
Benny Aarup
Verified Expert in Design
UX & UI Designer
Bangkok, Thailand
Toptal member since March 30, 2015
Benny is a Danish lead UX/UI designer and published UX expert, crafting intricate UX/UI strategies tailored for elite global brands. Infusing Nordic elegance with calculated design logic, he creates experiences that are both inviting and seamlessly interconnected. Renowned for elevating global brands such as Bridgestone, MasterCard, Dubai EXPO, and EBSCO, his designs blend simplicity with dynamic functionality.
Portfolio
Work Experience
UI/UX Designer
Near.com
- Led the design process with Near's product management team at the LA headquarters on the Pinnacle platform, an instant place-based insights platform powered by Near.com's data intelligence covering 1.6 billion people across 44 countries.
- Built a Figma Cloud Component Library to feed the Pinnacle platform—providing human movement insights to help more than 200 Fortune 500 companies understand consumer behavior and analyze places for data-driven decision-making.
- Created a deeply nested web application component-based Figma prototype, covering 90-95% of all user interactions.
- Developed a Kanban development hand-off framework ensuring a fully push/pull connected design system from Atom to Jira ticket design documentation.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Caliber
- Led the design process for the product management team at the New York headquarters on a responsive dashboard portal and mobile application.
- Created a component-based design system library in Figma.
- Developed a responsive front-end prototype in HTML/CSS and JavaScript.
Author
UX Design Dictionary
- Authored the world's first UX design dictionary uxdesigndictionary.com with more than 2000 entries.
- Performed extensive research on UX terminology and jargon.
- Led the production team from conceptualization to book publication.
Lead Full-stack UX/UI Designer
Bridgestone (via Toptal)
- Led the UX process for a product with more than 140,000 users.
- Delivered a responsive dashboard portal powered by Power BI.
- Designed a component-based design system symbol library in Sketch.
- Implemented the responsive front-end framework in HTML, CSS and, JavaScript.
Lead Full-stack UX/UI Designer
DP World (via Toptal)
- Designed and developed a container tracking dashboard and an import permit dashboard for Dubai Trade.
- Designed an import permit dashboard for Dubai EXPO 2020 that will help country representatives of the participating nations in the DE2020 submit and manage the import requests for goods used in the country's pavilions during the DE2020.
- Created a UX management framework to support decision-making for the UX strategy, including Gantt Charts, heuristic principles, and risk assessment.
- Built a component-based design system symbol library in Sketch.
Senior UX/UI Designer
Samhaeng
- Designed and developed a comprehensive Sketch symbol library for EBSCO-funded FOLIO.org—an open-source library services platform.
- Designed and animated numerous UX animations using Principle for FOLIO.org.
- Designed UX patterns for the flexible and modular library systems.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Mastercard
- Worked with a range of pan-Asian in-house business development teams to translate business requirements into tangible mobile payment design solutions.
- Presented the solutions to the Mastercard executive team to achieve funding approval during the annual regional meetup.
- Created a component-based design system symbol library in Sketch.
- Designed business case PowerPoint presentations for the winning product owners' business case, which led to funding approval.
WordPress Developer
Baeldung (via Toptal)
- Redesigned and developed a WordPress theme for a Java and Spring community site with more than 300,000 monthly users.
- Helped the founder formulating the initial style guide.
- Developed a WordPress theme using Bootstrap 3 based on the design style guide.
- Developed a custom dropdown responsive menu from scratch.
Head of Digital
PingingU
- Worked with C-level stakeholders to create the design and development vision of the company brand identity.
- Conceptualized the product and market approach and oversaw the development of the company's launch website.
- Initiated and maintained the company's social media team.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Aarup.me
- Designed and developed digital web experiences for a wide client base of global brands and personalities.
- Designed comprehensive component libraries in Figma and Sketch.
- Helped a range of international brands to deliver on their digital aspirations.
International Marketing Director
Century Properties
- Initiated and advised the largest real estate developer in the Philippines on preliminary sale activities in the Chinese marketplace.
- Developed the project website for Trump Tower Manila.
- Created a project website for the Acqua Iguazu project by Starck.
iOS App Development Consultant
Copenhagen Creators
- Led a team toward strengthening the visual appeal of a client's app concept.
- Planned and executed a two-day workshop with the production team and client.
- Engaged with C-level stakeholders and formulated strategy to enhance earnings.
Business Development Analyst
KMD
- Created and delivered IT solutions for local and central governments and private markets for one of Denmark's leading IT and software companies.
- Contributed to projects that generated revenue upwards of DKK 4.7B in 2013.
- Conceptualized the strategic product development for a unified digital citizen access point solution.
Education
Professional Degree in User Experience Design
Copenhagen School of Design and Technology - Copenhagen
Bachelor of Science Degree in Asian Culture, Language, and Economy
Copenhagen Business School - Copenhagen
Exchange Semester in Business Administration and Chinese Language
Ramkhamhaeng University - Bangkok
Skills
Tools
Adobe Experience Design (XD), Google Docs, Principle, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, Figma Component Library, Figma Prototyping, Microsoft PowerPoint, Sublime Text, Adobe, Tableau, InVision, Adobe Photoshop, Atom
Languages
CSS3, HTML5, HTML, PHP, JavaScript
Industry Expertise
Fitness
Platforms
Figma, WooCommerce, WordPress, iOS, Android
Other
User Interface (UI), Brand Identity, Bootstrap, Wireframing, Dashboards, UI Design, Analytic Design, Responsive UI, Web UI, Website Redesign, Dark UIs, Analytical Dashboards, Web Applications, User Experience (UX), iOS App Design, Mobile UX Design, Mobile UI, Mobile App UI, Landing Page Design, Branding, Consumer Branding, UI Animation, UX Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), iOS UI Design, Bootstrap 3, Responsive, Dashboard Design, Web App UI, Animation, Motion & Animation Design, Highcharts, Data Visualization, Web Dashboards, Web Design, Web App Design, Design Systems, Component-driven Prototyping, B2B, Product Design, Mobile UI Design, iOS UX Design, User Flows, Interface Design, SaaS Design, Web UI Design, Mobile App Design, Fintech, Interaction Design (IxD), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Prototypes, Web App UX, Leadership, Design Thinking, Visual Design, White Labeling, Admin Panels, Responsive Web Apps, Affiliate Marketing, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), eCommerce, Online Shopping, Intranets, Mobile Apps, eCommerce Design, Landing Page Optimization, Slack App, User Research, Tailwind CSS, Edtech Design, Videos, Forex Trading, Learning, Redesign, Books, jQuery, AngularJS, SaaS, Usability Testing, Light UI, Stock Trading, Stock Market, Financial UX, Financial Design, Chinese Typography, Negotiation, Mandarin, Business to Business (B2B), Global Business, Asia, Business Administration, Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate, Legal Technology (Legaltech), Legal, User Experience Design, Tables
Experience
- UI Design - 15 years
- UX Design - 10 years
- Web App UI - 10 years
- Dashboard Design - 8 years
- Dashboards - 5 years
- UI Animation - 4 years
- iOS UI Design - 4 years
- Figma - 2 years
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