Darren is available for hire
Hire DarrenDarren Amer
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
London, United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since
April 28, 2020
Darren has been a UX designer, researcher, and strategist for over 10 years. Darren has designed customer experiences, products, and services. He focuses on developing digital products and websites to enhance usability, increase engagement, and maximize revenues.
Portfolio
Work Experience
UX Designer
2019 - 2019
Which?
- Contributed to product development, from concept to launch, for Later Life Care products and advice, consumer rights, and education.
- Conducted research, engaged with the business stakeholders, defined needs, and analyzed data.
- Created user flows, scenarios, and IA strategies; defined top tasks; and participated in wireframing, prototyping, and testing.
Technologies: Overflow, Figma, InVision, Sketch
Lead UX and Consultant
2019 - 2019
Splendid Unlimited
- Directed UXD work for Clarion Housing (a social housing provider) and R&D work for legal and general purposes.
- Led the design of Taxley, a Swiss tax app for iOS and Android devices. I guided UX and design teams from immersion, research, and concept through to design, testing, and production.
- Headed the design of Cera, a social care app, by guiding the UX and design teams from immersion, research, and concept through to design, testing, and production.
Technologies: Axure, Principle, Sketch, InVision
Lead UX Designer and Consultant
2018 - 2018
Westminster Abbey
- Led a multi-award-winning responsive website redevelopment project.
- Conducted research and data analysis and defined personas and user journeys. We then used IA and wireframing to better engage users of the website and enrich the pre- and post-visit experience.
- Defined a measurement framework to monitor the success of the website and outline a roadmap for future improvements and enhancements based on those insights.
- Provided ongoing support and research for their shop and customer experience project.
- Led prototyping, user testing, analysis, and reporting.
Technologies: InVision, Figma, Principle, Sketch, Axure
Senior UX and Strategist
2018 - 2018
BABB
- Assisted this fintech startup in building a decentralized banking platform (app) for the global microeconomy on the blockchain.
- Collaborated with the key stakeholders and articulated their vision through personas, user journey maps, IA, and wireframes which were taken through to user testing.
- Contributed to defining the fine the future roadmap and MVP for the initial launch.
Technologies: Overflow, Figma, InVision, Sketch
CX Consultant and UX Designer
2017 - 2018
P&O Cruises
- Led the customer experience project to improve the onboard experience on P&O Cruises' latest cruise ship, which is scheduled to launch in 2020.
- Conducted in-depth, infield research with customers to unearth their needs—both met and unmet.
- Created a customer ecosystem and visualization of the onboard digital experience and outlined a roadmap to achieve the desired goals.
- Contributed to wireframing and the IA.
Technologies: Overflow, Figma, InVision, Sketch
Lead UX/UI and Interaction Designer
2017 - 2017
Fjord
- Co-developed a responsive website for an MVP launch by a financial services client.
- Defined audience archetypes and user flows, developed the interactive prototype, and designed user testing.
- Played a key role in managing client expectations, getting buy-in from stakeholders, and bridging communication between the design and development teams.
Technologies: Axure, InVision, Sketch
Customer Experience and UX Lead
2017 - 2017
Art Fund
- Assisted the Art Fund to set out a roadmap for their future digital customer experience.
- Conducted CX research and workshops to identify priorities.
- Created personas and customer experience journey maps.
- Developed the IA, user flows, and wireframes for the ticketing platform.
- Developed an experience-management strategy, redesigned the account platform, and added personalization.
- Tested the redesigned platform with users to identify issues and enhance the product for the go-live.
Technologies: InVision, Sketch
Customer Experience and UX Designer
2017 - 2017
Travel Supermarket
- Conducted CX research to understand customers and develop customer journey maps.
- Led workshops to identify and create a roadmap for current and future priorities.
- Developed concepts for the customer experience, architecting, and wireframing.
