Deborah Michaliszyn
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Toptal member since August 5, 2022
Deborah is a UX strategist, interactive and web designer, and developer with 25+ years of experience, primarily interested in augmented and virtual reality and cutting-edge technologies. Her passion for UX design has led her to work in interactive product design and digital architecture for the lotteries, healthcare, finance, and insurance industries. Debora is an innovative designer, an idea generator, and a problem solver keen on creating beautiful, functional, and engaging digital products.
Portfolio
Sanofi's OneAI Platform | SaaS AI Product
Customer Inquiry Interface
Project NOVA
New Lottery Site UX & Motion Design for Lottery Kiosk Ads
Experience
- Complex Problem Solving - 20 years
- Interface Design - 20 years
- UX Design - 10 years
- Responsive Web Design (RWD) - 10 years
- UX Prototyping - 7 years
- Adobe Experience Design (XD) - 7 years
- Human-centered Design (HCD) - 7 years
Tools
- Adobe Experience Design (XD)
Work Experience
Digital Product Designer/Experience Design Architect
CyberOptics Studio Inc.
- Defined and executed product vision for AI-assisted digital experiences, translating ambiguous requirements into structured design roadmaps and actionable user flows for client-facing and internal innovation projects.
- Audited and extended design systems to ensure visual and interaction standards scaled across new features and evolving product modules.
- Produced high-fidelity UI, interactive prototypes, and workflow documentation in Figma for seamless developer handoff, accelerating design-to-code iteration.
- Led end-to-end product design from early concept through polished execution, balancing strategic product direction with rapid prototyping and stakeholder alignment.
- Designed and validated multi-step onboarding, decision-making, and engagement flows for platforms requiring high trust, usability, and regulatory sensitivity.
- Leveraged AI-assisted design and prototyping tools to streamline iteration and improve delivery speed in high-ambiguity, early-stage environments.
Lead UX IA Designer
University of Manitoba
- Designed a mobile-first digital storytelling platform, architecting user journeys and content flows to support engagement and trust in a complex, multi-audience environment.
- Revived and extended design system standards to ensure consistency and scalability across new digital features, supporting rapid iteration and development handoff.
- Developed detailed user personas and user flows based on extensive user research, ensuring every interaction was intuitive and aligned with user needs, significantly improving retention.
- Conceptualized and designed landing pages for an AI-driven storytelling platform, optimizing user engagement and lead generation while aligning design strategies with business objectives.
- Created a comprehensive product roadmap, outlining milestones for the platform’s AI-driven personalization features, and defined the timeline for MVP delivery and key feature rollouts.
- Expanded the platform with a two-tier tagging system, which increased content discoverability and enhanced personalization, driving a 20% increase in session duration.
- Designed an AI algorithm solution to enhance content curation through a two-tier tagging system, significantly improving content relevancy. Analytics and user feedback will be used to optimize the system for maximum relevancy and engagement.
- Created design documentation for a scalable design system, standardizing UI components across the platform to ensure consistency and efficiency in future development cycles.
- Designed user journey maps, wireframes, and prototypes to visualize and validate key user flows, leading to a streamlined user experience that improved task completion rates by 25%.
- Collaborated with institutional stakeholders to translate product vision into cohesive UX structure, wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes.
Lead UX Designer
Sanofi
- Led UX design for an enterprise AI platform, transforming fragmented, high-complexity workflows into an intuitive, user-centered experience for data science and research teams.
- Created high-fidelity UI, workflow prototypes, and governance models in Figma, enabling rapid iteration, developer handoff, and trust in AI-driven decision support.
- Synthesized research, stakeholder input, and usability testing to clarify requirements, reduce ambiguity, and accelerate adoption of AI-powered product features.
Senior UX Designer
Johnston Group Inc.
- Designed and optimized enterprise SaaS workflows, focusing on usability, clarity, and scalable interface patterns for internal financial and operational tools.
- Developed wireframes, layouts, and polished UI for complex, multi-step decision flows, ensuring alignment with business and technical requirements.
- Applied systems thinking and design system rigor to support consistent, evidence-based product experiences that reduced user error and improved operational efficiency.
UX Developer
Manitoba Public Insurance
- Designed and optimized partner-portal workflows for regulated insurance onboarding, including invitation-code validation, multi-role state management, and Agile Figma handoff.
- Created wireframes, flow diagrams, and UX documentation to translate complex legal and financial requirements into approachable, actionable user experiences.
- Ensured accessibility, usability, and trust across digital touchpoints while supporting iterative delivery in a high-stakes, public-sector transformation.
