How I can help you..

The Medium is the Message


Our Users don't consume our design and technology separately, so why would we make it that way..


What do we do?

Design Technologists build prototypes at varying levels of fidelity - visual, functional and contextual.

Sometimes known as User Experience Engineers, we are responsible for realising ideas as tangible interactions, testing them with users, and iterating in response to feedback and insights.

Working with Researchers, Designers, and Engineers, we bring a technical perspective into the discovery phase, communicating technical feasibility in the context of user experience.

Outputs

  • Participate in research, design, and technical planning
  • Facilitate and support user interviews
  • Facilitate and support user testing
  • Create low and high fidelity wireframes (using Figma or code)
  • Develop low and high fidelity prototypes (using Figma or code)
  • Bridge the gap between Design and Engineering (by implementing design accurately)
  • Bridge the gap between Research and Engineering (by implementing design effectively)
  • Work on Design Systems creation, management, and advocacy

Outcomes

  • Alignment between Research, Design, and Engineering teams
  • A technical understanding of user needs
  • A solid technical foundation for your hypotheses and solutions
  • Designs validated with users at high functional and contextual fidelity
  • Interfaces and interactions realised before the resource cost of production
  • Coded examples of your solution for handover with Engineering

Intuit logo Intuit

Design Technologist

As a Design Technologist with Intuit I formed part of the UK Design team, producing interactions and prototypes to Provoke the Future!

I created hi-fidelity coded prototypes for discovery, leveraging data and producing a mutlibrand, multi-user, data driven prototyping platform to demonstrate technical potential to partners and stakeholders, and influence product direction.

Intuit Design team work-shopping a design

Information here is restricted under NDA

React, SASS, Multibrand Systems, Rapid Prototyping, User Interviews, User Testing, Product Design.

Hurtigruten Logo Hurtigruten

Design System Lead

At Hurtigruten, I was tasked with leading the Aurora Design System project. The objective was to create new processes, tools and shared components that could be distributed to our products, facillitating the Design and Engineering teams to produce features that accurately represent design and effectively meet user needs.

Hurtigruten team work-shopping a design

Initiatives

Design System Creation

I led the creation of the Aurora Design System, which involved developing a library of reusable components and defining clear guidelines for their use. This ensured consistency across all our products and improved the efficiency of our design and development processes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

I worked closely with both the Design and Engineering teams to ensure that the design system met the needs of both groups. This involved facilitating regular meetings to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments.

Aurora design system tools in action

System Advocacy and Support

A significant part of my role was promoting the use of Aurora across the organization and providing support to teams as they adopted it. This involved creating comprehensive documentation, providing training sessions, and offering ongoing support.

Aurora distributed over NPM

Outcomes

Increased Efficiency

The introduction of the Aurora design system led to a reduction in the time taken to design and build new features, as teams were able to leverage the reusable components and clear guidelines provided by the system.

Improved Consistency

The design system ensured a consistent look and feel, as well as standard of accessibility across our products, leading to a more cohesive user experience.

The Hurtigruten Expeditions team on a trip to Norway

Enhanced Collaboration

The project fostered better collaboration between the Design and Engineering teams, as evidenced by a 25% increase in cross-functional projects following the introduction of the design system.

Increased Adoption

Within the first year of its introduction, three product teams at Hurtigruten were actively testing or using using the Aurora design system in their projects, with the flagship Expeditions website maintaining a 40% page coverage.

The Aurora Boreallis

React, Typescript, Next.js, SASS, Storybook, Design Systems, Figma, Git, NPM

Simpson Travel logo Simpson Travel

User Experience Engineer

As a User Experience Engineer I deal with technical considerations in respect of user research. Frequently, this involves prototyping with code.

For Simpson Travel however, my work had more of a product design focus, with prototyping and user testing conducted in Figma.

User Interviews

I started by conducting user interviews with internal stakeholders to define the business challenges and user needs.

An additional benefit of interviewing as a first step was that I was able to set the stage for change - not only change in the product, but change in the approach to design.

simpson-travel-1.png

Discovery

Prototyping

Making judgments about the fidelity of a prototype versus the resource required to create it, is an important balance to strike. In the case of Simpson Travel we decided to use Figma at medium fidelity.

