Adjunct Faculty, User Research

SEP 2019 - AUG 2020 · 1 year

Adjunct Faculty, User Research

SEP 2019 - PRESENT · 6.9 years

Faculty (Design Methods & Research)

AUG 2015 - JUN 2016 · 11 months

Faculty (Design Methods & Research)

AUG 2015 - PRESENT · 11 years

Co-Faculty (Intro to Design Research, Leading By Design Fellowship & Design Methods & Research)

SEP 2013 - JUN 2016 · 2.8 years

Intro to DR: Taught students how to deploy primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative ethnographic research, and other human-centered research techniques. Through an iterative process, including idea generation and rapid prototyping, students developed and presented solutions grounded in user needs. LBD Fellow Program: Taught executives and senior professionals the (design and MBA) skills to confidently lead change in their organizations and create lasting value by bringing together Design Research, Design Thinking, Business Strategy, (Product Management), Rapid Prototyping, Leadership and Sustainability.

Co-Faculty (Intro to Design Research, Leading By Design Fellowship & Design Methods & Research)

SEP 2013 - PRESENT · 12.9 years

Intro to DR: Taught students how to deploy primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative ethnographic research, and other human-centered research techniques. Through an iterative process, including idea generation and rapid prototyping, students developed and presented solutions grounded in user needs. LBD Fellow Program: Taught executives and senior professionals the (design and MBA) skills to confidently lead change in their organizations and create lasting value by bringing together Design Research, Design Thinking, Business Strategy, (Product Management), Rapid Prototyping, Leadership and Sustainability.

Founder

JAN 2012 - PRESENT · 14.6 years

Curiosity Tank is a consulting and education firm specializing in human-centered research, design development, and AI-informed product strategy, alongside hands-on learning and building programs. We conduct and teach design and user research to people and organizations around the world, including work at the intersection of human experience, emerging technologies, and AI systems. Our solutions are affordable and repeatable. We apply our diverse research methods and traditional graphic and product design roots to deliver formidable results across all platforms, media, markets, and increasingly, AI-powered products and services. Our consulting and training services cater to individuals and teams in the following areas: - Design thinking and innovation workshop design and facilitation - Qualitative research - Systems thinking - UX / interaction - Prototyping - Team, product, and service design creation and evolution - UX, product, and education strategy - Human-centered AI research, trust, and adoption - Curricula development and execution Let us deliver something remarkable for you. Or better yet, let us help you do it yourself. Curiosity Tank is led by Michele Ronsen, a professional user researcher, designer, coach, and educator with 7,000+ hours of adult design and user research teaching expertise in academic institutions and 20+ years of corporate training, workshops, design, and research for Fortune 500s, startups, and frontier AI organizations. We love questions! Learn more about us: www.CuriosityTank.com Speaking engagements and other questions: hello@curiositytank.com Clients include Cohere, Gusto, Stripe, Slack, Zillow, Invisalign, Xero, Microsoft, MileIQ, Autodesk, Square, Facebook, Kaiser Permanente, BNP Paribas, Best Buy, Blue Shield, PayPal, Mapfre, California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, and many fantastic startups, non-profits, and mom and pop shops.

Graduate Faculty and Curriculum Developer (School of Design)

JAN 2010 - DEC 2015 · 6 years

Taught conceptual development and mind mapping classes. Led independent and group directed studies focused on individual design thesis projects. Designed and delivered workshops to provide additional mentoring and guidance. Participated on thesis review committee evaluating graduate theses work for certification. Built new curricula focused on “Designing for Social Innovation.”

Graduate Faculty and Curriculum Developer (School of Design)

JAN 2010 - PRESENT · 16.6 years

Taught conceptual development and mind mapping classes. Led independent and group directed studies focused on individual design thesis projects. Designed and delivered workshops to provide additional mentoring and guidance. Participated on thesis review committee evaluating graduate theses work for certification. Built new curricula focused on Designing for Social Innovation.

Undergraduate Faculty (School of Design)

JAN 1995 - DEC 2000 · 6 years

Taught junior and senior level graphic design courses focusing on the importance of branding through a variety of design disciplines. Demonstrated creative strategies for developing effective and scalable visual brand identities.

Undergraduate Faculty (School of Design)

JAN 1995 - PRESENT · 31.6 years

Taught junior and senior level graphic design courses focusing on the importance of branding through a variety of design disciplines. Demonstrated creative strategies for developing effective and scalable visual brand identities.

Principal User Researcher | AI & Machine Learning

SEP 2024 - DEC 2025 · 1.3 years

* Owned and led two global research pillars, LLM Safety & Alignment and Multilingual Language Accuracy & Generalization, informing model behavior, evaluation priorities, and long-term capability direction. * Led multi-market research across the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East, advancing understanding of in-language and in-culture expectations for LLM behavior, trust, transparency, and failure handling. Designed and executed large-scale generative and evaluative studies in English, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean, examining language accuracy, formatting and presentation, safety behavior, refusals, and transparency across models. * Translated findings into actionable guidance for model training, fine-tuning, evaluation, and safety design, influencing both near and long-term improvements and priorities. Insights justified roadmap, investment, and model iteration decisions. * Outcomes directly informed the design of a net-new customizable safety guardrail framework, including response policies, transparency behaviors, configuration models, onboarding logic, and evaluation strategy. Work underpinned the development of a new Safety model (in progress) across controlled and public environments. * In parallel, owned the multilingual research strategy supporting Arabic, Japanese, and Korean language performance. Led foundational research with senior LLM selectors and deployers across Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Japanese, and Korean, identifying gaps in linguistic accuracy, cultural interpretation, formatting, and task execution across models. Established repeatable multilingual evaluation methods used to guide model improvement and training priorities * Provided research leadership across frontier AI initiatives, including doc generation, feedback and preferences, system nomenclature, and evaluation practices. Led vendor strategy and RFPs for specialized research partners, scaling research capacity while improving rigor, consistency, and cost efficiency.

