Mary Schafrath

I was born and raised in Wooster, Ohio, on a small farm just outside of town. After college, I moved to New York City, where I built my career and spent 18 years working in design.

Recently, I made the decision to return to Ohio to support my family, helping my parents age in place in the beautiful home my father built after his time in the Army. My father, a U.S. Veteran and brilliant engineer, was diagnosed with ALS in 2024. He served with dedication, and after the Army, he poured his heart into designing and constructing our home—set in a peaceful, forested farm landscape. It’s a place that holds deep meaning for our family, and I am committed to ensuring my parents can stay here comfortably for as long as possible.

Now, I manage the household and coordinate care, helping my mother navigate the many responsibilities of running a home while caring for my father.

I am a Design Operations Manager with experience working remotely at IBM. I help UX Research teams work better by improving workflows, organizing information, and making sure research is easy to find and use.

Some of my key work includes:

• Helping UX Research teams stay organized by creating systems to track projects and insights.
• Building and automating Airtable databases to manage research data and team workflows.
• Improving hiring and onboarding processes to make it easier for new designers and researchers to join the team.
• Working with leadership to make research findings more useful for product teams.

I enjoy working with remote teams across different time zones and finding ways to make work easier and more efficient for everyone.

I started my career in Graphic Design and later moved into Design Operations and UX Research Operations. I love solving problems, improving processes, and helping teams work better together.

I continue to learn and grow in areas like workflow automation, research operations, and team collaboration to stay up to date with the latest tools and best practices.