Creative CV

Over 12+ years of experience & currently working as Lead UX at Yell, historically enabling companies to harness the value in design, showcasing how it can improve ROI.

Passionate about UX; designing with humans in mind. Loves solving problems, identifying & implementing solutions.

Implemented design processes company-wide to implement a user-centered culture and ensure brand consistency across all collateral both internally & externally.

Confident planning strategies and working across methodologies including though not limtied to user centred, lean and agile.

Able to scale teams to size via recruitment or external agency contracts enabling in scope delivery. Managing teams with varied skill sets, optimised to execute product deliveries based on scope, time, & quality whilst validating and scaling strategy effectivley.

Takes a hands-on approach & would describe myself as a self-starter. Thrives on a challenge, within a dynamic, fast pace environment, working on multiple aspects at any one time. A varied background has enabled me to multi-task well & take pride in my ability to adapt quickly, working efficiently under pressure, prioritising my workload.

Confident working across the full UX process; strategy, research, defining the problem, ideation, prototyping & testing. Enjoys collaborating with various team members, and working within an agile framework. Extensive experience presenting work, research, proposed solutions, & conducting workshops both internally & externally.

Expert in Sketch/Figma, Invision, Zeplin, Adobe Creative Suite, Miro, wireframing, & workflows. Experienced with & understand HTML, CSS & JS & can confidently work directly with development houses on/offshore. Conducting workshops for users & teams internally/externally, helping to understand pain points & building out ideas for potential solutions. Regularly carry out user research, usability & BETA testing through the complete UX process from ideation to implementation.

Process

Define – The problem, business strategy & vision
Analyse – User behaviour, data analytics, persona
Research – Process, data, behaviour, competitor
Ideate – Proposals & iterations
Validate – Prototypes & testing
Post Release – Review, iterate & update

Skills

Strategy & leadership – Budget Management – User needs research – Usability evaluation – Information architecture – Interaction design – Design Systems – Technical writing – User interface prototyping – User Testing – Visual Design – Interaction Design – Data Analytics – Abstract – Sketch/Figma – Zeplin – Adobe CC – InVision – Pendo – HTML / JS / CSS – Mentor / Manager – User Flows – Wireframes – Workshops

My Current Role

Yell
Lead UX – April 2022 – Current

Day-to-day includes working with a team of UX Designers, Product Leads, development teams & senior Stakeholders across the Marketplace and Agency business units.

Working with the design team managing work flow, ensuring project goals are clear, all deadlines are met, and producing effective project materials including user flows, wire-frames, and design layouts. Collaboration with Product Leads continuously to shape initial project requirements and ongoing strategic direction. Regularly engaging with development (web & app) teams to encourage collaboration and visibility during the design process through workshops and design show & tell sessions. During these sessions quantitative/qualitative research is harnessed to inform decisions, ensuring that there is a clear rationale for the teams’ work. Design proposals are presented frequently to project teams and key stakeholders, making clear reasoning behind decisions.

Across all UX discovery & development ongoing analysis of data, user feedback, and working with the CX team to establish regular research sessions with consumers and business customers alike to validate strategy, proposals, pre-launch testing, and post-launch iterative development for continuous improvement.

Management of the design system is ongoing, strategising new evolutions of the design system maintaining it stays up to date and aligned with UX best practices. Collaborating with the design team, W3C accessibility guidelines are adhered to in every interface & design component, collectively working with Engineering to integrate with build processes.

As an advocate for user-centred design across all business units, all business and consumer needs are at the centre of all processes, demonstrating knowledge and empathy for their needs is key. Building a positive team environment, and sharing knowledge with team members is integral, facilitating workshops alongside the CX team helps drive this culture company-wide.

ADP
Lead UX – May 2021 – April 22

Day-to-day includes working with UX Researchers, UX Designers, Product Managers, Product Owners, development teams & senior Stakeholders in the US, France, Brazil & India. 

The role at ADP was a new position, initially a team of 1 with a new company-wide focus on UX internally in addition to revenue-generating products. The intention is to hero ADP employees & colleagues (Associates) as the client, improving the overall Associate Experience.

Tasked with leading the UX in 3 products; a Hybrid cloud control plane, an IT support portal, & a service provisioning tool. UX education was required as historically development-led delivery. Working closely with the teams I embedded a human-centred approach ensuring we identified the problems prior to any solution development.

Implementing a UX process within the product teams included; conducting regular workshops with Product owners & key stakeholders to clarify strategy, roadmap, priorities, problem statements & use cases.

Completing heuristic evaluations as defined by Nielsen Norman Group, in-line with pre-existing design systems & harnessing company data to help inform, guide & validate ideation. Proposals were presented as low-fi wireframes & iterated into hi-fi prototypes, engaging with the development teams at the right stage to ensure success with proposed solutions, meeting all technical requirements.

Implementation of a universal design system was required across all products. Ensuring a smooth transition required guaranteeing all UI used the latest release of existing DS resulting in consistent updates, without service disruption. 

Conducting regular user research, and usability testing, including both qualitative & quantitative, increased our knowledge & understanding of friction points & built trust with Associates, in addition to validating proposals.

Transport Exchange Group Lead UX
Feb 2019 – May 2021

Works directly with Product Managers, Product Owners, offshore development teams & senior Stakeholders.

The role at TEG was a new position when I started & since being there I have implemented a design process using; Abstract – Version control, Sketch, Invision & Zeplin. Working with & managing contract UI designers; in-house & remote, building a relationship with an external UX/UI agency & recruited an in-house UX designer. Organised the 1st phase design system which is currently being implemented across our new products. Previously implementing design/brand consistency across the existing product suite with multiple successful releases.

