Portfolio

Fourteen years of research, design and leadership. Some of the projects I've worked on are under Non-Disclosure Agreements - for these I've only included white-labelled designs and indicative figures.

Shortcuts

July 2021 - present: Interaction Designer for Capgemini / HMRC

I'm helping HMRC improve their online service for VAT customers:

HMRC screen

July 2020 - July 2021: Interaction Designer for Snook / the Home Office

I helped the Home Office improve their online services by engaging with staff and service users:

Home Office screen

May 2020 - July 2020: freelance User Researcher / UX designer

I worked as a Product Manager and author for User Research Explained. We brought together User Researchers from around the world to contribute essays to present the most vital topics in UR practice in a readable format. I was thrilled to work with Indi Young and Steve Portigal who contributed essays.

I also worked on:

January – May 2020: Senior User Researcher for the Scottish National Investment Bank

I helped this new government bank design its service by running User Research for a Discovery project:

June - December 2019: User Researcher for the Scottish Government

I worked on the Scottish Government’s Social Security programme to create a better service for disabled people applying for benefits.

February - May 2019: User Researcher for the Scottish Government

I worked as a pure User Researcher for the Scottish Government’s Payments project:

September 2018 - January 2019: UX designer / researcher for ACM

I led a complete redesign of the Case Management software AdvicePro for a small but dynamic software house:

AdvicePro User Interface

July - August 2018: Freelance Designer (Fintech)

I had a break from contract work over the summer and worked on freelance projects.

I used proto.io to develop a prototype for Lifeium, a Fintech start-up exploring online Will creation. I tested their proposition using one-to-one tests.

Lifeium prototype

I designed an Invision prototype for MoneyMatiX, an account aggregation / money advice app which I continued developing into 2019:

MoneyMatiX prototype

I also:

March 2018 - June 2018: Content / CMS lead for ACCA

Content and design lead for ACCA's Digital Foundations project, working as part of a team of four Consultants from Quorum:

ACCA user journey

April 2017 - February 2018: UX Analyst for Clydesdale Bank

As part of a large UX team I developed Clydesdale Bank's suite of apps using research and data:

UX design at Clydesdale - mobile phone mock-ups

January - March 2017: UX Designer for Scottish Enterprise

Supported the Digital First transformation programme at Scottish Enterprise by providing UX design for teams doing Agile discovery:

plan for information exchange

prototype

May - December 2016: UX lead for digital transformation

Crazy 8s sketching exercise

UX lead for a major transformation programme at Royal London:

May 2015 - May 2016: Protection Extranet for Royal London

In 2015 I redesigned the Protection Online Service for Royal London, as part of an enthusiastic Agile team. Royal London increased their market share and picked up four awards in the 2016 FT Online Innovation and Service awards, including Best Company, and Best Innovation for the new service. The service takes in over £1 million of new business every week.

Royal London - me winning an award, YAS

I began with sketches, working with Business Analysts and the Product Owner to refine the requirements. I then worked with a Digital Designer to refine the look and feel and applly the company brand.

I created wireframes and interactive prototypes in Axure and reviewed them with front end developers and testers. We used Bootstrap to create a dashboard, online form and log in process.

Royal London Dashboard

I ran user testing to validate my designs, and have led on the use of Google Analytics to test our designs after releases.

I worked with the test team to target a range of browsers and devices to ensure the new Extranet would be fully responsive.

Responsive design

2014 Online booking system

Worked with two other UX Designers to develop a new online service system for City Holdings, a Glasgow-based facilities management firm.

We started creating personas and user flows then produced wireframes for developers.

For my contribution, I:

2010-2013 led the UX process for an online service

Worked with UI designers, business analysts and developers to continuously improve the customer experience for students and their families. We based our priorities on Customer Insight and analytics, including A/B testing.

I ran user testing with User Vision and collected insights using Google Analytics to continuously improve the customer experience.

Your estimate

In 2010 I ran user testing with the Government Digital Service and the results were presented to the SLC board. The result was a £90 million transformation project to launch a new online service, which ran until a successful launch in 2013.

2011 led project to rebuild Student Loans Company corporate sites

Worked with a UI designer, external developers, business analysts and administrators to completely rebuild the SLC corporate site and microsites, implementing a modern Umbraco platform. I began with analytics and sitemapping and delivered a successful launch at the end of 2011.

After the launch I wrote and maintained a style guide for the look and feel, and UI elements.

Corporate site

2011 designed new password reset process for the Student Loans Company

Worked with a UI designer and Customer Insight manager to produce new screen flow and content for the online password process. We tested a new design with live students. After the project, password reset calls to SLC dropped by 50%.

password reset process

2010 built and managed Student Finance England site

Worked with a developer and a team of internal stakeholders to create a campaign site for English students, attracting over 200,000 visits in the summer of 2010. We used analytics, user testing and regular input from the Customer Insight team to optimise the site.

student finance microsite

2007 - 2010: Content and UX for the Student Loans Company

The My Application and Offer project took over a year of planning and implementation. I managed lab-based usability testing with User Vision in Darlington for student volunteers. This was the first user testing of its kind in SLC's history. I used the findings to optimise online content and interactions.

Darlington testing