Kristi Olson

About Kristi Olson

I’m an experience transformation leader with 20+ years of driving measurable outcomes across customer and employee journeys. My expertise spans customer experience (CX), voice of customer (VoC), UX research, digital analytics, and organizational change. I bring a dual-sector lens, partnering with government entities like CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and the City of Fort Collins, and leading experience strategy for enterprise brands including Deluxe and Target.I specialize in designing integrated insight-to-action ecosystems that connect human-centered design, analytics, and feedback loops with business priorities. These systems not only uncover opportunities but deliver results, from reducing abandonment and increasing satisfaction to operationalizing CX across silos.At BlastX Consulting, I lead AmplifyCX, our internal transformation framework that embeds customer-centric practices into how we strategize, deliver, and measure value. I also co-lead our internal AI enablement initiative, designing employee experiences that make AI adoption usable, trusted, and sustainable for delivery teams.Externally, I consult with clients to design employee-facing systems that improve frontline coordination, service delivery, and practitioner experience. This includes municipal work with the City of Fort Collins, where I developed EX-informed workflows that strengthened operational cohesion across service teams.Earlier in my career, I led a company-wide CX and VoC program at Deluxe, tying insights to outcomes such as a $1.4M revenue gain through digital journey redesign. At Target, I helped instill a rapid, test-and-iterate design culture, building a scalable UX research practice that fueled multichannel innovation.What defines my approach is the fusion of qualitative insight, quantitative rigor, and cultural transformation. I lead teams and advise clients in building experience ecosystems that improve lives, drive trust, and advance business and mission success.

Experience

1. Principal Consultant Experience Strategy & Innovation

   BlastX Consulting

   May 2023 — Present · US

   Lead strategic CX, VoC, and EX initiatives for both federal and municipal clients, including High-Impact Service Providers (HISPs) and the City of Fort Collins- Design end-to-end insight ecosystems that integrate UX research, VoC, analytics, and optimization around client business goals- Drive measurable impact in service delivery, operational alignment, and practitioner enablement across sectors- Lead AmplifyCX, BlastX’s internal transformation framework that embeds customer-centricity into strategy, delivery, and measurement- Lead internal AI enablement initiatives, designing employee-facing workflows, onboarding, and guidance that ensure AI adoption is ethical, usable, and sustainable- Bridge EX strategy across internal and client-facing experiences, ensuring human-centered systems support both practitioners and mission outcomes- Facilitate stakeholder alignment and insight activation through journey mapping, design thinking, and executive engagement- Orchestrate technology stack integrations using tools such as Qualtrics XM, Quantum Metric, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Customer Journey Analytics to deliver insight at scale.

Education

• University of Minnesota

  Master of Liberal Studies, Human Factors

  2002

• University of Minnesota

  Course, Program of Translation and Interpretation

  1995 — 1996

• University of Minnesota

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Political Science, Spanish

  1993

Skills

• User Experience
• User Research
• Voice of the Customer
• Customer Experience
• Tealeaf
• Usability Testing
• Text Analytics
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Web Analytics
• Spanish
• Research
• Omniture
• E-Commerce
• Usability
• Card Sorting
• Persona
• User Experience Design
• Information Architecture
• Usability Engineering
• Wireframes
• Analytics
• Broadband
• User-Centered Design
• Contextual Inquiry
• Qualtrics
• Statistical Data Analysis
• Survey Research