Episode 391: What Is Equity-Centered UX With Zariah Cameron From Ally

Me being a Black woman, a young Black woman at that, I have a completely different viewpoint on life than a lot of different people, a lot of my coworkers. And I believe that my viewpoint has value. And so, in that, I believe that it’s important for you not to silence my voice or anyone’s voice that, you know, is like mine, because that’s how people become insecure and uncomfortable. And then, you know, they kind of like become this person that doesn’t even want to speak up anymore. Episode 391: What Is Equity-Centered UX With Zariah Cameron From Ally Welcome to the Workology Podcast, a podcast for the disruptive workplace leader. Join host Jessica Miller-Merrell, founder of Workology.com as she sits down and gets to the bottom of trends, tools, and case studies for the business leader, HR, and recruiting professional who is tired of the status quo. Now here’s Jessica with this episode of Workology. Jessica Miller-Merrell: [00:01:00.33] This episode of the Workology Podcast is part of our Future of Work series powered by PEAT, The Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology. PEAT works to start conversations around how emerging workplace technology trends are impacting people with disabilities. This podcast is powered by Ace The HR Exam and Upskill HR. These are two of the courses I offer for HR certification prep and recertification for HR leaders. Before I introduce our podcast guest for today’s episode, I want to hear from you. Please text the word “PODCAST” to 512-548-3005 to ask questions, leave comments and make suggestions for future guests. This is my community text number and I want to hear from you. So today I’m joined by Zariah Cameron, Equity Centered UX strategist at Ally. Zariah is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, and she has been a experienced, self-taught UX designer that aims to cultivate a sense of community within her work. You’re going to see. You’re going to love it. She helps amplify the voices and stories of marginalized communities, specifically the Black community. She has a passion for strategically placing equity and inclusivity at the forefront of her design work. Zariah is the founder of AEI Design Program, an initiative that provides resources and virtual events to prep Black design college students. She is the first Equity Centered UX strategist at Ally Financial where she is helping to drive an inclusive design methodology for the design organization. Zariah, welcome to the Workology Podcast. Zariah Cameron: [00:02:41.28] I’m so happy to be here. Thanks, Jessica, for having me. Jessica Miller-Merrell: [00:02:44.85] Of course, I love your background. It’s, it’s interesting. You’re the first Equity Centered UX strategist at Ally Financial. Talk to us a little bit about your background and how it led you to do the work you’re doing now. Zariah Cameron: [00:02:57.69] I’ve been carving out this role for the past year and last year I was able to learn so much in just propelling this effort forward and so really excited to kind of talk about a few things and how I got there. But yeah, so I originally, as I stated in my, my bio, I was a, I studied graphic design actually in school, but then, you know, kind of discovered UX design and realized I had a true passion and love for it. And then, you know, I really cared about like truly making a positive impact in the lives of people and how they interact with the world and experiences. And I, I knew that I already had like sort of this creative design and strategic mindset and knew I wanted to sort of work in the wo...