Freelance UX Consultancy
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.
Znapin
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
What did I do?
I’ve carried out a 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 Mumbai 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 led 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 from 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 time, enabling the product team to continue their development.
Europeana Food & Drink
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, attractive solution for a young audience.”
Role
UX Design Consultant
Location
Malta
What did I do?
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 and users 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 has been a great learning opportunity. Being paired with a product manager with 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.
Wireframes and flow
Placement, Animation and Style Guide
EXPO Malta
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 to experience Malta’s history”
Role
UX Design Consultant
Location
Malta
What did I do?
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 with the product owner and development team but also involved employees 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 significant 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, not persuade and provide.
User and Contextual Research
Wireframes