Implemented a UX process within the product team including; conducting regular workshops internally & externally, conducting user research, usability testing, validation & successfully created a pool of testers from our membership. To help build products members need, I have built relationships with key clients & frequently communicate with members & senior stakeholders; building relationships, increasing our knowledge & understanding of their pain points, in addition to validating requirements for the suite of products.

Case Studies & References available upon request

Previous Experience

Various UX/UI Designer
Nov 2018 – Feb 2019

Simpson Mahoney Parrock Senior Digital Designer
June 2018 – Nov 2018

• Using consumer insights & research getting brands into baskets of shoppers.
• Ideation & conceptualising
• Sketching & storyboards
• Wireframing & Prototypes
• Audits
• Microsites / Landing pages
• User Flows
• Store in store
  e-commerce microsites
• Marketing email designs
• Amazon A+ pages
  Amazon brand stores

Collective Media Lead Designer
(Previously Digital Designer)
July 2014 – Feb 2018

As the Lead Designer, I created advertising that’s award-winning digital brand solutions.

My duties: Managing/mentoring 5 designers, directing campaign & pro-active creative, briefing in house designers/developers & freelancers, attending client meetings & calls to discuss creative possibilities/pitch ideas, overseeing the creative from ideation through to completion, ensuring quality of work is to the highest standard & on brand whilst maintaining key campaign objectives.

I work closely with Project Managers, Account Directors/Executives & Campaign Analysts. I brief in campaign ideas, ensure that all designers/developers meet the key objectives, relaying information from calls and meetings enabling the completion of work. I oversee all creative before it gets sent for client approval or included within a pitch. I aid communication between project managers & developers, bridging the gap between the two specialist areas. I joined the Studio team in 2014 when it was a team of 4 (Creative Director, Project Manager, Designer & Developer), due to our success during this time, our team has grown & currently stands at 15. I initiated an overhaul of how we presented our creative to clients, ensuring it’s delivered in an efficient manner that’s easily understood for clients, particularly those not experienced with digital advertising. I mentored 2 designers from entry-level to confident, reliable designers. I worked on the company’s re-branding and all internal & external collateral, including specs, proposals, decks, one-pagers, event invites and more.

Accord Group Creative Designer August 2012 – July 2014

I was a designer creating adverts for the travel & recruitment industry in both print & digital media. I worked alongside a team of creative designers, a planner & a creative director.
My duties:

• Design a monthly direct mail cruise magazine called Blue Horizons
• Conceptualise & design travel and recruitment adverts for the local and national press
• Conceptualise, design & build online banner advertising using Flash
• Design brochures & printed promotional material for direct mail and industry events
• Design website concepts
• Artwork adverts ready for print in local & national newspapers. (travel, recruitment, & motoring industries)
• Design & animate online banner adverts using Flash & create back up GIF files
• Answering & screening calls from both clients & media
• Resolving production issues & queries
• Liaise with clients, agreeing on design briefs & finalising design concepts.

Ardent Creative  Graphic Designer  January 2011 – August 2012

I was one of two designers working on a wide variety of different projects spanning across both web & print.
My duties:

• Design website concepts, adhering to the brief & branding guidelines.
• Conceptualise & design all unique pages throughout web-based projects.
• Slice & prepare artwork ready for HTML development.
• Artwork websites; updating & refreshing new & existing elements, ranging from adding icons to contact details to large banner/slider adverts.
• Design concepts & artwork for email templates, keeping in line with brand & promotional guidelines.
• Design informative multiple page brochures, booklets, leaflets, flyers & business cards.
• Produce A4 presentation folders & assembling mockups.
• Create large scale Nomadic banners.
• Produce adverts & page layouts for editorial publications.
• Generate concepts & developing ideas for logo & icon design.
• Create storyboard concepts for presentations & building flash graphics.
• Experience in sourcing stock images for various design projects.

Optimum Fitness Software  Junior Designer  December 2009- January 2011

As a Junior Designer, I worked on all creative alongside another designer & developer. I assisted in project management, account handling & updating social media accounts.
My duties:

• Design web site concepts for personal trainers & all the unique pages.
• Design & send email marketing newsletters using MailChimp, keeping in line with brand guidelines.
• Liaise with clients, agreeing on design briefs, organising the internal team using Base Camp.
• Monitor & record traffic being directed to websites using Google Analytics.
• Organise & maintain a Facebook profile & fan pages to promote the business & blog.
• Update & maintain Twitter: re-tweeting to encourage more traffic to the FIA (Fitness Industry Association) Directory, promoting the directory facilities to consumers, gyms & personal trainers.

TME Solutions  Projects Consultant  June 2009- August 2009
After completing a work experience placement at TME solutions (April 6th – April 17th 2009), they offered me a full-time role working as a project consultant.
My duties:

• Design initial ideas to present to clients during pitches
• Carry out cold call telesales creating new leads & organising initial meetings.
• Participate during pitches to new & existing clients: accompanied by the sales consultant I would suggest Ideas of layouts, & solutions to their issues/problems through design.
• Construct wireframes using Axure RP Pro 4 to pass on to the project manager.
• Use Google analytics to compare the success of keywords & monitor click through rates.
• Completed general admin tasks keeping content & contact management systems up to date.

Education

University of Portsmouth Oct 2005 – May 2009
1st Class BA Honours Degree in Communication Design
Art & Design Foundation Degree
A-Levels: September 2003 – June 2005
Sociology, Media Studies, Art
GCSE’S: September 1998 – June 2003
Science (2), Textiles, English Literature, English Language, Maths, French, Art, History