Originally we opted for a lower fidelity, but it was noted that the participants were distracted by the lack of branding.

simpson-travel-3.png

User Testing

User testing sessions were conducted with ten participants in a within-subjects arrangement, with prototypes consisting of a control and multiple variants.

At this sample size, and with some limitations around recruiting external participants, within-subjects was considered the best approach.

simpson-travel-4.png

Outcomes

Human Centred

I began to institute a Human Centred approach with my work at Simpson Travel, taking special care to observe context of use, varying domains of knowledge and other prevalent factors.

The outcome was not only an understanding of internal users and the relationships they formed with customers, but also an awareness of the Human Centred approach to Product Design.

Refactored interfaces

Simpson Travel had a complex booking model which required careful consideration of user flows.

As well as providing measurements for this based on my testing, I supported technical implementation of usability enhancements to core website features such as locale and currency selection.

simpson-travel-1.png

Information here is restricted under NDA

Figma, Rapid Prototyping, User Interviews, User Testing.

MindGym

UX Engineer

At Mind Gym, we were focused on transforming learning platforms and executive coaching services to be brought online. The objective was to address the challenges of online coaching and enhance the participants' learning experience making it comparable to in-person coaching.

The MindGym carck team of Designers and product specialists

Initiatives

Rapid Prototyping

Developing rapid prototypes of different concepts and ideas to test their viability and gather user feedback.

Integration Exploration

I explored various technologies and platforms that could be integrated into Mind Gym's existing products to facilitate coaching services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prototyping at MindGym

User and Stakeholder Interviews

We conducted interviews with users and stakeholders to evaluate the current state of technology used at MindGym, what the biggest challenges were and how Coaches felt about moving business online.

We gathered insights into their preferences and expectations regarding online coaching platforms.

A User Interview conducted at MindGym

Outcomes

Enhanced Understanding of User Preferences

Through prototyping and testing different concepts, we gained a deeper understanding of how Mind Gym's users preferred to learn in an online coaching environment.

Identification of Integration Opportunities

The exploration of technologies and platforms provided insights into potential integration opportunities, allowing Mind Gym to offer effective coaching services during a time of reduced personal contact.

MindGym coaching over video call

Information here is restricted under NDA

Rapid Prototyping, User Interviews, User Testing

Tesco logoTesco

Senior Prototyper

During my tenure at Tesco, I contributed to various projects involving payment apps with Tesco Bank, loyalty platforms such as My Clubcard Account, self-service checkouts, and the development of internal tools.

I was embedded as a part of the UX, Research and Design team and it was clear from this time onwards that I could offer a unique technical value the design process.

Rapid prototying for a user testing session at Tesco

Initiatives

PayQwik

Working on the Tescos payment wallet app PawQwik, I prototyped the interface and collaborated with the backend team to ensure accurate implementation of the UI. I regularly travelled between London and Edinburgh to provide guidance and support during implementation.

Clubcard

I rebuilt the frontend of the My Clubcard Account website to make it responsive and available on handheld devices. I travelled between London and Bangalore to assist with UI implementation and provided coaching to junior developers in Bangalore.

Prototyping the PayQwik app

Self-Service

I prototyped user interface concepts for self-service checkouts, including both the older machines produced in Israel, and more modern concepts which became what we know today as Smart Payment apps.

Tools

I worked on developing an internal prototyping tool called Prototyper to enable non-technical stakeholders to configure interfaces and test content, facillitating a better relationship between Marketing and Design.

Guerilla testing in-store at Tesco

Outcomes

Improved Collaboration

In my time at Tesco I facilitated better collaboration between design and engineering teams, resulting in a 100% increase in understanding design intent.

Enhanced Self-Service Checkout Experience

By prototyping and testing user interfaces for self-service checkouts, we provided valuable insights for improving the checkout experience. As well as this, we built the concepts for todays Smart Payment apps.

Testing in-store payment apps

Improved Marketing and Design Transparency

The Prototyper tool allowed marketing stakeholders to configure interfaces and test content, improving the relationship between marketing and design teams.

Sharing tools with the marketing team

Rapid Prototyping, React, HTML, CSS / SASS, Design Systems, User Testing