Hi, I’m Ashley.
I have spent more than twenty years studying how people get along with the complicated systems around them, and what happens when they do not. I led product research in business banking at JPMorgan Chase as a vice president, and my work has taken me through fraud prevention, payments, cybersecurity, privacy, and accessibility. I hold a master of science in human factors and systems engineering. I am also a mother, and I know firsthand why a plan matters when life gets complicated. So I make things for real people. I write practical guides for running your digital life and books on everything from your accounts to good design for the AI era. I teach. And I help teams and organizations build products that are accessible and worth trusting. Whatever brought you here, I am glad you came.
Ashley
$2.9B
in fraud blocked by services I helped research and design
74%
payment product adoption, up from 18 percent
3x
customer upgrades from the flows I led
2026 to now
Founder and Principal Designer
Haven Smith & Company
I publish books and guides, teach, run audits, and consult.
I built and documented the design language and component library for this site, and I run accessibility audits and AI-native product research and design for organizations.
2025 to 2026
Principal Product Designer, contract
T-Mobile for Business
I designed billing, payments, and dashboards for business customers.
Billing, payments, reporting, and account management, with dashboards built around each role. Every design passed accessibility testing before launch.
2025
Principal Product Designer, contract
Apple, Office of the General Counsel
I led a full usability audit of the IP enforcement platform.
I designed dashboards and investigative workflows that support global counterfeit seizures, with legal, operations, and engineering.
2022 to 2024
Vice President, Product Research
JPMorgan Chase, Business Banking
My research and design helped block $2.9 billion in fraud.
Fraud Protection Services that helped block $2.9 billion in fraud, an accounts receivable hub that lifted payment product adoption from 18 to 74 percent, and a five-year AI and machine learning strategy. Everything I led passed accessibility testing before launch.
2017 to 2022
Principal Researcher and Research Program Manager
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
I built the user research program for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
I built the OCI user research program and a Voice of Customer program, and redesigned admin, onboarding, and billing. On the board of the Oracle Diverse Abilities Network, I helped create its accessibility subcommittee.
2016 to 2017
Product Design Manager
Smartsheet
I led the upgrade flows that tripled customer upgrades.
Upsell and plan migration systems, built with the CEO and CFO ahead of the IPO.
2016 to 2017
Live Instructor and Host, contract
Adobe
I taught interface design and prototyping live on Adobe Live.
Live Adobe XD sessions, including a full case study and a prototype built on air.
2013 to 2016
Lead Instructor and Program Manager, Design
General Assembly
I created most of the curriculum for General Assembly’s full-time design immersive.
The curriculum included accessibility and went on to train thousands of designers. I taught more than 200 working professionals and managed teams of instructors.
2012 to 2013
Researcher and Designer
Green Dot
I raised form completion and overhauled mobile banking.
Higher form completion and online sales, and an overhaul of the mobile banking experience.
2012 to 2013
Researcher
UCSF
I worked on a public health campaign with the CDC and NIOSH.
A campaign with the California Department of Public Health, NIOSH, and the CDC.
2011 to 2012
Research Scientist
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
I helped launch the VA’s first telemental health clinic.
Usability for electronic medical records and telehealth.
2009 to 2011
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
I ran the statistics labs and taught every week.
I was the teaching assistant for graduate statistics, undergraduate statistics, and undergraduate bioengineering, from wearables to cockpit layout. As a research assistant, I ran statistical analysis on helicopter emergency medical services for the FAA.
From the book
Everything you put in place now is work your family does not have to do later, in the worst week of their lives, in the dark, guessing. That is the most practical form of love I know.
Ashley KarrAccounted For
Where I learned how people and systems fit together.
Master of science
Summa cum laude
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Human factors and systems engineering
Post-baccalaureate certificate
Finance
Emory University
Bachelor of arts
Cum laude
University of California, Los Angeles
Anthropology
Scope. Build. Launch.
Research and testing are not separate stages. They run through all three, and whenever I can do them, I do. Click or tap a card to turn it over.
Published by Oxford University Press, Elsevier, and ACM.
2015
ACM interactions
UX research vs. UX design
2015
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
Technological considerations for the delivery of real-time child telemental healthcare
2013
Elsevier
Telemental Health
Contributing author and assistant editor
2012
Oxford University Press
Organisational Behaviour
Contributing author
2011
ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability
Systems engineering development on a student-designed B20 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle for the EcoCar competition
I hold every product to these principles.
Click or tap a card to turn it over.
The credentials behind the work.
In progress
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Section 508 Trusted Tester
DHS Trusted Tester certification
Next
IAAP
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies
CPACC
Completed
Certificate
Foundations of Cybersecurity
Completed
Certificate
Facilitating Virtual Collaboration
Completed
Certificate
Principles of Graphic Facilitation
Completed
Certificate
Bikablo Graphic Recording
Completed
Certificate
Learning Adobe Reports and Analytics
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