Technologies: Customer Experience, Conceptual Design, Mapping, Research, Roadmaps, InVision, Sketch
Lead UX Researcher and Designer
2017 - 2017
Hodes
- Assisted Ferrero to redevelop their careers website by auditing competitor websites and conducting a heuristic evaluation, a landscape review, and user research— both qualitative and quantitative.
- Conducted client workshops and evaluated their input to identify priorities for the website.
- Developed scenarios, user journeys, and the IA.
- Created wireframes and prototypes.
- Performed user testing, evaluation, and reporting.
Technologies: User Experience (UX), User Research, User Testing
User Experience Researcher and Information Architect
2016 - 2017
Money Saving Expert and Moneysupermarket Group
- Led a user experience research project to understand the customers' behaviors, needs, and goals.
- Increased the companies' understanding of their customers and how to embed a user-centered culture.
- Developed personas, primary user journeys, IA, and wireframes that I also user-tested.
Technologies: Overflow, Figma, InVision, Sketch
Lead UX Designer
2016 - 2016
The London School of Economics
- Led a responsive website redesign project.
- Gathered and analyzed all inputs from stakeholders and users.
- Defined a strategic UX approach, IA, taxonomy, and a set of wireframes for core templates.
Technologies: Usertesting.com, Axure, Adobe Creative Suite
Lead UX Researcher and Designer
2016 - 2016
Athletic Football Club (AFC) Bournemouth
- Led the website redesign for AFC Bournemouth.
- Conducted fan workshops, evaluated outputs, and presented findings,.
- Created a new IA.
Technologies: Axure
UX Researcher, Strategist, and Designer
2016 - 2016
Newcastle United FC (NUFC)
- Helped NUFC understand their audiences’ needs and digital requirements in order to deliver a more engaging digital experience and reconnect with NUFC fans visiting their website.
- Conducted interviews and workshops and created personas.
- Created the IA, user flows, wireframes, and prototypes and steered the creative process.
Technologies: InVision, Sketch
UX and Service Designer
2015 - 2015
Essence Global
- Contributed to a Google Ads reporting project for Essence, a global full-service agency that's data and measurement-driven. The goal was to help transform the way Essence engaged and reported for their clients.
- Assisted in laying the groundwork to digitize and create a B2B offering from disparate data sources and systems to give customers a 360 view of their advertising spend and touchpoints with Essential.
- Engaged with stakeholders from across the business to gather requirements and gain buy-in.
- Collaborated with data teams, conducted research, and assisted with data visualization.
Technologies: Axure
UX Designer
2015 - 2015
M&C Saatchi London
- Served as the lead experience designer for Meltwater, one of M&C Saatchi's global SaaS clients.
- Contributed to creating a compelling digital experience by identifying business and customer requirements and translating these into personas and user journeys.
- Assisted in delivering a set of responsive Axure wireframes that aligned with a relaunch of their product and new brand.
Technologies: Usertesting.com, Axure
Lead UX Designer
2015 - 2015
VML – Virgin Active Account
- Led a UX workstream at VML for Virgin Active's new responsive website, members’ iOS app, and in-gym kiosks with interactive screens. VML is a global brand and customer experience agency,.
- Assisted in gathering and translating user and business requirements into a backlog, user flows, scenarios, sketches, and wireframes.
- Used an Agile methodology with a multidisciplinary team in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
Technologies: InVision, Axure
Lead UX Designer
2015 - 2015
The BIO Agency – Arrow and Premium Credit
- Reviewed the UX for the recently launched Arrow website and created a strategic approach for UX to help optimize conversion rates.
- Embedded a UX approach in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.
- Conducted user research and testing.
- Led a UX project for Premium Credit to create a better user experience that tipped into service design.
Technologies: Axure
Senior UX Consultant
2014 - 2015
Pancentric
- Led UX for an online financial insurance product for British Friendly; a website for Mount Anvil, a luxury housing development project; and a website redevelopment for NatWest Business Insurance.
