Our Story

I’m Angela Schmeidel Randall, the founder of UX.training. What started as a business has grown into a calling - to change the world, one experience at a time.

In 2009, I founded Normal Modes UX, a Texas-based company that specializes in user research and training. I believe the best way to do user experience outside a large organization was to be a consultant with a fresh perspective and a joie de vivre that gets organizations excited about practicing user centered design. Our services include UX design, research, and training for organizations of all sizes with one common goal: delivering a great user experience. Some of our clients have included:

From 2014-2017, I was the Executive Director of the Houston chapter of the User Experience Professionals’ Association (HUXPA.) In 2015, I joined the adjunct faculty in the Master of User Experience Design program in the School of Information at Kent State University, where I continue to teach today. I love teaching, my students, and the program.

After just a few years in the business, I began to experience a steady stream of people contacting me for career advice. I noticed some themes:

There are others. But these are the most common ones.

As a result, in recent years, I've become really passionate about preparing the next generation of UX professionals. In 2016, rebranded Normal Modes training as UX.training. It’s the same participant-centered, evidence-based training methods we used at Normal Modes, but kicked up a notch through with our research-based YouX™ Competency Model.

My Background

I began my career as a subject matter expert at a financial services company during the early days of putting information online. Later I joined Continental Airlines during a pivotal time in the travel industry. During my time there, we were able to leverage a major redesign with a focus on the user experience to change the entire travel industry from one dominated by travel agents to one where travelers go directly to the airline/hotel/car company to make reservations. That experience changed the way I viewed UX; it was no longer a "nice to have" but a competitive advantage and a game changer for business. It's worth noting the UX team consisted of 3 people, so you don't need large teams to accomplish HUGE things. I'm still an advocate of small, nimble teams.

I put myself through college as a UX professional, first at the University of St. Thomas where I majored in International Studies and minored in Religion and Philosophy. After that, I matriculated Rice University to complete my MLS with a thesis that included ethnographic research in mainland China.

I love creating applications to automate truly atrocious manual processes (my kryptonite), watching people interact with the world around them, and cooking. In my (limited) spare time I love to playing board games and taking my kids to do things that will blow their little minds. After a 30ish year break, I recently picked up string instruments again and started playing violin. I'm terrible, but I'm having fun! I live with my husband and two young children in Houston, the most diverse city in the United States.