Melissa Eggleston
Melissa Eggleston
Trauma-Informed Technology Researcher, Designer, and Instructor
Melissa Eggleston serves as a user experience researcher and designer for the Digital Service at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare. For more than 15 years, she has improved the UX of websites, apps, and software for organizations such as Lenovo, Duke University, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2023 she won the Service to the Citizen CX Trailblazer Award for her work on 988 (the U.S. suicide hotline) and related websites. With a design specialty in trauma-informed approaches, Melissa has designed for people who have experienced interpersonal violence, human trafficking, substance use disorder, and serious mental illness. In 2009, Melissa received her MA in Communication from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she has taught UX design since 2019.
Working for the Government is Surprising: Why Civic Tech Can Be a Smart Move in Your Career Path
How can you upskill your career quickly and make the world a better place?
Who wants to work for the government?! This was the thought I had in 2015 when I noticed a developer friend take a job with 18F. Fast forward, now I've spent 3 interesting years working for the U.S. government. I’ve been paid well to use my design skills with stellar colleagues on the most meaningful and complex projects in my 15-year career in UX.
In this session, we’ll discuss the rapid expansion of the civic tech field. Where do job opportunities exist for digital service? What are the pros and cons of taking a government job? How do UXers work in a highly political environment? You’ll hear details about 2 example government projects and get resources to explore whether civic tech should be your next move.