TRAVELING DESIGN CONSULTANT
I've been working as a freelance UX consultant for a year. I was interested in experiencing what working in different cultures would be like and wanted to share my knowledge with teams and product managers, who had great ideas, but didn't necessarily know how design practices would help them create better products. See below an overview of the 3 biggest projects I've done.
The Mandate
“We are a start-up, but are unfamiliar with UX design. Could you design our app, and engage and educate us, such that our startup will have user centred practices when you leave?”
Role
UX Design Consultant
Location
Mumbai, India
I’ve carried out full design process with the core team, including the business leader, product manager and developers. I actively involved all stakeholders during the process, which took less than a month.
We ran several ideation workshops and created basic prototypes. I took the product manager when conducting guerrilla user tests in the Mumbia coffee shops and co-working spaces, such that she would experience the findings first hand. After further analysis of the user tests, I worked on higher fidelity mock-ups and retested our designs, which lead to optimised mock-ups.
Summary
Working with a talented and visionary product team has been a real privilege. Participating in a society and workplace that is different than the Northern European culture has been enriching and taught me to adapt my communication style to the environment.
We managed to create some solid designs in a relatively short amount of time which enabled the product team to continue their development.
The Mandate
“We, as European Union, would like to increase the knowledge of the European citizen with regard to local food cultures. We are looking for an engaging solution that is attractive for a young audience.”
Role
UX Design Consultant
Location
Malta
In collaboration with organizations from all over Europe, I designed an app for iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile. I executed a full UX design process, which was periodically verified by all the international stakeholders involved and by users who were recruited in various ways.
Summary
This was my first project where multiple stakeholders from various organizations and countries were involved. Presenting my designs in a way that made all stakeholders feel involved and contributed has been a great learning opportunity. Being paired with a product manager that has vast experience in managing (remote) discussions and bringing people together increased my consciousness of complex and secondary stakeholder desires.
In return, the stakeholders were impressed by my rigorous design approach and methodologies to drive choices and adapt to changing requirements.
The Mandate
“Malta is a historically rich country. Many people have relics that give a glimpse of the country’s past. We would like to find a way for locals to contribute, and enrich the Europeana platform with Maltese content. We would also like to give foreigners an opportunity experience Malta’s history”
Role
UX Design Consultant
Location
Malta
I worked with a Maltese product team and designed a stand-alone responsive web based platform from scratch. I executed a full UX process and showed the organization the value of an elaborate design process. I worked closely together with the product owner and development team but also involved employees that were not directly assigned to digital product development.
Summary
The product manager gave me full responsibility and trust. She only provided the global direction. This had a great effect on my dedication, motivation and results. This was my first project under supervision, after I’ve been a supervisor myself for many years. It made me realise that it’s the manager’s responsibility to influence and facilitate and not to persuade and provide.