- Conducted customer and business research; created personas, user stories, IA, and UX principles; and developed responsive prototypes in Axure.
- Assisted in defining Pancentric's new UX process and how it integrates into a full-service agency.
- Managed a small team of designers.
Technologies: Adobe Creative Suite, InVision, Axure
Senior UX Designer
2014 - 2014
Biglight Limited
- Served as the lead UX designer on the Evans Cycles replatforming project.
- Collaborated with the client and the key account manager to gather and translate business requirements; create user flows; and develop mobile, tablet, and desktop wireframes using Balsamiq.
- Designed the product pages, shopping basket, and checkout process.
Technologies: Balsamiq, User Experience (UX), User Research
Senior Strategy and UX Consultant
2009 - 2014
Precedent
- Led large replatforming projects, engaging clients from pitch to launch, and helping to define their digital strategies to deliver more effective experiences.
- Created user experiences by researching customers’ needs; delivered user journeys, user stories, IA, wireframes, and prototypes; guided the graphical design development; and conducted user testing.
- Directed strategic development of clients’ websites and products, from concept to launch and beyond, including requirements gathering, stakeholder management, and management of the collaborative development processes.
- Developed marketing and competitive benchmarking reports and online brand monitoring.
- Created detailed IAs and card sorting, defining wireframes and prototypes, and conducting user tests.
- Defined user interaction modules and functional specifications, development roadmaps, workflows, governance models, business processes, and appropriate business solutions.
- Performed statistical analysis to monitor product performance and make incremental changes to increase engagement and ROI.
- Presented findings to clients and thought leadership to the marketplace at seminars on topics such as UX, social media, and analytics.
- Evolved the capabilities of internal and external teams.
- Delivered reports and recommendations for continued improvements and key account management.
Technologies: Visio, Balsamiq, InVision, Adobe Creative Suite, Axure
Internet Product Manager
2007 - 2009
The London Stock Exchange
- Led the redevelopment of the website to be user-centered, enhance the commercial product offering, and drive business results. I simultaneously managed the online commercial products.
- Delivered an audience-targeted site through in-depth engagement with senior stakeholders from around the business to outline the strategy and then prioritize and target audience groups, which determined the functional requirements and roadmap.
- Defined and delivered the web product roadmap by identifying new opportunities by analyzing competitors and market conditions, identifying trends, and thinking creatively.
- Led the full lifecycle project management for a B2C product from concept to launch, to release cycle deployment, to change control, and live service and operations management.
- Delivered pre- and post-implementation data analysis to show the impact of changes.
- Developed IA, wireframes, templates, technical requirements, specifications, and prototypes for products.
- Delivered key user journeys in line with consolidating all key web properties for the entire group onto a single platform.
- Wrote and commissioned content using best practice guidelines and governance to ensure consistent tone, voice, and appropriate audience targeting to maximize SEO.
Technologies: Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Balsamiq, Axure
Senior Commerce Producer and Product Manager
2001 - 2007
Yahoo! and Kelkoo
- Led UK product development and content production by coordinating European and UK development release cycles and priorities, managing the ad network, and fixing bugs across the site while also running the customer services department.
- Directed UK product management, defined the development roadmap, and developed the schedule.
- Developed online product management reports that included ROIs and recommendations.
- Headed all product launches in the UK and coordinated with global and European product development to manage releases and change management.
- Collaborated with a five-member team to manage online customer services, client integration, and the affiliate network.
- Led UX, engagement, and research.
- Championed best practice usability, user experience, accessibility, and search engine optimization.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Visio, Java, CSS, HTML, Version Control, Content Management Systems (CMS)
Web Master and Computer Engineer
1996 - 2001
Key Technical UK Ltd
- Developed the website and online business.
- Performed network administration and maintained computers, servers, and printers for clients and the resale network.
- Managed stock control and the warehouse.
Technologies: Fireworks, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop
Experience
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring