Linda Hesebeck
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Toptal member since January 15, 2019
Linda is a senior product, UI/UX, and brand designer with over 15 years of experience simplifying complex products and creating distinctive brand experiences. Her recent work focuses on AI-native design, AI-assisted workflows, and rapid prototyping using tools such as Figma Make, Claude, and Codex. She combines strategic thinking with hands-on expertise across research, interaction design, visual design, prototyping, and developer handover.
Experience
- Branding - 18 years
- Brand Guidelines - 18 years
- UI Branding - 16 years
- UX Prototyping - 8 years
- User Experience (UX) - 8 years
- Figma - 7 years
- Design Systems - 6 years
- AI-powered Product Design - 2 years
Portfolio
Work Experience
Product Design Mentor
Designlab Learning
- Guided people from various professional backgrounds into a UX design role. Through regular one-on-one mentoring sessions, we focus on UX principles, methodologies, and industry best practices.
- Helped numerous mentees build a comprehensive portfolio, including case studies that showcased their UX skills and thought processes.
- Provided guidance on networking, job search strategies, and interview preparation.
Product, UI/UX, and Brand Designer
Freelance
- Led a full brand refresh for a critical metals company, spanning strategy, visual identity, corporate design, website design, and brand collateral to create a cohesive, professional, and future-facing presence.
- Designed intuitive user experiences for a messaging platform, turn.io, that helps organizations deliver WhatsApp-based services, particularly in healthcare. Her work included user flows, interface design, and prototyping.
- Designed and developed the brand's entire visual language, including stationery, wayfinding, social media campaigns, marketing elements, and a responsive website for an art museum, balancing cultural significance with modern user experience.
- Designed and developed the branding and eCommerce sites for several luxury brands, including a fashion label and hair product brand, showcasing high-end aesthetics and user-friendly navigation.
- Designed a campaign-specific microsite for L'oréal Paris that had to fit into the main L'oréal website without navigating away from the main domain.
- Worked as a senior UX and UI consultant for a major bank, focusing on the staff-facing dashboard.
- Created the brand and visual identity for a search engine for both the web interface and mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms. Implemented gamification strategies to enhance user engagement and overall user experience.
Senior Figma Web Designer
Apart People AS
- Redesigned core user journeys for an internal property management software platform, supporting the rebuild of the product from legacy workflows into a more modern, scalable digital experience.
- Created wireframes, UI concepts, interactive prototypes, and product flows in Figma to help stakeholders rapidly visualize and evaluate new interface directions.
- Used the newly released Figma Make to rapidly test design ideas, explore AI-assisted interface generation, and accelerate early-stage product concepting.
- Collaborated with AI agents, developers, product stakeholders, and internal teams to move from product requirements to functional prototype concepts with minimal traditional handoff overhead.
- Developed reusable interface patterns and component-led layouts to improve design consistency across complex operational workflows.
- Translated internal property management processes into clearer, more intuitive user flows for teams managing rentals, property operations, and platform administration.
- Prepared prototype-ready screens and design assets to support development planning, product alignment, and AI-assisted build workflows.
UI/UX Designer
Nedbank Group
- Conducted user interviews and synthesized the findings to create actionable user flows, comprehensive user personas, and informative wireframes.
- Leveraged user research and stakeholder input to design user-centered features for the staff dashboard, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Refined the user interface (UI), ensuring seamless alignment with the Nedbank brand system. Developed prototypes and facilitated successful developer handover sessions.
UI Designer
Barclays Africa Group Limited
- Designed and developed the user journey for the new online banking website for Barclays Kenya.
- Created custom iconography.
- Sourced, edited, and scaled the imagery for the website.
- Implemented usability testing and troubleshooting.
- Worked in a team in an agile/scrum environment.
Head of Design
Room13 Design
- Worked on various bespoke branding and graphic design projects.
- Designed and developed style guides for startups and corporate clients.
- Developed brand identities and marketing elements for a number of startups and commercial clients.
- Established the art direction and photography styling for a commercial wine farm.
- Spearheaded and owned every aspect of the visual design process from the initial concept to the rollout.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honors) in Information Design
University of Pretoria - Pretoria, South Africa
Diploma in Creative Writing
Random House Struik - Cape Town, South Africa
Skills
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Illustrator CC, Google Slides, Photoshop CC, Adobe CC, Canva, Banner, Photo Editors, Adobe, Zeplin, Sketch, InVision, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Figma Make, Claude
Platforms
Figma, Shopify, WordPress, Web, Webflow, Mobile, iOS, Android
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance
Other
UI Design, UX Design, Mobile Banking, App UI, App Design, Brand Guidelines, UI Branding, Responsive UX Design, Responsive UI, Identity Design, Design Systems, Branding, User Interface (UI), Mobile App Design, User Experience (UX), Logo Design, Visual Design, UX Prototyping, Illustration, Graphic Design, Brand Identity, Visual Identity, Visual Brand Guidelines, Product Design, Web Design, eCommerce Design, Shopify Design, Print Design, Wireframing, eCommerce, Prototyping, Rapid Prototyping, User Flows, Web App Design, Brand Design, Brand Strategy, Color Theory, Brand Development, App UX, Infographics, Marketing Design, Social Media Content, Ad Banners, Banner Ads, Design Guidelines, Print Marketing Design, Ebook Design, Presentations, Social Media, Ebooks, Design Libraries, Print, Marketing Materials, Art Direction, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Social Media Design, Design Thinking, Typography, Web UI Design, Campaign Design, Ad Campaigns, Digital Design, PDF Design, PowerPoint Design, Brand Logos, AI-powered Product Design, Graphics, Rebranding, Landing Page Design, Direct Mail, Key Visuals, Email Marketing, Fintech Design, Mobile Design, Color Palettes, Web App UI, Consumer-facing Product Design, Website Design, Design, Web Applications, Enterprise Software, Onboarding, Editorial Design, Training Materials, Dashboard Design, AI Design, Experience Design, AI Workflows, Content Management Systems (CMS), Image Design, Presentation Design, Digital Brand Identity, Brand Books, Brand Marketing, Creative Direction, Mobile UX, Web App UX, User Testing, UI Components, Design Leadership, A/B Testing, Ads, Agile UX, Agile, Conversational AI, Accessibility, Agentic AI, People Management, Conversational Design, Stakeholder Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Remote Work, Cosmetics, Beauty Products, Skincare, Minimalism, Clean Design, Microsites, Hairstyles, Hair & Skin Care, Blog Design, Magazine Cover Design, Mobile UI, Private Banking, Finance, Icon Design, Imagery, Fintech, Money Transfers, Startups, Small Business Design, Conference Speaking, Voting Systems, Identity, Motion Graphics, Photography, Advertising Design, Websites, Game Design, Content Writing, UX Mentoring, Mentorship & Coaching, Packaging, Mockups, Web UX, UX Wireframes, Information Design, Sitemaps, Search Engines, Gamification, Motion Design, Web Search, Search Engine Development, Browser Plugins, Browsers, Stationery Design, UX Research, Animation, Codex, WhatsApp UI, Chatbots, User Permissions
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