Instructor, Content Creator and Workshop Facilitator

JAN 2019 - AUG 2021 · 2.7 years

Design, develop and deliver engaging Design Thinking and User Research course curricula, presentations, handouts and workshop activities to professionals at all levels

Senior Vice President and Creative Director (Team Member Marketing)

JAN 2006 - DEC 2012 · 7 years

Led a diverse 20-30-person team of writers, designers, producers, and support agencies focusing 100% on engagement experiences for Wells Fargo’s 280,000 internal team members. Internal customers also included various product and service groups such as Research, Credit Card, Mortgage, Insurance, Enterprise Marketing, Benefits, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Relations and more. Partnered with technology team to redesign 100k page corporate intranet (product) in agile environment. Directed several enterprise-wide, cross-functional strategic initiatives. Researched, concepted, prototyped and executed the innovation strategy for all marketing engagements and campaigns across media. Authored, reinforced, and evolved brand standards for a variety of segments, channels and media. Conducted and leveraged research, analytics, print, video, merchandising, systems and applications, online and interactive media, feedback loops, metrics, training and more to support goals, deliver assets and achieve targets. Responsible for $4 MM yearly operating budget in addition to all project expenses, freelance and support agency con-tracts. Key accomplishments: Brand-Driven Innovation: Created the company’s first Internal Brand Standards, a complex 100-page document de-signed to promote consistent execution, and enterprise-wide adoption as well as to articulate and demonstrate the Wells Fargo employee value proposition in action. Organization Design: Recruited, hired and mentored all team members, contractors and support agencies to incre-ase efficiency and innovation. Company Firsts: Championed and implemented online firsts including animations, videos, and HTML emails Implemented a user-driven culture and increased team innovation quotient Increased efficiency through templates, merchandising programs, paper reduction, message mapping and HTML e-marketing, yielding consistency in key messages and holistically coordinated experiences across the enterprise.

Vice President and Creative Director (Funds Management)

JAN 2005 - DEC 2006 · 2 years

Built a more strategic and efficient creative team by merging three legacy teams into one entity. Launched a targeted national advertising campaign to motivate external brokers, dealers, institutional and retail audiences to buy, invest or sell mutual funds. Ensured SEC and FDIC compliance. Identified and analyzed seasonality, work quality, talent, organizational structure, client needs, and all processes. Determined, authored and executed revisions to brand standards. Educated management, partners, staff and external agencies. Developed creative strategies, provided design direction, and managed team of 20 staff plus freelancers.

Senior Vice President and Design Director (Retail Banking and Distribution)

JAN 2002 - DEC 2005 · 4 years

Concepted and built the first internal Store Design team in bank history, authoring innovative strategies, implementing processes, managing budgets and applying knowledge of sustainable materials and LEED green building principles. Conceived, designed and prototyped 2D, 3D, and 4D components for the bank of the future including fixtures and merchandising. Produced user-centered, sustainable solutions to provide a holistically branded retail banking experience. Managed creative talent, research, prototype vendors, cost analysis and timelines.

Vice President and Senior Art Director (Brand and Communications)

JAN 1999 - DEC 2002 · 4 years

Reorganized and hired talent, migrating it from a production facility to a strategic creative entity. Orchestrated all internal and external materials for official Olympic banking sponsorship of the Salt Lake City Games. Led team in the design of user-centric experiences including websites, advertising, signage, exhibits, credit, debit and smart cards, catalogs, merchandise, ATM screens, advertising, umbrella and subsidiary brands. Supported debt and smart card, commercial lending, small business, home equity, student loans, and sponsorships.

Art Director and Product Innovator (Nordstrom Product Group)

JAN 1997 - DEC 2000 · 4 years

Traveled internationally researching new cosmetic products and services for private label development, specializing in color, treatment and home fragrance as well as soft goods. Conceived, designed, named, and priced products. Gained deep expertise in life cycle design, including global research, prototyping, launching, retail/wholesale financials, delivery and maintenance. Created first in-house Cosmetic Art Department to manage all cosmetic design needs. Established comprehensive design standards. Prototyped and delivered all holiday, packaging, and merchandising solutions for nationwide store purchase. Facilitated market focus through trend research as it applied to fashion, retail and overall design. Sourced and negotiated all merchandising component and packaging costs. Developed multiple, cost effective, easily merchant- disable solutions for all visual and brand needs.

Designer

JAN 1995 - DEC 1997 · 3 years

Successfully managed Nordstrom cosmetic account Developed strong client relationships, gained a firm knowledge of web design, branding, merchandising and packaging systems. Conceived, designed and presented all new brand storyboards and potential solutions.

Design Intern

JAN 1992 - DEC 1995 · 4 years

Worked directly with partners and senior designers in all aspects of major environmental and graphic design projects. Executed 2D, 3D and small model prototypes and storyboards. Partial client list: AIGA, Chronicle Books, Coca-Cola, Columbus Salami, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Potlatch, and Williams Sonoma.