Also, a generalist UX Designer who works and lives in Sydney, Australia, and I am passionate about what I do. My Journey began as a graphic design graduate in 1998, and having had the opportunity to work in many cultures with diverse backgrounds across a range of industries locally and internationally, corporate and startup, has let me be the user evangelist that I am today.
To my experience every individual in a business or project from the c-level executives, decision makers, PM, BA, to marketing, developers, sales etc contribute to user experience. As a UX designer it is vital that I take everyone involved in my projects through the journey of my research driven personas. Everyone needs to empathise with the persona we are building for, and once the goals of that user is in the centre of our development, then the whole UX design becomes more successful.