ABOUT
who I am & what I do

CHRIS KLEIN
Customer Experience
Design & Strategy
I specialize in translating customer insights, emergent market shifts, and business priorities into developing and defining new consumer experience design strategies. I have global team experience sitting at the intersection of the what, the why, for whom, and communicating & maintaining intent of customer experiences. I apply a dual understanding of engineering requirements & processes and the iterative approach of human-centered design in solution creation & development
​
I also have a love for stories, the way they can emotionally connect and impact, and the various mediums that can immerse an audience. I am always in pursuit of expanding my knowledge, skills, and experience in telling the most compelling stories through a variety of mediums.
​
I come from a highly competitive athletic and rigorous academic background at the University of Michigan where I trained and competed at elite level in varsity swimming while pursuing my BSME in mechanical engineering with a minor in business. This was a very formative part of my life to which I owe much of my self-motivation and determination.
Professional Experience

Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, Michigan + Virtual
2018 - Present
Activator - D-Ford
Enterprise Product Line Management
-
Maintaining effective communication & collaboration of new global internal & external team throughout experience design process to production handoff; resulting in delivery of global luxury vehicle program milestones on accelerated timeline, successful onboarding on new foreign team to corporate processes, and new supplier partnership
-
Being a storyteller to connect stakeholders, partners, and various cross-functional teams to the intent of customer experiences - the what, why, for whom, and how
-
Incorporating business needs and translating customer insights into experiences for vehicle and portfolio visions
-
Wearing many "hats" to achieve global team collaboration on focusing on future target customer and emergent shifts
Ford College Graduate
Product Development: Engineering, Research, and Strategy (rotation program)
Rotations:​
-
Global Strategic Design Studio for Interiors
-
Product Launch Quality Management - 2020 Super Duty
-
Vehicle Architecture & Packaging

Nordson Sealant Equipment
Plymouth, Michigan
2017
Mechanical Engineer Intern

other Technical Experience

Storyland Studios Design Challenge
Virtual
2021
Creative Director
Show Writer

Education
2021
Rochester Institute of Technology
MicroMasters in Design Thinking
Course Highlights:
Design Thinking Fundamentals: User-centered research to gain user empathy, understand context, and identify problems. Ideation & Visualization techniques to generate targeted & creative solutions. Prototyping, User-testing evaluation, and Iteration methods.
Online

2020- 2021
Themed Entertainment Creative Academy
Virtual
Courses:
- Technical Direction for Themed Entertainment
- Basics of Concept Design Sketching
- Best Practices

2013-2018
University of Michigan
BS Mechanical Engineering
Minor in Business
Ann Arbor, Michigan

GPA: 3.3/4.0
Engineering Dean’s List 2015.
Course Highlights:
Project and Lab based classes, Product Design and Manufacturing, CAD Modeling, Mechanics and Behavior of Materials, Controls and Dynamics of Mechanical Systems, Consumer Behavior, Managing Business Operations, and Creative Business Processes

Leadership Experience
2013 - 2017
University of Michigan Swim & Dive Team
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Team Captain 2016-17
Varsity Letter 2014 - 17
-
Spearheaded onboarding process and mentoring for new and returning team members
-
Led team events and meetings to foster positive culture and strong communications between team and coaches
-
Excelled in high-pressure situations to achieve team and personal goals in both athletics and academics
-
Academic All-Big Ten Athlete 2015- 17
-
All-Big Ten First Team: 2016, Second Team: 2017, and two-time NCAA All-America Honorable Mention 2016


Skillset
Global & Cross-Department Team
Communication & Collaboration
Human-Centered Design Thinking
Emergent Markets
Customer Research
Creative Direction
Microsoft Suite
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
Show & Script Writing
Organizations & Associations


