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James Aspden
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since November 16, 2020
Bio
James is a senior product and brand designer with 15+ years of global experience across tech, fashion, food, hospitality, and automotive. He blends UX, UI, and design systems expertise with strategic thinking and hands-on execution. Skilled in Figma and Framer, James helps teams launch products, scale design systems, and create user-centered digital experiences.
Portfolio
Car Companion App
UX DesignUI DesignDesign SystemsComponent LibrariesMotion DesignB2C
Website for a Japanese Restaurant Chain
UI DesignUX DesignComponent LibrariesMotion DesignB2C
Website for a Luxury Furniture Marketplace
UX DesignUI DesignComponent LibrariesB2C
Digital Transformation for an Australian Supermarket
UI DesignUX DesignComponent LibrariesMotion DesignB2C
Experience
- UX Design - 15 years
- Product Design - 15 years
- Graphic Design - 15 years
- UI Design - 15 years
- Rapid Prototyping - 12 years
- Principle - 10 years
- Figma - 8 years
- Sketch - 6 years
Tools
- Sketch
- Principle
Work Experience
Lead Product Designer
2024 - 2025
Futurice
- Consolidated edtech B2B and B2C platforms into a unified site structure, improving navigation and clarity across audiences.
- Led the design of a new digital experience for candidates, streamlining the user journey from prep to registration.
- Defined a scalable content model and modular design system to support future expansion across the global web ecosystem.
Technologies: UX Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Product Strategy, User Research, Visual Design, UX Audits, User Journeys, Usability Testing
Staff Product Designer
2022 - 2024
The raw materials
- Designed and researched two products to improve efficiencies for the client.
- Extended the design system to cater to the new products and feature flag improvements.
- Designed and built a design system for a luxury B2B furniture website.
Technologies: Adobe CC, Figma, Principle, App Design, UI Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Responsive Web Apps, User Journeys, Information Systems, Usability Testing, User Research, Dashboard Design
Staff Product Designer
2022 - 2022
Soho House
- Refactored the information architecture in the market app and designed new navigation.
- Designed and structured the content for the homepage using research from in-person testing.
- Updated design system to include feature flag improvement work.
Technologies: Figma, Principle, Web Design, Apps, UI Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys, Usability Testing, User Research
Staff Product Designer
2021 - 2022
ustwo
- Designed a command center for a mental healthcare charity for helpers to use during distress calls.
- Presented weekly designs to clients to implement feedback and develop products further.
- Researched and designed initial experience for the largest asset fund manager in the world.
Technologies: Figma, Adobe CC, Principle, App Design, Web, Product Design, UX Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Responsive Web Apps, User Journeys, User Research, Dashboard Design
Lead Product Designer
2021 - 2021
The BIO Agency
- Designed a digital touchpoint experience for the Japanese high-street restaurant Wagamama.
- Performed rapid prototyping for several devices using principle software.
- Liased and presented work back to the client, who signed off on the work and built the designs.
Technologies: Figma, Principle, App Design, Web Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys, User Research
Product Designer
2021 - 2021
TOYOTA Connected Europe
- Worked within a distributed team in the US and UK to completely redesign their car companion app.
- Ran several workshops and interview sessions to form design hypotheses.
- Worked across several teams to form a global design system.
Technologies: Figma, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Audits, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Consumer Products, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Mobile, Mockups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys, User Research
Design Director
2020 - 2020
Matter of Form
- Designed a web experience to reestablish a luxury resort brand values and better represent their offerings.
- Refactored the brand guidelines to accommodate digital products.
- Designed an app to be used by guests onsite, acting as a way-finding tool that contains resort information and restaurant menus.
- Scaled a design system for digital products' future iteration.
- Presented design concepts to the client to aid direction and sign-off.
Technologies: Principle, Sketch, InVision, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Consumer Products, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Mobile, Mockups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys, User Research
Lead Product Designer
2019 - 2020
Deliveroo
- Collaborated with a team of data scientists to design an end to end experience experimentation platform for employees to test the company's products.
- Added the components and contributed to the design system.
- Launched the experimentation platform with live experiments.
- Ran workshops to establish key user journeys and design experiences accordingly.
- Created personas for each user type and detailed what they required out of the platform.
Technologies: Figma, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Consumer Products, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Lean Startups, Mobile, Mockups, Startups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Responsive Web Apps, User Journeys, Information Systems, User Research, Dashboard Design
Lead Product Designer
2019 - 2019
Eight, Inc.
- Designed a web experience for Jumeirah luxury hotels and resorts.
- Created an app for Jumeirah guests to manage trips and also spend loyalty points.
- Built a design system for Jumeirah to establish a foundation on all their digital products.
- Held weekly design presentations with clients in Dubai.
- Traveled to Dubai to meet clients and win additional work through design discovery.
Technologies: Principle, Sketch, InVision, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Audits, eCommerce, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Consumer Products, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Lean Startups, Mobile, Mockups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys, User Research
Lead Product Designer
2018 - 2019
Beyond
- Designed a software platform for visual artists to create 3D renders.
- Formatted an atomic structured design system and a guide for using the software.
- Prototyped interactions on several states throughout the software.
- Created mood board references to form a starting point and sign-off on the concept for the client.
- Presented the concepts to clients in Montreal and London.
Technologies: Principle, Sketch, InVision, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Consumer Products, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Lean Startups, Logo Design, Mockups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Responsive Web Apps, User Journeys
Senior Product Designer
2017 - 2018
Farfetch, Ltd.
- Designed a shop the look module to help cross-sell products.
- Contributed and investigated using a new font and color system for the company rebrand.
- Ran workshops to discover various experiences for the customers to view new products.
- Conducted guerrilla testing on prototypes to gather data on interaction patterns quickly.
- Designed the prototypes to explore scrolling behaviors to increase the average order value.
Technologies: Principle, Sketch, InVision, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Audits, eCommerce, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Design Systems, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Landing Pages, Lean Startups, Mobile, Mockups, Startups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Web, Mobile Design, UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, User Journeys
Education
2005 - 2008
Bachelor's Degree in Multimedia
Nottingham Trent University - Nottingham, UK
Skills
Tools
InVision, Sketch, Principle, Adobe CC
Platforms
Figma, Mobile, Web
Industry Expertise
Consumer Products
Other
UX Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, UI Design, Animation, Rapid Prototyping, Web Design, App Design, Digital Design, Design Systems, Loyalty Programs, Software Design, Prototyping, Web UX, Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Audits, eCommerce, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Color Palettes, Journey Mapping, Landing Pages, Lean Startups, Logo Design, Mockups, Startups, Typography, UI Components, UX Wireframes, User Flows, Mobile Design, User Research, Visual Design, Usability Testing, UX Audits, Web App Design, Web App UX, Responsive Web Apps, User Journeys, Component Libraries, Information Systems, Motion Design, B2C, Dashboard Design, Illustration, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Apps, Product Strategy, Navigation Design, Atomic Design, User Journey Maps
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