Ludwig Merch
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Toptal member since September 22, 2022
A multidisciplinary designer specializing in UX and product design, Ludwig has helped clients produce customer-centric experiences for over 13 years. He creates engaging, user-friendly, and viable solutions by leveraging business insights and customer needs. Having worked in various industries and with diverse project management methodologies, Ludwig is a qualified designer pursuing a career driven by curiosity and a constant quest for new challenges.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Senior Experience Designer
David Jones
- Spearheaded the discovery phase for the creation of a new eCommerce app for David Jones, identifying key customer needs and business objectives that shaped the direction of the project.
- Led the redesign of the entire checkout process, incorporating user feedback to streamline operations and improve the checkout flow, which is anticipated to reduce cart abandonment rates and enhance customer satisfaction.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive design system, standardizing UX/UI components and styles across multiple platforms, which enhanced design consistency and operational efficiency.
- Conducted comprehensive user testing, compiled detailed reports, and presented findings that informed critical design decisions, directly impacting user experience improvements.
- Designed and ran a workshop for the team on effective presentation techniques, enhancing team capabilities and improving internal and external communications.
- Took on an unofficial leadership role, guiding a team of two designers through complex project phases, fostering a collaborative environment, and driving the team toward successful project delivery.
- Established and nurtured strong client relationships, positioning myself as the primary liaison due to my deep understanding of the project needs and client expectations, ensuring smooth communication and project alignment.
Senior Product Designer
ALTISSIA
- Revamped the onboarding process on both the web and app platforms, ensuring a contemporary, brand-appropriate user experience.
- Played a key role in the development of a custom content management system, applying the Double Diamond model for effective implementation.
- Enhanced teachers' ability to monitor student progress through 1:1 sessions and interactive prototypes.
- Led condensed design sprint workshops with the team to efficiently improve existing features.
Senior UX/UI Design Lead
Calvin Klein
- Oversaw the end-to-end customer journey, provided UI support and UX guidance to multiple teams, and contributed to an AOV increase of 130% and more than 62% CVR over my three years assignment.
- Led the usability testing program, conducted schedule and planning sessions, provided briefs and advanced prototypes to UX researchers, and attended sessions as a viewer and note taker. I also handled stakeholder management and follow-up.
- Redesigned the entire journey, produced several prototypes for usability purposes, and developed solutions for numerous A/B tests, acting as a checkout's lead designer.
- Headed and managed a team of three designers who reported directly to me, handling weekly one-on-one sessions, performance reviews, and mentorship.
- Created a design system based on an Atomic Design approach and collaborated closely with a development team to build design tokens and enhance the process.
Senior UX/UI Designer
Icon Agency
- Designed an intranet for Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne based on employee insights and feedback.
- Refreshed five government-related websites with a mobile-first design after identifying which resolution had the most traffic.
- Worked on the Cardburry Australian website's reskin, ran market research, and benchmarked to optimize the shopping bag page.
- Held workshops on workflow improvements, design tools, and trends for the agency's designers.
Senior UX/UI Designer
Sportsbet
- Improved My Account's user experience and conducted usability testing and research, leading to cohesive functionality.
- Enhanced the Bet History page based on user insights and competitor analysis and applied multiple UI treatments to reduce cognitive load and improve critical functionality.
- Reimagined and created a comprehensive style guide, following Material Design guidelines, to streamline developer handoffs and improve designers' workflow.
- Conducted workshops and training sessions for a team of ten designers on the best use of Sketch components and library, enhancing the team's productivity and efficiency.
- Supported the UX facilitator during user sessions by taking notes and doing design changes on the go.
Senior UI Designer
Isobar
- Improved the effectiveness of Jetstar Airways' main site navigation by identifying the most common interactions and building an intuitive interface.
- Revamped many components, including new features and widgets, while working closely with the UX design team.
- Optimized baggage-specific page layouts and features for the Japanese site based on cultural preferences and user feedback.
UX/UI Designer
Cricket Australia
- Refined the entire Match Center, the main platform for live scores, stats, team information, and news. It involved a layout refresh, visual weight, new features, and animations.
- Organized clear and consistent information through all resolutions.
- Developed a pattern library to simplify designers' work by listing, categorizing, and streamlining user interface information.
