Ian Thomas
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since November 20, 2019
Ian is an HFI certified user experience professional who has been planning, creating, and delivering websites for over 12 years. He has worked across Europe and South America on a range of projects, from simple content sites to large eCommerce solutions, and complex web applications. Ian produces world-class experiences, balancing the needs of users with the commercial and creative needs of the client’s business.
Portfolio
Avios: Homepage Impact
O2: Online Shop
RAF: Recruitment Website
Lipton: T.O by Lipton
Work Experience
Lead UX designer (Contract)
BBH
- Conducted first hand customer research to validate ideas for improving the Audi customer journey.
- Developed customer journey ideas into valuable propositions.
- Re-worked the Audi Online Service Booking tool to give customers more flexibility and choice when booking their vehicle in for service.
- Updated a finance calculator tool on the Audi website to provide a simpler customer journey and increase conversion.
- Co-created a design system to bring speed and consistency to future work on the Audi account.
Senior User Experience Architect (Contract)
Tribal Worldwide
- Defined a component library for Volkswagen's customer ownership area.
- Recommended how best to apply a customer opt-in cookie tool to help comply with GDPR.
- Developed a chat style tool to help business customers decide which vehicle they should buy, based on their finance preferences.
- Made recommendations for updates to the Cupra UK website based on business goals and direction from the global team.
XD Team Lead
Engine Group
- Led a team of Experience Designers and grew the visibility of the Experience department. Built a positive environment to work in and inspired the team to think beyond their day to day work.
- Shaped ways of working within the agency, reviewed new briefs and planned project approaches.
- Provided the XD team with direction and support during projects including the review, feedback and sign off of all work before it left the building.
- Developed a new recruitment website for the Royal Air Force to ensure the right caliber of applicants applied.
- Worked with E.ON to re-work their consumer and business websites so they could compete with new entrants to the market.
Senior User Experience Architect / Associate User Experience Director
Tribal Worldwide London
- Re-imagined the e-commerce store for one of South America's largest department stores, Falabella.
- Created the telecoms company O2's award winning online shop, causing an 20% increase in orders.
- Showed Avios how they could drive results through a re-work of the site IA and a re-worked homepage.
- Created a service blueprint and loyalty website for Morrisons supermarket.
- Helped Unilever develop and refine a new e-commerce website and point of sale tool for their first direct to consumer product.
User Experience Architect / Senior User Experience Architect
Tangent Snowball
- Produced the functional interface design for an in-house marketing communications platform, enabling customers to send and track emails and direct mail.
- Re-worked the Agatha Christie fan site to reflect the changing nature of the brand and keep it relevant to a new audience.
- Updated the Nails inc. website to give the company a more professional image and drive more leads.
- Created a dashboard of sales data for managers at Wolseley to track performance and plan their approach.
- Designed a website to generate leads for Ravensworth, a supplier of print materials for property sales.
User Experience Producer (Contract)
Teachers TV
- Worked on a new categorisation structure to help Teachers find educational video content faster.
- Planned, facilitated and observed user testing of new product features.
Digital Producer
Penna Communications
- Gathered requirements and planned recruitment websites for a number of clients including Nestle, John Lewis, Balfour Beatty and Pizza Hut.
- Created functional designs and project managed the new company website.
- Led a requirements gathering and supplier selection process with a local University to help them choose a new candidate management tool.
Education
NVQ in IT User Skills
BCS - London, UK
Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Product Design and Manufacture with DIS
Loughborough University - Loughborough, UK
A-Levels in Maths; Physics; Design and Technology
Collingwood College Sixth Form - Camberley, Surrey, UK
Certifications
Certified Usability Analyst
Human Factors International
PRINCE 2
APM Group
Skills
Tools
Marvel, Balsamiq, Sketch, Axure RP Pro, InVision, Balsamiq Mockups, Apple Keynote, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Visio, Zeplin, OmniGraffle
Platforms
MacOS, Axure, iOS, Windows, OS X
Industry Expertise
Automotive, Retail & Wholesale, Telecommunications
Other
UX Design, Customer Interviews, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Rapid Prototyping, User Testing, Wireframing, Customer Journeys, User Experience (UX), Flow Diagrams, User Research, UX Strategy, A/B Testing, Conversion, User Flows, UX Specifications, Statistics, Mobile Prototypes, Lead Generation, Booking, Card Sorting, Information Architecture (IA), Remote User Testing, Design Direction, Travel, Navigation, Experience Strategy, eCommerce, Workshops, Functional Design, Market Prioritization, Modular Design, Interactive Prototypes, Business Requirements, Checkout, Component Libraries, Online Sales, Consulting, FMCG, Service Blueprints, UX Prototyping, Personas, Recruitment, User Journeys, Requirements
Experience
- UX Design - 15 years
- Flow Diagrams - 12 years
- Wireframing - 11 years
- Rapid Prototyping - 10 years
- User Testing - 8 years
- User Research - 8 years
- Customer Journeys - 7 years
- UX Strategy - 5 years
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