Christopher is available for hire
Hire ChristopherChristopher Barklem
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
Singapore, Singapore
Toptal Member Since
March 12, 2022
Christopher is one of the most experienced creative minds in the industry, with over two decades in product design. Over 25 million users utilize his interactions on a day-to-day basis. His award-winning work is integrated into over 700 banks worldwide (100 million users), in small to enterprise companies, as seen in SaaS, B2B, B2C, C2C, government, and education. Christopher is a creative leader with over a decade of experience building and managing creative teams.
Work Experience
UX Leader | UX Manager | Creative Director | Senior UX Designer | Senior Product Designer
2013 - PRESENT
Freelance
- Contributed to building a digital onboarding process for Banco Sabadell by leading the project's user experience with an ambitious target of nine months. The project went live to the public in December 2021.
- Designed the award-winning National Geographic Learning education platform, which became the leading English language tool for teachers in 2021. More than 1.5 million students have used the application to continue their English studies at home.
- Helped in Oracle's Redwood redesign project by redesigning how users think about enterprise system dashboards. Used smart algorithmic logic and machine learning to enhance the day-to-day working lives of over 25 million users.
- Redesigned the Polymatica data science application, which increased its market share by over 26% in the first 12 months after relaunch.
Technologies: Sketch, Figma, InVision, UserZoom, Adobe UX, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Sublime Text 3, Git, Jira, Confluence, UX Research, UX Testing, User Flows, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, Process Flows, Process Design, Design Systems, User Personas, Agile UX, Agile Sprints, Agile Delivery, Lean UX, MVP Design, UX Leadership, UX Design, App UX, Web UX, Web App UX, UI Design, Building Services Design, Web Design, eCommerce UX, eCommerce UI, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, Web UI Design, PHP, HTML, System Architecture, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, HTML4, Online Banking, Digital Banking, Fintech, Finance, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Mobile App Design, Mobile Design, SaaS Design, Project Management, Visual Storytelling, UX Analysis, User Research, UI Style Guides, Quality Auditing, Prototyping, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Digital Storyboards, Brainstorming, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Stakeholder Interviews, Value Proposition Design, Journey Mapping, Service Blueprints, Task Analysis, Taxonomy, Heuristic Analysis, Sitemaps, Product Roadmaps, Use Cases, Analysis, Metrics, Focus Groups, User Interviews, Quantitative Survey, Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing, Usability Testing, Card Sorting, Eye Tracking, Annotated Wireframes, High-fidelity Prototypes, Low-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Mobile Prototypes, Pattern Libraries, Diary Studies, Mental Model, Experience Maps, A/B Testing, Responsive UI, Responsive UX Design, Product Design, Branding, Web App Design, Wireframing, Web App UI, Responsive Web Design (RWD), High-fidelity Mockups, eCommerce, Shopify, Shopify Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Conversion, Conversion Rate, CX Strategy, UX Strategy, Customer Experience, User Behavior, Behavioral Economics, Behavioral Testing, Behavior-driven Design, Behavioral Science, Behavioral Design, Consumer Behavior, Landing Page Design, Web 3.0, Blockchain, Dashboard Design, iOS, Interaction Design (IxD), Personal Finance, UI Animation, UX Audits, SaaS, Component Libraries, Dashboards, Graphic Design, Badges, Web Applications, User Testing, Validated User Research, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Design Leadership, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Discovery Workshops, Personas, User Stories, Project Estimation, CRM Design, Usability, Accessibility, Illustration, Target Operating Models, Data Visualization, B2B, Design, Scrum, Product Management, Agile Product Management, Product Strategy, User-centered Design (UCD), Design Thinking, Innovation, Customer Journeys, Business Strategy, Consulting, Go-to-market Strategy, Product Strategy Consultant, Startups, Lean Startups, Project Design & Management, Product Owner, SaaS Product Management, Agile Project Management, Design Strategy, Strategy, Leadership, Human-centered Design (HCD), Storytelling, Marketing, Quantitative Research, Design Research, User Onboarding, Monetization, Growth, Web UI, Rapid Prototyping, Web UX Design, User