Web Developer, UI Designer, Motion Graphics Designer
Western Canada Lottery Corporation
- Designed analytics-informed user flows and prototypes for a regulated consumer-facing platform, prioritizing clarity, engagement, and fast access to high-value information.
- Supported design communication and visual consistency across digital initiatives, working within regulated and legacy system constraints.
- Ensured accessibility compliance and smooth cross-device functionality.
UI/UX Designer
Conviron
- Redesigned and migrated multinational Drupal and WordPress websites, applying new branding, interface standards, and front-end implementation best practices.
- Conducted detailed research for updating and installing new plugins. Managed testing, migration, and validation activities to ensure reliable digital delivery and stakeholder confidence.
- Supported thousands of users by reinstalling Drupal and WordPress templates and databases on test servers.
Web Analyst and UI/UX Project Manager
Manitoba eHealth
- Led UI/UX operations for 150+ hospital websites and intranet sites, improving content usability, information architecture, and database integration for Manitoba’s regional health authorities.
- Designed, developed, and coded hospital websites and portals using HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP.NET, JavaScript, jQuery, and JSON, creating templates for CMSs like WordPress.
- Redesigned digital health tools and self-assessment experiences to improve usability, accessibility, and engagement.
- Developed a youth-focused website with a geolocation tool, securing $40,000 in funding and creating work for a 20-person development team.
- Transformed a long multi-page form into an interactive and accessible self-check tool using stronger layout, typography, and flow design.
- Conducted UX research, testing designs with both power and novice users to optimize usability. Identified and implemented the best research methods based on project objectives and constraints.
- Led the creation of user flows, wireframes, user journeys, and mockups, improving design efficiency and clarity.
- Worked closely with developers to translate UI/UX designs into functional products, ensuring a smooth transition from design to deployment.
- Ensured PHIA (Personal Health Information Act) and HIPAA compliance, designing secure interfaces to protect patient data and privacy.
- Tested and validated digital experiences for accessibility and screen-reader compatibility.
Education
Diploma in Business Information Technology
Red River College Polytechnic - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Advanced Diploma in Advanced Advertising Art
Red River College Polytechnic - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Diploma in Advertising Art
Red River College Polytechnic - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Certifications
Generative AI from Google Cloud
Google Cloud
Design Principles: an Introduction
University of California, San Diego | via Coursera
Human-Centered Design: an Introduction
University of California, San Diego | via Coursera
Aboriginal Awareness Certificate
Government of Manitoba
Responsive Web Development
New Media Manitoba
French Immersion Certificate
Churchill High School
Skills
Tools
Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Illustrator, Adobe, Adobe InDesign, GreenSock, Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop CC, Microsoft PowerPoint, SharePoint Designer, MURAL, Figma Prototyping, AI Tools, Figma Component Library, Balsamiq, Adobe After Effects, Sketch 2, Google Analytics, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, InVision, GitHub, Jira, Miro, Confluence, Figma Make, Claude
Languages
HTML, CSS, HTML4, HTML5, Java, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, JavaScript 6
Platforms
Figma, WordPress, Webflow, Mobile, SharePoint, Webflow CMS, GreenSock Animation Platform (GSAP), Axure, Apache2, Web, Django CMS, Drupal, iOS, AIX
Industry Expertise
Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Government, Advertising, Marketing
Other
jQuery, Visual Design, Web Design, Advertising Design, Motion Interaction, Interaction Design (IxD), Responsive Web Design (RWD), Human-centered Design (HCD), Adobe Acrobat Pro, Interface Design, Design Systems, Digital Solutions, Complex Problem Solving, UX Prototyping, UI Prototyping, Web UX Design, Web UX, UX Design, Ideation, Pitch Decks, Human-computer Interaction (HCI), UX Strategy, Voice User Interfaces (VUI), Strategic Design, Data Synthesis, Storytelling, App UX, Wireframing, Business, Front-end Design, User Testing, Web App UX, WordPress Themes, Information Design, Web Platforms, Information Architecture (IA), Product Discovery, User Personas, User Experience (UX), User Experience Strategy, Design Thinking, Design Principles, Rapid Prototyping, Responsive Development, Mobile UX, Mobile UI, Responsive, Mobile UX Design, Responsive Design, Responsive UX Design, Prototyping, Interactive Prototypes, UI Design, Web App UI, SaaS, Product Design, Dashboard Design, Web App Design, Mobile Design, SaaS Design, Enterprise SaaS, Enterprise, Mobile UI Design, WebApp, Web Applications, User