Pam Nicholls
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toptal member since January 21, 2020
Pam has worked for clients such as Yahoo!, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, DreamWorks, Hasbro, Mercedes-Benz, and SiriusXM. She has shipped 20+ applications and video games across multiple platforms, including directing an AR application's branding and UX design with an 8-member distributed team over six months. Pam has also driven new product design and culture development, including assembling and mentoring cross-functional team members.
Work Experience
UX Designer
Max Planck Institute - Main
- Audited an online game designed for researching human behavior and AI.
- Designed a high-level onboarding flow to increase player retention.
- Scoped and provided estimates for required deliverables.
Senior UX Designer
Etika
- Improved a SaaS lending management system's user experience and the website's functionality.
- Conducted primary and secondary research and usability testing.
- Created wireframes, prototypes, and ready-for-dev annotated wireframes.
UX Writer | UX Designer
Toptal Clients
- Created copy and content for Yahoo Ryot Lab's help center, specifically for an internal 3D modeling augmented reality tool.
- Designed the interface for an SDK to enable real-money tournaments across multiple game titles on mobile devices for Ryu Technologies.
- Documented the UI functionality for a VR project and grant proposal for Arizona State University.
- Produced copy for weekly and monthly newsletters for the nonprofit organization, Teach for America.
- Documented several functions of a cloud-based AWS system in a GitLab wiki for Syngenta.
- Edited financial services content for Prudential Asia's e-learning management platform.
Senior UI/UX Designer
AviaGames
- Created wireframes based on data gathered through user surveys.
- Conducted brainstorming sessions to generate concepts for the design.
- Developed a prioritized feature list to guide implementation.
Senior UX/UI Designer
Amira Learning corp
- Audited and designed a new user flow to optimize engagement for children for a tutor game app for kids.
- Created a style guide to be referenced by the team.
- Conducted brainstorming sessions to create concepts for the storyline.
- Developed wireframes and flows for a character creation feature in the application.
UX Lead
Education Payroll
- Built, managed, and led a team of five designers for an education payroll system where the platform was a website.
User Experience Design Lead (Fixed-term Contract)
tagSpace
- Conducted co-design sessions with end-users and provided UX expertise with a 2-week turnaround time before product launch.
- Built relationships with clients by engaging them in the product strategy and design process; also provided guidance around strategy for the product release.
- Built, managed, and led a team of five service designers which included mentoring, coaching, and assisting in the development of designers.
- Recruited, conducted, and analyzed results for user testing of products.
UX Lead
Goodgame Studios
- Provided UX expertise for a mobile RPG game with two week turnaround time before beta launch.
- Worked on IOS and Android phone and tablet platforms.
User Experience Lead
Navcast
- Created mobile navigation applications for aviation and marine industries.
- Designed the entire UX of the product.
- Branded the product.
- Assisted with the product launch at the Miami Boat Show.
Senior User Experience Designer
Behavior Interactive
- Introduced the UX brainstorming process utilized for project management and requirements gathering.
- Created wireframes, flows, and prototypes for the front-end UI.
- Designed an app for mobile phones and tablets for 8- to 16-year-old girls with a physical toy component.
- Conducted heuristic analysis on existing games to improve player retention.
Senior User Experience Designer
Ubisoft
- Established a new UX process for the console development team.
- Built relationships with marketing and user research teams.
- Designed a multi-player mode in three days with the game design team.
User Experience Designer
Electronic Arts
- Created wireframes and flows for iPad and iPhone as part of my role.
- Worked with the art director to create an adapted UI and style guide to use on multiple platforms.
- Introduced user experience design process and documentation to Visceral Games Studio.
- Partnered with the Dead Space team in San Francisco to determine the UX strategy of the product.
- Designed the UI for the front end and in-game pause menus for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.
Education
Master of Environmental Design Degree in Industrial Design
University of Calgary - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art
Concordia University - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Skills
Tools
Visio, Miro, Microsoft Word, Figma, Figma Prototyping, CAD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, Photoshop CS5, Proto.io, Lucidchart, Sketch 2, Alibre Design, Blender
Platforms
Xbox 360, Mobile, iOS, Android, Zendesk
Industry Expertise
Games, Education
Other
UX Design, Human-centered Design (HCD), Industrial Design, Video Games, User Flows, Mobile Design, Gamification, Ideation, UI Audits, User Experience (UX), UX Audits, User Testing, Mobile UI, User Onboarding, Co-design, Concept Sketching, Sitemaps, Mobile Game UX, Style Guides, PS4, Annotated Wireframes, Screen Flows, UX Documentation, Design Thinking, Product Design, Responsive Web Apps, Mobile App Design, Video Game Consoles, Mobile Games, Wireframing, Mobile Game Design, Human-computer Interaction (HCI), Game/Navigation Interface, Software Design, System Usability, Interface Design, Web Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Design Systems, User Interface (UI), Mobile Game UI, Wireframe to Product, Graphical User Interface (GUI), Mobile UX, User Stories, User Personas, iOS App Design, Leadership, Information Architecture (IA), Mobile First, UX Wireframes, User Journeys, Personas, Remote Usability Testing, Collaboration, Design Workshops, Ideation Workshops, Web UX Design, Responsive UI, Agile, Web App Design, Strategic Design, User-centered Design (UCD), Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Discovery Workshops, Gaming, Workshops, App Design, Mobile Apps, Usability, Data-driven Design, Conceptual Design, Product Conceptualization, Product Ideation, Augmented Reality (AR), Design Leadership, UI Design, Brainstorming, Card Sorting, Paper Prototyping, Design, UX Prototyping, Customer Interviews, Stakeholder Interviews, iOS UX Design, Mobile UX Design, Game Design, UX Research, Usability Testing, eCommerce, Landing Page Design, Heuristic Review, Heuristic Analysis, 2D Games, SaaS Design, UX Workshops, Prototyping, MVP Design, Content Writing, Copywriting, Interactive Prototypes, Mockups, Modular Design, Design Strategy, Component Libraries, Agile Project Management, Product Design, Product Strategy, Consumer Products, Consumer-facing Product Design, Web UX, Primary Research, Project Estimation, E-learning, Websites, 3D Modeling, Art Direction, iPad, Research, Art, Software as a Service (SaaS), Writing & Editing, Virtual Reality (VR), Enterprise, Narrative UX, UX Wireflows, Unity Game Assets, User Research, Rapid Prototyping, Fintech, UX Strategy, Visual Design, SaaS, Finance, Booking Systems, IT, Technical Writing, Asset Design, 3D Design, User Engagement, Loans & Lending, DXF, Branding, Web App UI, Web App UX
Experience
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring