Hi, I’m Taylor Schena—pronounced skee-nah. I'm an equal-opportunity caffeinator, mediocre French speaker, and recent Florida transplant soaking up the sun on the Treasure Coast. Outside of work, I split my time between favorite-aunt duties and being a crazy-cat-lady-turned-dog-mom.

I’m an introvert who loves people and stories, which has shaped how I approach design over the past 20 years. I believe great products serve everyone, not just power users or stakeholders. Great products should meet all users where they are.

I’m a creative on the surface and a systems thinker at heart. I tailor my research and design approach to each project—whether that’s running cross-functional workshops, sitting beside users (not hovering, promise), or bringing developers in early to collaborate. Building relationships across teams is crucial in order to design fast and know when and how to pivot.

Career

I got my start in 2005 at a marketing firm where I quickly learned how not to treat clients. From there, I joined a then-small email company called Emma, spending nearly a decade in Nashville designing for everyone from tiny nonprofits to major brands and sports teams like the New York Giants, Batali Group, and Nashville Predators. I moved on to The Washington Post in 2016 where I'm currently a Senior Product Designer.

From day one I've treated every single client and Washington Post user the same - as if they're the most important voice in the room.

Soon after starting at The Washington Post as an email designer and developer, I brought all of our Marketing emails in-house which boosted conversion rates by 20%. I redesigned and migrated hundreds of email templates from a third-party vendor into our internal tool, Carta, and helped shape its evolution by training teams and influencing new features. In 2018, I shifted to product design for Carta itself and found my niche in tools design. I've enjoyed tackling messy workflows, abstract systems, and thorny UX problems.

Now in 2025, I’ve stepped into a Central Design role, working across teams to audit and improve systems that inform our broader design patterns and processes.

Extra-Curricular Activities

If you can't find me, I'm probably reading a book somewhere, at the beach, or out in the woods. I also enjoy drawing, thrifting adventuring with friends.

Over the years I've also spent no small amount of time volunteering. While I'm still looking for the best fit for me in Florida, in the past I've spent the better part of a decade on Nashville's AIGA board - serving two years as president, I served on the board of a therapeutic arts foundation working with suicide survivors, spent five years as an adult literacy tutor in DC to a 60 year old man who I taught how to roast a chicken and helped him make his first online purchase - all on his own (treats and toys for his cat, Heidi), and spent many a Tuesday as an Elderly Care Companion - playing endless games of Skip-Bo over Diet Cokes.