This month’s Pepper Talk features none other than Laura Percy.

Laura works as a UX designer on one of our government contracts, and she is coming up on her one-year anniversary as a Pepper.

1. Do you have any nicknames?
No, Laura doesn’t have any easy nicknames and it’s short, so I never got a nickname!

2. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
My service dog Chowder always wakes me up with cuddles when my alarm goes off. Before I get up to make a cup of coffee, I usually spend 10 minutes snuggling and petting the dogs — we have two Goldens, Biscuit & Chowder.  

3. How would you describe your design style?
Clean and fresh like I like my veggies! I like to keep the white space and try to keep things organized.

4. What is your favorite part about working as a UX designer?
I really love the intentionality of UX design. I’ve always tried to incorporate intentionality into my design work, but I appreciate that thinking about the user and making their best experience is always something desired in UX.  

5. How did you get started in this industry?
I have always had a passion for making design functional, in addition to making it eye catching. Something that pushed me to finally jump into the UX design space was seeing how passionate companies and workers are in the UX world for design function and accessible designs. So often I found myself saying, “that isn’t 508 compliant” or “what about including XYZ, so vision impaired users can see it” and was greeted with “that’s nice, but no.” Working in the UX world, those questions are so important, and it makes me excited to get to work in a space where I can improve experiences for everyone, not just make things pretty.   

6. What are your favorite tools of the trade? What are your least favorite?
I love XD and the whole Adobe Suite. Not a huge fan of Axure, it feels a little too clunky.

7. Rapid-Fire Round:

Caffeine or no: Caffeine!

Sweet or savory: Savory

Favorite TV series: The Office

Favorite place to travel: Is Disney World an acceptable answer? If not, Deep Creek Lake.

Hobbies: I love photography, long walks and finding new, safe, gluten-free food spots with Chowder. My husband and I love playing board games and doing “escape rooms” together. In the summer, I enjoy paddleboarding, dock diving and agility with my dogs.  

We hope you enjoyed getting to know Laura. Stay tuned for next month’s Pepper Talk to meet another member of our team!