Experience Strategy, Research, Competitive Analysis, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Strategic Design, Apps, Material Design, Android, UX Wireframes, UI Components, Websites, Landing Pages, User Conversion, Report Design, Mobile UX Design, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management Systems (CMS), User Validation, Information Architecture (IA), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Responsive Design, Presentation Design, Communication Design, Adobe Analytics, Customer Research, Apache Solr, Digital Marketing, Search, App Design, Style Guides, Mockups, Sustainability, Maps, Design Reviews, Website Builders, WYSIWYG Web Builders, Mobile UI Design, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Design Workshops, Feature Prioritization, Remote User Testing, WCAG 2, Webflow, Native Mobile Apps, Front-end, Art Direction, Motion Design, Interactive UI, Touchscreens, Event Branding, Interior Design, Museums & Exhibits, Internet of Things (IoT), Logo Design, Learning, Digital Product Design, App UI, Management, Checkout, Chatbot Conversation Design, Workshops, Presentations, Ideation Workshops, Digital Transformation, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Animated Interactions, iOS App Design, iOS Animations, Artificial Intelligence (AI), WordPress, Crypto, Usability Analysis, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, UX Review, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, Heuristic Review, Heuristic Reports, Heuristic Evaluation, Heuristic Ideation Technique, Heuristics, Client Interviews, Messaging, UI Prototyping, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Conceptualization, Packaging, User Experience Design, Bubble, Ideation, Advertising, Design Libraries, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Stakeholder Management, Audits, JetBrains, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Integrated Development Environments (IDE), UX Tools, Texting, B2C, Naming, Consumer-facing Product Design, Drones, Tablet Design, WordPress Design, Responsive Web Apps, Color Palettes, DataViz, Qualitative Research, Team Management, Research Reports, Communication, Technical Diagrams, Diagrams, Mentorship, Team Mentoring, Adobe Suite, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), System Design, Google Sheets, Google Sites, Story Mapping, Real Estate, Design Consultation, Cryptocurrency, BTC Wallet, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Service Design, Miro, Best Practices in Design, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Cryptocurrency Wallets, Layout, Consumer Products, Technology
UX/UI Designer
2022 - 2022
HeliumDeploy
- Provided a complete UX and sales audit of the company's Shopify marketing website and conversion flows.
- Examined the company's product offerings to allow it to scale sales and support operations.
- Designed flows and landing pages to engage and convert sales into product packages.
Technologies: B2C, B2C Marketing, UX Documentation, eCommerce, UX Design, UI Design, Presentation Design, Communication Design, Customer Research, Digital Marketing, Search, App Design, Style Guides, Mockups, Maps, Design Reviews, Website Builders, WYSIWYG Web Builders, Mobile UI Design, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Design Workshops, Feature Prioritization, Remote User Testing, WCAG 2, Webflow, Front-end, Logo Design, Digital Product Design, App UI, App UX, Management, Workshops, Presentations, iOS App Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Crypto, Usability Analysis, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, UX Review, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, Heuristics, Client Interviews, UI Prototyping, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Conceptualization, Shopify, User Experience Design, Ideation, Advertising, Design Libraries, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Audits, UX Tools, Texting, Drones, Tablet Design, Responsive Web Apps, Color Palettes, DataViz, Team Management, Research Reports, Communication, Diagrams, Adobe Suite, Website Audits, Retail & Wholesale, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Cryptocurrency Payments, System Design, Google Sheets, Design Consultation, Cryptocurrency, BTC Wallet, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Service Design, Miro, Best Practices in Design, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Cryptocurrency Wallets, Layout, Consumer Products, Technology
CRO Designer
2022 - 2022
Beyond Dept
- Audited funnel process to increase conversions and quality. Used analytical data to make design decisions focused on reducing friction and increasing the number of customers that found the product which suited their needs.
- Analyzed the sites and funneled traffic to gain key insights into the user's behaviors. Redesigned the funnel process to reduce friction and increase conversations.
- Redesigned the UI to allow the user to move faster and understand more of what the task required.
Technologies: User Conversion, UX Design, Conversion Rate, Conversion, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Websites, Landing Pages, Presentation Design, Communication Design, Customer Research, Digital Marketing, Search, Style Guides, Mockups, Design Reviews, Website Builders, WYSIWYG Web Builders, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Feature Prioritization, Digital Product Design, App UX, Checkout, Workshops, Presentations, Usability Analysis, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, UX Review, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, User Experience Design, Ideation, Audits, UX Tools, Texting, B2C, Responsive Web Apps, Research Reports, Communication, Diagrams, Adobe Suite, Website Audits, Retail & Wholesale, Google Sheets, Design Consultation, Service Design, Miro, Best Practices in Design, Layout, Consumer Products, Technology
UX/CX Strategy Consultant
2022 - 2022
FICO
- Led the CX strategy transformation for a Fortune 500 SaaS company serving the financial industry. The project involved mapping the current state, identifying best practices, and defining a 10x target operating model.
- Held 21 stakeholder interviews and five SME interviews to gather key insights and align on the company's current state and 10x vision; also did over 38 hours of CX research interviews.
- Designed the current state, transitional states, and future operating model.
- Held seven hours of client workshops to align stakeholders on key insights.
- Designed customer and sales journeys for the company's target customer models.
Technologies: UX Design, User Experience (UX), CX Strategy, UX Strategy, Stakeholder Interviews, Workshops, Business Operations, User Interviews, User Research, Quantitative Research, A/B Testing, Design Research, User Onboarding, Rapid Prototyping, User Experience Strategy, Research, Competitive Analysis, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Strategic Design, UX Wireframes, Websites, Landing Pages, User Conversion, Report Design, User Validation, Information Architecture (IA), Presentation Design, Communication Design, Customer Research, Style Guides, Mockups, Design Reviews, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Design Workshops, Digital Product Design, Management, Presentations, Ideation Workshops, Digital Transformation, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, UX Review, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, Heuristics, Client Interviews, Product Conceptualization, User Experience Design, Ideation, Stakeholder Management, Audits, UX Tools, Texting, Color Palettes, DataViz, Qualitative Research, Team Management, Research Reports, Communication, Technical Diagrams, Diagrams, Adobe Suite, Google Sheets, Service Design, Miro, Best Practices in Design, Layout, Consumer Products, Technology
Creative Director | Head of User Experience
2008 - 2013
Strands
- Designed the first personal financial management application, which won the Finovate award for best new banking application and is now integrated into over 600 banks worldwide.
- Created the first Agile UX processes, which worked seamlessly with Agile development. Shared this methodology with over 100 startups in Barcelona, which radically changed how the industry of UX works today.
- Designed the first personal financial management application called MoneyStrands, which won the Finovate Awards for best new financial application and the Webby design award for best application design.
