UX: Being human-centered

Start with the human, do the right thing

I prefer a people-first approach in my work. This has been an ongoing theme in all my jobs. I work human-centric by:

Favorite Techniques

Accessibility Empathy Lab

Have you ever tried watching Big Bang Theory without sound and no subtitles? It's pretty pointless.With this sensory lab, participants can experience common accessibility barriers in the digital world themselves - missing subtitles, stuck screen readers, pages with poor visual contrasts. The lab also seeks to educate on intersectionality of disabilities and the limits of simulations - sims are temporary, disabilities often are not. I designed this lab for internal and client use alike, and it was delivered at multiple events, e.g. at Beyond Digital.

User-centric design training series

I designed and delivered a series of interactive UX training workshops for several teams of Product Owners and Business Analysts.I focussed on teaching the benefits of user-centricity, design thinking and journey mapping through practical exercises, asking users to share their own experiences as customers and then mapping them into a Customer Journey management tool called TheyDo, which was in the process of being adopted by the client's organization. To validate the effectiveness of these workshops, I conducted pre- and post-training surveys.Making fun & engaging workshops is one of my favorite things to do, so I really enjoyed this project.

Workshop Sample Slides

Green PO: User Research and Design Support

Green PO are a non-profit initiative that aims to turn every product owner and product professional into a green one. I'm supporting Green PO in their user research by conducting interviews with product professionals, with the intent to discover more about their awareness on sustainable product design, as well as their needs and struggles around it. I also help them with design/brand discovery and making their designs more streamlined and accessible (see creative section!)

Friends of Gyle Park: User Research

Friends of Gyle Park (SCIO) are a small, Edinburgh-based charity. As a trustee, I help by applying my user research skills to conduct a wider survey on the experience of park users. The survey includes gathering information on user demographics, communication preferences as well as popular features and improvement suggestions.Going forward, the data from this survey will enable the Friends of Gyle Park to make more strategic decisions about improvements in the park and it will also support them when applying for relevant grants, which often require data on park use and user demographics.

The epitome of UX: Being a coach

When I first started at AND Digital, I went through coaching training - and was absolutely mind-blown. I realised how powerful coaching can be. To me, coaching is a key component within UX because it requires you to listen really carefully to another person, and the most important thing in this craft is them - the human you're coaching, and what helps them spread their wings and become the best version of themselves. What could be more user-centric than that?!At AND, I became a career coach for other peers and also ended up coaching individuals in client teams. The thing that I'm proudest of is the fact that out of 3 coachees I coached long-term, 2 had actively approached me to ask if I could coach them, and all coachees went on to be incredibly successful in their fields.