After over 15 years of designing digital products within every industry, labels start to blur. If I had to try and define myself (professionally) I'd consider myself a Full Stack Digital Product Designer ™.
In recent years I have discovered the full value of my extensive experience. Having worked as a UX Lead, Product Owner, (reluctant) Software Developer, Scrum Master, and Business Analyst in both multinationals and startups, I feel I have a unique perspective on the design process. It also helps me to have a grounded, common sense attitude to design. I'm around long enough to know that budgets and time are finite items.
Over 15 years experience in successful digital product design and implementation.
Diverse industry experience; including sports, entertainment, enterprise, telecommunications and financial compliance.
Extensive history designing user experiences for high-profile clients, such as Sky, AIB, Bank of Ireland, HSBC, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Fox TV.
Experience managing a Front End team within an agile environment, from conception to delivery.
Background of coding in development environments.
2+ years experience managing own tech start-up.
Product Analysis
Understanding the product, the customer, and the problem to be solved, is key to owning the design process. Anything else is just expensive guesswork.
UX Work
The user should always be the first consideration. In my experience, wireframing, prototyping and user testing are the cornerstone of developing any digital product.
Under the Hood
I believe to understand digital design you need to have worked at the coal face. I built my own designs for many years, and worked with front and back-end developers on large scale solutions.
UI Design
I have been designing intuitive user interfaces for over 10 years. I am experienced with responsive sites, enterprise applications and SaaS models. Bad design is my enemy.
The brief for the Envoy website was to provide a consumer-friendly interface allowing individuals easily book a parcel for collection and delivery. The site uses very few images, relying instead on font icons for visuals.
The logos, branding and all associated marketing materials were designed by me, and the site was built by myself and a back-end developer. The backend was written using vue.js.
Level 3
Cloud Content Exchange is a bespoke file sharing service aimed at companies in the entertainment sector who need to share very large files globally.
As the UX/UI designer in the Level 3 development team, I was tasked with designing the product, starting with the user journey, and moving on to the wireframes, prototyping, and ultimately the HMTL, CSS and graphics. With sole ownership of the front-end design - user experience, interaction, and UI - I was involved in every decision in relation to features and implementation.
Based on User Stories I would wireframe each feature for discussion with a globally-based team. Following approval of designs I would build the front-facing UI and work with the front and back-end developers to bring the elements together in sprints.
Stakeholders for this project included Fox TV with whom we had regular calls to get user feedback to inform the UX process.
Wireframing
After user stories were complete, I began wireframing the solution using Axure, which enabled me to share the drafts via URL with teams in Dublin and Denver. The interactive wireframes becamse the basis for discussion throughout the creative and development processes.
Below are live screenshots, and some original lo-fi prototypes can be viewed here: http://9fe17x.axshare.com/
As a designer, there is an endless list of software tools promising to make your job easier. As a professional, it is your responsibility to continuously upskill and take advantage of the ones that actually do.
Sketch is one such tool that is rightly gaining traction. I've used Axure for previous projects, and Photoshop will always be number one, but I've really come to love Sketch while designing an app for a business concept. (I have explanatory User Stories for the concept which I've kept offline, as I'm only promoting the design journey.)
Below are some assets created as I work through this concept. Screens include: Sketch workspace, icon design, User Flow, Persona concept, and app screens.
Level 3
Technical Writing Example - Content Cloud Exchange
Content Cloud Exchange is a project designed from the ground up. This also meant producing a working document to guide new users through the complex functionality of the solution.
Having designed the UI/UX I was best placed to put together the document and hone my technical writing skills. The User Guide can be downloaded here.
Level 3
Live Scheduling Tool
The Scheduling Tool was designed from the ground up to co-ordinate and book live activity on the Level 3 Network. Creating this tool required understanding the complex technology underpinning the Content Delivery Network. Working with a PM and one of our development team, I designed the UI and built the HTML/CSS framework.
Obviously, this was a work of aesthetic perfection in 2010 (yes, that is bevelling), however in 2017 I prefer to show it as an example of the complex type of solutions I have worked on throughout my career.
Level 3
The Vyzn solution is the most important tool in Level 3's catalogue, controlling bookings on their data network. This is a legacy platform using Telerik controls that I was tasked with applying a makeover to, as well as creating new pages for additional functionality.
The Vyzn makeover is an example of a challenge to change an interface with only minimal changes to ancient legacy code. We don't always get the tools we wish.