Technologies: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Sketch, Adobe Experience Design (XD), OmniGraffle, Balsamiq, HTML4, HTML5, PHP, Java, Zeplin, Git, UX Design, UX Research, Web UX, Web App UX, UI Design, Building Services Design, Web Design, JavaScript, CSS, Jira, Confluence, Web UI Design, HTML, System Architecture, Adobe Photoshop, Online Banking, Digital Banking, Fintech, Finance, UX Testing, User Flows, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Mobile App Design, Mobile Design, SaaS Design, Project Management, Visual Storytelling, UX Analysis, User Research, UI Style Guides, Quality Auditing, Prototyping, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Digital Storyboards, Brainstorming, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Stakeholder Interviews, Value Proposition Design, Journey Mapping, Service Blueprints, Taxonomy, Heuristic Analysis, Sitemaps, Product Roadmaps, Use Cases, Metrics, Analysis, Focus Groups, User Interviews, Quantitative Survey, Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing, Usability Testing, Card Sorting, Eye Tracking, Annotated Wireframes, High-fidelity Prototypes, Low-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Mobile Prototypes, Pattern Libraries, Mental Model, Experience Maps, A/B Testing, Responsive UI, Responsive UX Design, Product Design, Branding, Web App Design, Wireframing, Web App UI, Responsive Web Design (RWD), High-fidelity Mockups, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Conversion, Conversion Rate, CX Strategy, UX Strategy, Customer Experience, User Behavior, Behavioral Economics, Behavioral Testing, Behavior-driven Design, Behavioral Science, Behavioral Design, Consumer Behavior, Landing Page Design, Web 3.0, Dashboard Design, iOS, Interaction Design (IxD), Personal Finance, UI Animation, UX Audits, SaaS, Component Libraries, Dashboards, Graphic Design, Badges, Web Applications, User Testing, Validated User Research, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Design Leadership, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Discovery Workshops, Personas, User Stories, Project Estimation, Usability, Accessibility, Illustration, Target Operating Models, Data Visualization, B2B, Design, Scrum, Product Management, Agile Product Management, Product Strategy, User-centered Design (UCD), Design Thinking, Innovation, Customer Journeys, Business Strategy, Consulting, Go-to-market Strategy, Product Strategy Consultant, Startups, Lean Startups, Project Design & Management, Product Owner, SaaS Product Management, Agile Project Management, Design Strategy, Strategy, Leadership, Human-centered Design (HCD), Storytelling, Marketing, Quantitative Research, Design Research, User Onboarding, Monetization, Web UI, Rapid Prototyping, Web UX Design, User Experience Strategy, Research, Competitive Analysis, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Strategic Design, Apps, Material Design, Android, UX Wireframes, UI Components, Websites, Landing Pages, User Conversion, Mobile UX Design, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management Systems (CMS), User Validation, Information Architecture (IA), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Responsive Design, Presentation Design, Communication Design, Adobe Analytics, Customer Research, Digital Marketing, Search, App Design, Style Guides, Mockups, Maps, Design Reviews, Website Builders, WYSIWYG Web Builders, Mobile UI Design, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Design Workshops, Feature Prioritization, Remote User Testing, WCAG 2, Native Mobile Apps, Front-end, Art Direction, Creative Direction, Motion Design, Interactive UI, Touchscreens, Logo Design, Digital Product Design, App UI, App UX, Management, Checkout, Workshops, Presentations, Ideation Workshops, Digital Transformation, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Animated Interactions, iOS App Design, iOS Animations, Usability Analysis, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, Heuristic Review, Heuristic Reports, Heuristic Evaluation, Heuristic Ideation Technique, Heuristics, Client Interviews, Messaging, UI Prototyping, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Conceptualization, Packaging, User Experience Design, Ideation, Advertising, Design Libraries, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Stakeholder Management, Audits, UX Tools, Texting, B2C, Naming, Tablet Design, WordPress Design, Responsive Web Apps, Color Palettes, DataViz, Qualitative Research, Team Management, Research Reports, Communication, Technical Diagrams, Diagrams, Mentorship, Team Mentoring, Adobe Suite, System Design, Google Sheets, Story Mapping, Design Consultation, Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Service Design, Miro, Best Practices in Design, Layout, Consumer Products, Technology
Education
1992 - 1994
Bachelor’s Degree in Building Surveying BSc
Northumbria University - Newcastle, England
Certifications
MAY 2015 - PRESENT
Interaction Design Specialization
UC San Diego via Coursera
MARCH 2005 - PRESENT
CIW Web Design Specialist
CIW
MARCH 2002 - PRESENT
Professional Qualification in Solaris Systems, UNIX, Oracle Database, Network Engineering
Sun Education
JULY 1996 - PRESENT
MCSE
Microsoft
Experience
Collaboration That Works
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