- Headed a successful iterative design process sustained by thorough benchmarking, user feedback and reviews, and data analysis.
UX/UI Designer
Nintex
- Created interactive designs for complex interfaces and provided harmonized user-centered flows based on design principles.
- Designed a digital style guide to improve the communication gap between design and development departments.
- Developed a modular design approach based on the Bootstrap framework to optimize different devices' usage, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Senior UX/UI Designer
BNP Paribas Fortis
- Acted as the lead designer for the Home on the Spot loan calculator app, handling concept, branding, user journey, wireframes, and prototypes.
- Created concepts, prototypes, and designs for retail and private portfolio management on mobile and tablet apps.
- Designed more than 100 heading banners using Photoshop to create realistic photomontages under the brand guidelines.
- Conducted user research and usability testing and iterated based upon data inputs.
- Delivered a cross-brand style guide, first in a digital format, then as an online version based on the Material Design example, which gave developers extensive documentation.
- Conceived a logo and branding for the in-house customer experience team.
Graphic Designer
ABC Gruppen
- Assisted the graphic design team in making their season and school photo catalogs. More than 200 catalogs were produced over six months.
- Retouched pictures, created layouts and infographics, and arranged posters and flyers.
- Created multiple icons in line with the company brand guidelines.
Web and Graphic Designer
Lemon Crush
- Managed everything from campaign posters to websites for well-known companies such as Absolut Vodka, Perrier, Isuzu, and Vittel.
- Worked as a front-end developer for multiple websites and occasionally did back-end work to create full WordPress CMS from scratch.
- Created multiple icons and illustrations for various clients.
Skills
Tools
Figma, Sketch, Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InVision, Zeplin, InDesign CC, InVision Studio, Axure RP Pro, Miro, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Adobe InDesign, Jira, Microsoft Outlook, Figma Plugins, Adobe CC
Platforms
Mobile, Webflow, Web, iOS, Android
Languages
HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Other
Lean UX, User Experience Design, UX Research, Usability Testing, User Flows, User Journeys, User Journey Maps, Empathy Mapping, Value Proposition Canvas, Card Sorting, Agile, Agile UX, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Logotype, Logo Design, UX Branding, Branding, Stakeholder Management, Product Design, Mobile UX, Mobile UI, Mobile UI Design, Style Guides, UI Style Guides, UI Pattern Library, Pattern Libraries, UI Design, UX Design, Web UI, Web UX, Mobile Design, Interface Design, Web Design, Web Applications, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Landing Page Design, Product Launch, Design Thinking, Report Design, Design Guidelines, Brand Guidelines, Visual Brand Guidelines, Wireframing, Animation, Leadership, UX Leadership, Presentations, Stakeholder Interviews, Communication, Transparency, Design Systems, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Responsive Design, Responsive UI, Web App UX, Web App UI, Web App Design, App UI, App UX, Prototyping, Mobile Prototypes, Rapid Prototyping, Animated Prototypes, UI Patterns, Mobile Payments, Information Architecture (IA), User Research, Illustration, Responsive Web Apps, User Testing, Qualitative Research, Quantitative User Research, Mobile UX Design, iOS UX Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Presentation Design, Social Media, Infographics, Dashboard Design, Mobile Apps, UI Components, Data Visualization, Web Animation, Material UI, React, Sass, Atomic Design, Team Leadership, Key Performance Metrics, eCommerce, eCommerce UX, eCommerce UI, Apps, Digital Banking, Cricket, Checkout, Australia, Mobile First, Fashion Design, Fashion Styling, PayPal, Online Payments, Europe, Omnichannel Marketing, Beta Testing, MVP Design, UX Wireframes, Mobile App Design, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, User Personas, Token Design, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), UX Process, Landing Pages, Belgium, Design Management, Workshop Facilitation, Discovery Workshops, UX Mentoring, Mentorship & Coaching, Mentorship, Customer Feedback
Experience
- User Interface (UI) - 10 years
- Design Systems - 9 years
- User Experience (UX) - 9 years
- Product Design - 8 years
- Usability Testing - 7 years
- Web App Design - 7 years
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) - 4 years
- Team Leadership - 2 years
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