Cynythia is Vice President, Digital Experience Design & New Media at TIAA-CREF.
Cynthia is a seasoned digital strategist and user experience expert with a proven track record of building and leading passionate and successful teams. With over a decade of experience creating user-centered digital solutions, Cynthia has executed designs to address objectives ranging from a robust reliability-tracking interface for operations professionals to a rheumatoid arthritis drug's brand website requiring accessibility for patients with mobility constraints.
Since joining TIAA-CREF in Jan. 2006, Cynthia has positioned TIAA-CREF.org for recognition including Dalbar's citation for "most improved" industry web site (post public site redesign, Nov. 2006) and The Customer Respect Group's designation of TIAA-CREF.org as an "Accessibility Benchmark" site (Feb. 2008).
Currently, Cynthia directs a team with expertise spanning content strategy, information architecture, visual design, social media and human factors. She instills a belief that a company's digital experience defines its brand online and is dedicated to providing exceptional online experiences; driving a forward-looking user-centric approach to strategy and design, and allegiance to tested best practices in execution.
Prior to TIAA-CREF, Cynthia was at Medco Health Solutions where her work on the redesign of www.medcohealth.com and ongoing user experience design leadership was praised by the industry with multiple eHealthcare Leadership awards including "Best Site Design" and "Best Overall Internet Site" from 2002-2004, and the "best interactive site for Seniors" in the Spring 2004 by the World Wide Web Mature Media Awards. Cynthia served as the experience strategy and design lead for EXPERxT Advisor®, a consultative, web-based tool that empowers clients and account teams to use claims data to monitor "real-time" plan performance, identify financial and clinical opportunities, and develop business solutions that align with specific needs.
Cynthia received a B.A. in anthropology from Haverford College and continued on to graduate studies at Columbia University; she considers user experience design a form of applied anthropology requiring deep understanding and observation of the end user.