Rebekah Terry and her fiancé Erik on the Kepler Track in Fiordland, New Zealand
Rebekah Terry
UI/UX Designer · Illustrator · Dallas, TX
About me

Designer, teacher, illustrator.

I'm Rebekah. I design and build apps for a living, but I also draw, write, and practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu — currently a purple belt.

I came to design through teaching. A Master's in Education and years in the classroom gave me a deep intuition for how people actually learn and use things — which turns out to be exactly what makes a good designer.

I adventure whenever I can. Last year my fiancé Erik and I hiked the Kepler Track — one of New Zealand's Great Walks — four days through Fiordland. Our dog Merlin holds down the fort while we're gone.

My days are better when I've made something, whether that's a native iOS app, a stipple ink portrait, or a short story.
— Rebekah
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu · Purple Belt Hiking & Adventure Stipple Ink Illustration Short Fiction Dallas, TX Engaged to Erik Dog mom to Merlin
Connect on LinkedIn
Experience
Senior UI/UX Designer
J.Hilburn · Dallas, TX
  • Sole designer of J.Hilburn's native iPad and iPhone stylist apps — 81 features designed and 56 shipped to production.
  • Designed the iPad features that let J.Hilburn retire its legacy web platform and move every stylist to the native app — the following month was the brand's highest-selling of the year.
  • Designed AND built the iPhone app (V1) and the Fit Survey flow in native Swift/Xcode (with Claude Code), shipping production iOS code myself — stylist app usage is up 132% since the iPhone launch.
  • Built and maintained the team's Figma design system and component library, scaling consistent design across multiple concurrent product streams.
  • Shipped complex end-to-end features — an in-app client CRM (notes, photo gallery, scheduling) that replaced a separate tool, and a 15+ type notification system — and led user research across two markets to set the top product priority.
  • Contributed to J.Hilburn's jhilburn.com storefront (PDP/PLP) redesign — partnering with the Creative Director and mentoring the graphic designer through feedback and hands-on support.
UI/UX Designer
Encyclopaedia Britannica · Remote
  • Designed across an education platform for grades 1–8 and shipped three products — a lesson redesign (Expedition Learn), an admin analytics dashboard, and the Engage Reading feature.
  • Increased user engagement on a key learning module by 20% through improved UI navigation.
  • Implemented WCAG accessibility standards; created an internal reference resource for PMs, designers, and developers.
Product Designer · Internship
No School Violence Project · Remote
  • Translated complex AI capabilities into intuitive UX across teacher, student, parent, and admin experiences for an MVP app that helps schools identify and prevent violence.
  • Applied human-centered design — discovery research, whiteboarding, and usability testing with 10 teachers — partnering with police-department stakeholders to define campus-safety and threat-reporting flows.
Product Designer · Internship
Think Round, Inc. · Dallas, TX
  • Designed "The Healing Rooms" — a virtual mental health and wellness exhibit with writing, art therapy, and meditation features.
  • Established a design system ensuring brand consistency across web and mobile.
Reading & Language Arts Teacher
Benjamin Franklin International Exploratory Academy · Dallas, TX
  • Designed and implemented online and in-person curricula for diverse learners including ESL and students with learning disabilities.
  • Increased critical thinking and reading comprehension by 30% for a target student group.
Education
MA in Education
University of Michigan
2013 · GPA 3.9
BA in Journalism · BA in English Literature
University of Oklahoma
2010 · GPA 3.65 / 3.6 · History Minor
Certifications
UI Design Program Certification
CareerFoundry · 2021–2022
UI Animation · UI Immersion · Introduction to UI
Advanced Digital Art & Illustration
CG Spectrum · 2021–2022
Advanced Digital Art & Illustration · Intro to Concept Art
Skills & Toolkit
UX Design
User ResearchUser InterviewsUser PersonasUser FlowsWireframingPrototypingUsability TestingUX Writing
UI Design
Design SystemsNative iOS · iPadWeb & MobileData VisualizationAccessibility (WCAG)Component Libraries
Software
FigmaXcodePhotoshopIllustratorAfter EffectsJiraQGIS
Build
Claude CodeSwiftHTML · CSS · JSInstructional DesignStipple Ink Illustration