About me
I am a UX Designer/consultant with a passion for creating and being in the thick of the design process, with over eleven years experience as a Senior Retoucher and Visualiser, at many top Ad Agencies, and three months industry experience as a UX Consultant. I am ready for a new challenge, where I can build upon my creative skills and experiences.
My passion is for creating exciting and intuitive content that users can engage with and be inspired by, influenced heavily by the visual journey. I am looking to join a team full-time in a collaborative and agile environment and be at the core of the UX process.
Projects
- EtsyGroup concept project for Etsy. Our task was to “create a feature that allows customers to post a product request and receive a quote from registered sellers”. We researched Etsy’s market position, looking at the loyal customer base and addressed their needs, which was to bring Etsy back to its roots and core message, and in doing so drive future growth.
- Karisma KidzWorking within a small agile team, we conducted rapid research and design processes to re-design the Karisma Kidz website, to fully champion the pending launch of the App, and its key features to parents, which was previously lacking. My project highlight was running a Design Studio at the BBC Television Centre, London; including managing two remote developer teams from Poland, via Skype. At the start of the project I was fortunate enough to take a lead role in the user interviews and user testing, throughout the process with the designs, as they developed. I was able to help with creating low fidelity design iterations and paper prototypes throughout the design development, as we implemented the feedback we received. My main responsibility within the group in the design stage was to not only create the high fidelity wireframes, but also to then turn them into fully realised high-fidelity mock-ups. The content of the final pages was heavily influenced by assets from the App itself, whereby I stripped down complex Illustrator files and created assets in Photoshop, working in synergy with Sketch to design the final design files. Case study: http://www.arakinux.com/karisma-kidz
- GP for MeI was fortunate enough to join a multi-skilled team of nine, with notable role as team facilitator. With four medical experts from GPs, NHS Specialists and Charity experts, two developers and a fellow UX designer we were able to bring to life a concept called 'GP for Me'. Our groups task was to create an App to help migrants find and register with their local GP. The user focused solution and prototype was available for multiple languages, both coded and also made into a fully clickable prototype, with no bias to political influences. For this, and creating a product that could be developed the panel of 8 multi-disciplined experts found our group to solve the problem set to us in the most direct way, addressing user needs, and without scope creep. The App is now in development.
- Navig8I was fortunate enough to join a multi-skilled team of five, with notable role as team facilitator. With one engineer, two developers and a fellow UX designer we were able to bring to life a concept called 'Navig8’. Our groups task was to create a solution for users who are visually impaired, which helps them to navigate public transport. Our solution was an App, which helps visually impaired people, get on and off the bus, with the least amount of stress possible. The project highlight was creating a fully functioning and realised prototype in just one day for a project that could make such a difference to so many, enabling them to have greater access to the wider world and their surroundings.
Work history
UX Designer & Consultant
I am a UX Designer/consultant with a passion for creating and being in the thick of the design process, with over eleven years experience as a Senior Retoucher and Visualiser, at many top Ad Agencies, and three months industry experience as a UX Consultant. I am ready for a new challenge, where I can build upon my creative skills and experiences.
My passion is for creating exciting and intuitive content that users can engage with and be inspired by, influenced heavily by the visual journey. I am looking to join a team full-time in a collaborative and agile environment and be at the core of the UX process.
UX ConsultantPrecedent
-
I have recently completed a 3 month contract as a UX consultant at Precedent, in the heart of Shoreditch. I loved the vibe of the area, beards-and-all! I worked on a number of strategy and implementation projects, helping membership organisations discover who their members are, their user needs and working out how best to solve them.
The end goal was to find the best solutions and create a future-state model for their websites, including quick-wins in the short term, and long term strategy. Client projects I worked on were Sussex University, UCL, Cass Business School, Cardiff University, and CFA. I have also been involved in some brainstorming sessions for pitch work.
I ran numerous user workshops, completed high level research with Google Analytics, TreeJack reporting, and completed in-depth UX website analysis. Within a team I held stakeholder interviews, ranging from student’s to top management, created client presentations, fed into high level reports and presented to clients. I have also been fortunate to create wireframes, working modularly and responsively in Axure, working side-by-side with IA Designers and developers.
+ Show more
Skills
- Photoshop
- UX Design
- Sketch
- Rapid Prototyping
- Sketching and Drawing
- High end Retouching
- Design Studio
- Facilitating Workshops
- Axure RP Pro
- UX Website Analysis
- Research and Analytics
- Sketching and Sketchnoting
- User and Stakeholder Interviews
- Google Analytics and Treejack Testing
- Lean and Agile UX
Education
User Experience Design Immersive
-
Graduate of the three-month User Experience Design Immersive course at GA, learning core skills that make up the entire UX process, which included five projects that concentrated on lean and agile principles. The final two projects were group projects, one of which I led the design studio at the BBC Television Centre, whilst the other I was ‘team facilitator’.
Each project went through various levels of usability testing, multiple iterations, paper prototypes and wireframes, before a final digital prototype was presented to peers and industry experts for feedback.
Project 5: Working within a small agile team, we conducted rapid research and design processes to re-design the Karisma Kidz website, to fully champion the pending launch of the App, and its key features to parents, which was previously lacking.
Case study: http://www.arakinux.com/karisma-kidz
Project 1 & 4 – A concept app “Mums Meet.” I created an interactive prototype mobile app that solved a specific problem for a user to answer their needs, before further developing pages into a high fidelity wireframe.
Case Study: http://www.arakinux.com/mums-meet
Project 3: Group concept project for Etsy. Our task was to “create a feature that allows customers to post a product request and receive a quote from registered sellers”. We researched Etsy’s market position, looking at the loyal customer base and addressed their needs, which was to bring Etsy back to its roots and core message, and in doing so drive future growth.
Case Study: http://www.arakinux.com/etsy
Project 2: A concept micro-site for Waitrose, “where customers can view recipes, select them and populate baskets with their ingredients”. Creating a low fidelity, interactive modular ‘paper prototype’ was essential for user testing, rapid iterations and design development.
Case Study: http://www.arakinux.com/waitrose
Awards
Winner of NHS Navigation Hackathon
I was fortunate enough to join a multi-skilled team of nine, with notable role as team facilitator. With four medical experts from GPs, NHS Specialists and Charity experts, two developers and a fellow UX designer we were able to bring to life a concept called 'GP for Me'.
Our groups task was to create an App to help migrants find and register with their local GP. The user focused solution and prototype was available for multiple languages, both coded and also made into a fully clickable prototype, with no bias to political influences.
For this, and creating a product that could be developed the panel of 8 multi-disciplined experts found our group to solve the problem set to us in the most direct way, addressing user needs, and without scope creep. The App is now in development
http://www.arakinux.com/gp-for-me