Mandi Dillard, UXC
Mandi Dillard, UXC, is a seasoned user experience (UX) design leader with more than 25 years of experience in design and software development. Currently serving as Manager of CX/UX Design at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting North America, she leads a large team responsible for creating intuitive, user-centered digital experiences for complex tax and accounting software solutions. Throughout her career, Dillard has focused on solving challenging problems by combining user research, information architecture, interaction design, and visual design to deliver products that are both functional and engaging. Her work reflects the philosophy that effective design is not just about aesthetics, but about how technology works for the people who use it. Over the course of her career, Dillard has played a key role in shaping UX strategy and design systems across multiple products and teams. She has grown her UX organization from a small team of four designers to a team of more than two dozen professionals, mentoring designers, guiding cross-functional collaboration, and integrating UX practices into Agile development environments. Her leadership includes driving design system initiatives, translating business and user needs into prototypes and product experiences, and ensuring consistency across enterprise platforms. She also collaborates closely with product managers, developers, and stakeholders to align design decisions with both customer needs and long-term product vision. Before assuming her current leadership role, Dillard held several positions within the tax and accounting technology sector, gaining experience in UX design, software engineering, and application development. Her career includes work in both corporate and agency environments, giving her a broad perspective on digital product innovation. Recognized for her contributions to innovation and design excellence, she was part of a team that won the Global Innovation Awards at Wolters Kluwer in 2023. She also began her studies at Georgia Institute of Technology and continues to expand her expertise through professional development and industry certifications.
• 2023 Global Innovation Awards Winners
• Working Effectively in Cross-Functional Teams
• Leading Highly Effective UX Teams
• Discoveries: Building the Right Thing
• Lean UX and Agile
• UX Roadmaps
• Facilitating UX Workshops
• Persuasive and Emotional Design
• Generating Big Ideas with Design Thinking
• Gestalt Psychology and Web Design
• Information Visualization
• Human-Computer Interaction
• 2023 Global Innovation Awards Winners
• Nelson Norman Group
• Interaction Design Foundation
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to hard work, dedication, and a commitment to continuously learning and adapting in a changing world. Having strong mentors has also played an important role, as their guidance and experience have helped shape my growth.
I also find great fulfillment in mentoring others. Supporting someone else’s development and helping them navigate their own path is incredibly rewarding.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve received is to remain adaptable. If there’s something I’m not good at but want to understand better, I make the effort to learn and develop those skills. You don’t have to start with all the answers—you can teach yourself and grow over time.
Having a growth mindset is essential. With curiosity and persistence, you can build the skills you need and continue evolving throughout your career.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to stay curious and always be willing to learn and try new things. While experience design has proven methods and processes, the industry is constantly evolving, so it’s important to remain adaptable and open to growth. Focus on understanding the problems you’re solving and creating solutions that provide value to both users and the business, while continuing to learn and adapt in a changing environment.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field right now is keeping up with rapid technological change and new ways of working. However, this also presents a significant opportunity to explore emerging tools and capabilities that can improve how we approach our work. By experimenting with different technologies and understanding their strengths, we can build effective systems and choose the right tools for each stage of the process, ultimately creating better outcomes.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are always putting my best foot forward, being open and transparent, and communicating clearly. I also place a strong emphasis on accountability—setting meaningful goals and creating a clear plan to achieve them. These values help guide how I approach challenges, collaborate with others, and continue growing.
Locations
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting US
Remote-FL, Gulf Breeze, FL 32563