enablement for this emerging area, working with Fortune 50 clients, globally. Also responsible for growing BCG’s west coast multidisciplinary design capability in partnership with Platinion Global Design leadership.
Microsoft – Redmond, WA
Sr. Director UX, Digital Transformation & Applied Innovation
February 2019 – September 2019
Design and Program leader within Digital Transformation & Applied Innovation, supporting Microsoft Real Estate & Security’s CampusNext project. Responsible for leading the development & validation of the smart campus’ user experience strategy & design, directly informing re-imagined physical architecture, technology infrastructure, & new-to-the-world interactions made possible by their thoughtful integration. CampusNext was intended to deliver the world’s most groundbreaking & effective workplace, a living lab for Microsoft’s most advanced technologies, & a proof point for true physical/digital experience design.
Principal Design Manager, Ambient AI Design & Research/Cognition Design/Ethics & Society
November 2017 – February 2019
Originally hired as a member of a groundbreaking start-up within Microsoft’s Design & Research Division, I led a cross-disciplinary design studio in the creation of “cyber-physical” environmental experiences, merging traditional industrial, interior, & brand design with artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. Understanding & mitigating the ethical concerns inherent in these new experiences was a primary focus in my work. As part of a company-wide reorganization, my team transitioned to Microsoft’s Platform Division, Cognition. There, I assumed additional design leadership accountability for Computer Vision & Sensing Technology workstreams.
Amazon – Seattle, WA
Creative Director, Amazon Go
November 2014 – November 2017
Founding member of a highly disruptive startup within Amazon, leading the Brand & Store Experience Design Team in creating the world’s first Smart Store. Amazon Go re-imagined physical retail through computer vision, sensor fusion, & machine learning. I led a team of experience, industrial, & graphic designers responsible for all aspects of the brand’s development, holistic in-store interaction, physical design, as well as ongoing product development & platform innovation.
Office Depot – Boca Raton, FL
Senior Director, Visual Merchandising & Interactive
August 2013 – October 2014
Charged to define strategy & elevate the retail environment as part of a newly-created Customer Experience Team. Guided a cross-functional team of internal & external resources in the conception, design, & execution of visual merchandising, environmental interactive experiences, & omnichannel initiatives to ignite customer demand & redefine expectations of the brand. In addition to daily accountabilities, responsible for defining experience strategy & design for the Store of The Future.
Hornall Anderson – Seattle, WA
Creative Director, Experience and Environment Studio
October 2007 – August 2013
Created the studio responsible for Hornall Anderson’s most interdisciplinary work, broadening the firm’s offering beyond its nationally-established expertise in brand development & graphic design.
Drove experience strategy, placemaking, innovation, environmental interactive experiences & built environment projects across sectors. Notable clients include Nordstrom, Target, Pepsico, HTC, L’Oréal, GE, REI, Kroger, The Sydney Opera House, The Empire State Building, & Madison Square Garden.
Persuasive, thoughtful approach to all client engagements & new business development, resulting in relationships that garner $5M+ fees, annually.
Arhart Creative – Seattle, WA
Principal
2005 – 2007
Creative consultant & advisor to the retail, investment, & creative services communities, providing brand & experience strategy, naming, identity development, print, packaging, environmental graphic design, retail merchandising, interactive, exhibit, museum, & store design. Clients include Eddie Bauer, Safeco, Boston Market, Ignite Venture Partners, Hornall Anderson, & WongDoody.
Eddie Bauer, Inc. – Redmond WA
Director of Retail Creative & Visual Merchandising
2002 – 2005
Creative Director for two divisions of this national omnichannel retailer, responsible for integrating & leading a cross-functional team of designers & visual merchandisers in seasonal platform development, brand marketing, packaging, visual merchandising, in-store marketing, store design, & display for apparel, home, outlet, & licensing divisions.
The Retail Group – Seattle, WA
Partner, Creative Director
1997 – 2002
Creative leader for one of the country’s premier retail architecture, design, & strategic branding firms, responsible for brand strategy & development, creative development & conceptualization of projects for an array of clients, including Fortune 500 companies. Clients include Nike, The Home Depot, Sears, Babies-R-Us, Radio Shack, Whirlpool, & McDonalds.
Senior Graphic Designer
1994 – 1997
Responsible for brand identity development, environmental graphic systems, signage, marketing collateral materials, & packaging as part of a multidisciplinary design team.
Ilium Associates – Bellevue, WA
Associate Graphic Designer
1991 – 1994
Brand & environmental graphic designer.
Amazon Leading For Engagement Management Program, 2016
Office Depot Senior Leadership Development Program, 2014
Omnicom University Senior Management Program, 2012-2013
The University of Texas at Austin, 1990, Bachelor of Science Creative Advertising
Retailer of the Year
VMSD Design Awards, 2017
Awarded for Amazon Go
First Place, Environmental Design
International Mobius Awards, 2010
Awarded for the design of the Madison Square Garden Transformation Center
Graphis Platinum Award, Environmental Design
Graphis International Design Competition, 2010
Awarded for the design of the Madison Square Garden Transformation Center
Graphis Gold Award, Environmental Design
Graphis International Design Competition, 2010
Awarded for the design of The Skydeck Visitor Experience at Willis (Sears) Tower
REFERENCES UPON REQUEST
3055 Briarcliff Lane W
Seattle, Washington
206.498.1525
ashleyarhart@mac.com
Retailers & Manufacturers
Amazon
Best Buy
Boston Market
Calvin Klein
General Electric
Eddie Bauer
HTC
The Great Indoors
Hewlett Packard
The Home Depot
Kids R Us
Kroger
Nordstrom
Nike
Nuskin
Radio Shack
Samsung
Sears
Sony
Starbucks
Target
TMobile
Whirlpool
Zovo Lingerie
Visitor Experience & Cultural Institutions
The Sydney Opera House
Madison Square Garden
The Empire State Building
Sears (Willis) Tower
Commercial Developers
Westfield Shopping Centers
Tishman Speyer
Goodman Real Estate
Pine Street Partners