Interface (UI), Website Optimization, User Workflows, Usability Testing, Strategy, Management Information Systems (MIS), Digital Asset Management, Data-driven Marketing, Usability, Graphic Design, Marketing Design, Branding, Content Strategy, Design Leadership, User Flows, Dashboards, Landing Pages, Artificial Intelligence (AI), B2C, Consumer-facing Product Design, Workflow, Enterprise Design, CRM Design, Content Management Systems (CMS), Product Pages, Web Template Design, Front-end, Web UI Design, Audits, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Tables, Mockups, MVP Design, Apps, App Design, Illustration, Web Portals, Mobile App Design, Mobile App UI, Assets, UX Branding, WordPress Design, Landing Page Design, Data Visualization, Web Page Mockups, Presentation Design, Presentations, Brand Guidelines, B2B, Ads, Social Media, Visual Identity, UI Animation, Web Animation, Design Strategy, Responsive Web Apps, Motion Graphics, Animation, Animated Interactive Graphs, System Design, Interactive Charts, Fintech, Early-stage Startups, Interactive UI, High-end Design, No-code Development, Landing Page Optimization, Print Design, Postcard Design, 2D Animation, Motion Design, Communication Design, Brand Design, Web UI, Sitemaps, UX Wireframes, User Interviews, Surveys, Layout Design, Animated Interactions, Proof of Concept (POC), Stakeholder Interviews, Design Workshops, Style Guides, User Experience Design, Workshops, UX Workshops, User Workshops, Ideation Workshops, Discovery Workshops, Collaboration, PowerPoint Design, Corporate Branding, Software as a Service (SaaS), Layout, Mobile First, Accessibility, Atomic Design, Customer Portals, Material UI, Adobe Creative Cloud, Research, User Journey Maps, Design Reviews, Intranets, UX Review, Metadata, Discovery, Roadmaps, Requirements, Design Guidelines, Visual Brand Guidelines, AI Design, Web Application Design, Scrum, Interactivity, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Innovation, Designing interactive, user-centered interfaces, Detail-oriented, Quantitative Research, Mobile Prototypes, Data-informed Visual Design, Infographics, Website Design, Data-heavy Design, Enterprise Systems, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), 2D Graphics, Campaigns, Business to Business (B2B), Intuitive UX Design, Marketplace Design, Content Management, Content Management Systems (CMS), Jira, WordPress, Content Marketing, SEO Content, Web Design, Website Management, Website CMS, UI Motion, Voice UI Design, Design, Scientific Research, Visual Workflow, Workflow Design, Creative Design, Website Redesign, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), SEO Tools, iPad, AI-powered Product Design, Admin Panels, GUI Design, AI Workflow, AI-assisted Development, AI-assisted Prototyping, AI-assisted UX, AI-driven Insights, AI-enabled Applications, AI-generated Assets, AI-generated Code, API Integration, Accessibility-first Design, Accessible Design, Agentic AI, Agentic Frameworks, Best Practices in Design, Conversational AI, Conversational Design, Conversational UX, Executive Communication, Experience Design, Inclusive Design, Lean Product Development, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Research Synthesis, Structured Problem-solving, Systems Thinking, WCAG 3, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), WCAG 2, Bootstrap, Web Development, IT Project Management, SharePoint UI, Cross-functional Collaboration, User Stories, Cross-functional Design, Remote User Testing, Findings & Recommendations Reports, Web Project Management, UX Audits, UX Research, eCommerce, Women's Health, Journey Mapping, Logo Design, User Research, User Journeys, UX Documentation, UX Mentoring, Mentorship & Coaching, Mentorship, Mobile Apps, Feature Prioritization, UI Audits, Nonprofits, User Behavior, Stakeholder Management, Leadership, 3D Design, Component Libraries, Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS), Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), Conversational UI, AI Prompts, Large Language Models (LLMs), People Management, 3D Animation, Video Editing, Database Design, Oracle DBA, Coding, Mobile Computing (MC), Android App Design, AA Compliance, Microsoft SQL Server, IIS SQL Server, Healthcare Management Systems, Responsive UI, Game Sound Design, User-centered Design (UCD), Product Roadmaps, Communication, Geolocation Detection, Web Architecture, DevOps, HDR Photography, Django, Unity, Agile, Agile UX, Personas, Compliance, Lean, Qualitative Research, Heuristic Evaluation, Website Performance, Languages, Culture, Responsive Layout, Healthcare IT, Servers, Sociology, iOS App Design, iOS Animations, React, Drupal Design, Creative Problem Solving, Design Patterns, Stakeholder Engagement, Client Relationship Management, UX Pattern Design, Competition Research, Competitive Strategy, Product Strategy, outcomes, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), WordPress to Webflow, Figma to Webflow, Responsiveness, Responsive Coding, Responsive Email Templates, ChatGPT, OtterAI, Azure DevOps, Otter.ai, Hiring, Prompt Engineering, Team Building, Technical Hiring
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