Melissa Voderberg

Experience

• 

  Candy Design

  Jan 1999 - Jun 2005

  Director | Silversmith & Jewellery Designer

  – Founded Candy Design, a jewellery business, overseeing all aspects of design, production, and distribution.– Led the design and development of seasonal collections supplied to 25 retailers across Australia.– Demonstrated entrepreneurial leadership, balancing creative design with strategic business management.

• 

  Melbourne Polytechnic

  Jun 2005 - Nov 2010

  Teacher - Design and Marketing

  – Led instruction and curriculum development across diploma programs, including Small Business Management, Arts, Graphic Design, and Illustration.– Focused on delivering impactful learning experiences to foster industry-ready skills.– Demonstrated commitment to cultivating future talent and enhancing academic standards.

• 

  Studio Latitude

  Jul 2005 - Feb 2011

  Design Director | Co-Founder | Marketing and Sales Manager

  – Led the co-design and successful market launch of a broad portfolio of tourism products under the Studio Latitude brand.– Directed cross-functional teams across product and graphic design, pre-press, production management, marketing, sales, and staff management.– Responsible for execution and growth across all operational areas.Key Achievements:– Developed targeted marketing and promotional strategies to secure more than 75 wholesale clients across Australia. – Awarded People's Choice Packaging | Desktop Magazine 2009.– Awarded Bronze in National Print Awards | Printing Industries Craftsmanship 2008.– Awarded National Memento of Australia | Creative Economy 2006. Show less

• 

  Kangan Institute - RTO No. 3077

  Jun 2006 - Jan 2007

  Innovation Leader

  – Contributed to a strategic partnership with Invetech and prototyping company ARRK, helping develop and deliver innovative projects for secondary students that integrated industrial design processes into the curriculum and introduced new methods for student engagement.– Led the design and implementation of a range of innovation projects, providing students with exposure to real-world design and manufacturing processes, fostering creativity and problem-solving skills.– Participated in the annual Design Expo, where student-designed projects were showcased, with winning designs manufactured by Invetech, offering students opportunities for real-world application and industry recognition. Show less

• 

  Roy Morgan Research

  Oct 2009 - Mar 2012

  – Conducted in-depth home interviews as part of the HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) Study, engaging with individuals from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to gather data on economic well-being, subjective health, and family relationships.– Conducted quantitative and qualitative research within a major longitudinal study, providing insights into the dynamics of family life and well-being, and contributing to Australia’s most comprehensive socio-economic research.This study was initiated and funded by the the Australian Department of Social Services (DSS) and Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (University of Melbourne). Show less

  • Ethnographic Researcher- Journeys Home Longitudinal Study

    Mar 2011 - Mar 2012

  • Ethnographic Researcher- Living in Australia Longitudinal Study

    Oct 2009 - Jun 2011
• 

  Bendigo TAFE

  May 2010 - Dec 2013

  Innovation and Program Leader | Graphic Design and VCAL Teacher

  Taught within the Diploma of Graphic Design and VCAL programs– Developed innovative design solutions to engage youth-at-risk, creating impactful programs that used design thinking to foster engagement and increase retention by over 20%.– Ran design-focused workshops with students, covering areas such as branding design, model making, lighting design, stenciling, and furniture making, combining creative learning with applied skills development to foster confidence and practical experience.Key Achievements:– Forged strategic partnerships with NFP organisations across Bendigo, providing students with hands-on learning experiences and access to diverse work programs that enriched their educational journey and career prospects.– Led the transformation of an abandoned shoe shop into '2 Doors Down', a vibrant café and youth drop-in centre, offering a community space for at-risk youth while running design and fabrication workshops that integrated practical learning with essential skills in numeracy and literacy.– Designed and implemented 'gamify learning' frameworks, enhancing student engagement through interactive and game-based learning models, leading to increased participation and improved student retention by over 20%. Show less

• 

  Billy Blue College of Design

  Jan 2014 - Jul 2017

  Lecturer | Strategic Industry Partnerships Lead

  – Led and supervised student and client projects as Design Director, driving high-quality design outcomes while mentoring and guiding teams to deliver strategic and impactful solutions aligned with business goals.– Founded and nurtured strategic partnerships between Billy Blue College of Design and leading industry players, creating collaborative opportunities that bridged education with real-world application and innovation.– Lectured and developed curriculum in Customer Experience, Service Design, UX/UI, Design & Research, and Design Thinking, fostering the next generation of design leaders by integrating industry insights with academic rigour.– Directed innovation-focused projects that paired students with industry partners, facilitating hands-on learning while addressing contemporary business challenges through design thinking and user-centered strategies.– Ensured the delivery of high-quality design solutions by overseeing governance and project execution, ensuring alignment with business objectives, design best practices, and user needs.– Led cross-functional teams in strategy development, user research, and the delivery of comprehensive design outputs, with a focus on Service Design, CX Design, UX Design, UX Research, and Product Design, resulting in highly effective, user-driven solutions.Clients included: City of Melbourne, STREAT, Hepatitis Victoria, Old Colonists Association of Victoria, Austin Health.Key Achievements:– Built and cultivated over 10 strategic industry partnerships, ensuring students gained valuable real-world experience by working on live projects that bridged academic learning with industry needs, to prepare graduates for careers.– Led and mentored student project teams, guiding the execution of UX research and design, service design blueprints, app design, customer touchpoint maps, wayfinding systems, ensuring deliverables met client expectations and were successfully integrated into business operations. Show less

• 

  City of Melbourne

  Sept 2016 - Oct 2016

  Customer Experience & Facilitation Leader

  – Designed the strategy and resources for City of Melbourne Libraries workshops. – Conducted research and identified key customer insights to support the The Melbourne Library Service Vision 2021. – Custom-designed a suite of ethnographic research tools, (cognitive mapping exercises, task diaries and model making activities) to encourage patron participation and better understand the stakeholders' needs.

• 

  UX Australia

  Mar 2017 - Mar 2017

  Conference Speaker

  UX Research - Conference Speaker at UX Australia - Digital methods for ethnographic research in patient-centred care

• 

  Bourne Digital Pty Ltd

  Jun 2017 - Aug 2020

  National Design Strategy Lead

  Bourne Digital / Accenture– As a key member of the senior leadership team, played a central role in driving business strategy and growth.– Engaged directly with C-level executives to align business goals with customer-centric strategies, fostering strong relationships and driving stakeholder management.– Led and mentored the Customer Experience and UX/UI teams, cultivating a high-performance culture and delivering innovative, user-centered solutions.– Established and scaled the internal iOS design and development capability within Bourne Digital’s Apple Practice, expanding the team’s expertise and positioning the company as a leader in mobile app design and development.– Managed the Apple Practice, overseeing the strategic direction and execution of key projects, ensuring alignment with client objectives and driving the success of high-profile digital transformation initiatives.– Facilitated Design Thinking workshops, empowering teams to think creatively and solve complex business challenges through collaborative, user-centered design processes that led to actionable, impactful solutions.Key achievements:– Led the transformation of multiple businesses by migrating paper-based processes to interactive digital capture through the design and development of task-based apps, driving significant efficiency gains.– Empowered executive teams with human-centered design capability, guiding them through a cultural shift towards more collaborative, customer-centric approaches.– Managed Agile teams, ensuring the rapid delivery of scalable, impactful solutions that met business objectives.Clients Included: Australian Government Department of Finance, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Telstra Health, MedAdvisor, Precedence Healthcare, Essential Energy, Aurizon, Landmark, SunRice, Newcrest Mining, Orora, Powercor, Norton Rose Fulbright, AusNet, and NAB Show less

• 

  The Workshop

  Aug 2020 - Nov 2020

  Digital Ethnographic Researcher

  Key Achievements:– Established methods for the executive team on data collection and analysis for social media and online communities – Development of new digital research methods and processes– Conducted digital ethnographic research to support innovation strategies

• 

  Publicis Sapient

  Jan 2021 - now

  – Lead the development and execution of customer experience strategies and design solutions for tier 1 Australian businesses and public sector clients, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and driving measurable outcomes.– Advise senior executives and stakeholders for large-scale transformation programs, with a focus on driving improved customer experience and business value.– Direct multidisciplinary teams (5-10 consultants) on complex experience strategy, product design, and digital transformation initiatives, consistently delivering projects on time and within budget.– Accountable for delivering $5M+ in annual revenue, overseeing project execution, resource allocation, and stakeholder management to ensure successful outcomes.– Lead high-impact AI use cases to drive efficiency improvements and innovation across digital transformation initiatives, working closely with executive teams.– Manage the Early Careers Experience program across Australia and lead the course design.– Drive the development and scaling of Service Design, CX, UX, and UI capabilities within the organisation.Key Achievements:– Redesigned key services for a major government department, streamlining information delivery to citizens and enhancing operational efficiency, resulting in faster service delivery and better resource allocation.– Provided a comprehensive customer experience (CX) strategy and transformation roadmap to a regulatory body, improving core services and outlining actionable steps for digital transformation and operational excellence.– Led a cross-functional team in the implementation of a digital portal, transforming a legacy paper-based process for documentation into a streamlined, digital solution that increased operational efficiency and data accuracy.Clients include: Australian Skills and Quality Assurance Authority, Department of Regional NSW, Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing, Victorian Government, and tier 1 Austalian businesses Show less – Advise senior executives and stakeholders for large-scale enterprise programs, with a focus on driving transformation and delivering significant business value.– Direct multidisciplinary teams (5-10 consultants) on complex experience strategy, product design, and digital transformation initiatives, consistently delivering projects on time and within budget.– Accountable for delivering $5M+ in annual revenue, overseeing project execution, resource allocation, and stakeholder management to ensure successful outcomes.– Drive the development and scaling of Service Design, CX, UX, and UI capabilities within the organisation, enhancing team performance and expertise.– Manage the Early Careers Experience program across Australia, leading course design, mentoring emerging talent, and advancing the professional development of service design, UX, and UI practitioners.Key Achievements:– Led the experience strategy for the digital transformation of one of Australia’s largest retailers, defining foundational requirements and identifying strategic opportunities to differentiate the brand in the market, positioning the company for sustainable competitive advantage.– Collaborated with executive teams to prioritise and execute key initiatives for a government department, enabling integration of emerging technologies to generate measurable improvements in citizen engagement.– Developed an omnichannel strategy for a large organisation, enhancing customer engagement through personalised content and seamless communication that aligned with customer wants and needs, driving improved service delivery and satisfaction. Show less

  • Director | Customer Experience and Innovation

    Sept 2024 - now

  • Associate Director | Customer Experience and Innovation

    Jan 2021 - Aug 2024