Raymond Sharma

Designer in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Member since March 15, 2018

Ray is an award-winning, multidisciplinary experience designer, online and off, with 20+ years of experience delivering useful, usable, engaging, and rewarding experiences for all. He has led organizations and teams, managed products and projects, and worked hands-on to deliver design leadership, design thinking strategies, UX research, UX design, interaction design, and creative UI designs. His work includes delivering experiences across VR, AR, web, mobile, cloud, and connected devices.

Interface Design User Interface (UI)Wireframing Ideation Workshops Prototyping UX Research Complex Application User Interfaces (UI)UX Prototyping UI Patterns Product Design Web App Design Mockups UI Design Mobile Mockups High-fidelity Mockups Show more

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Portfolio

Digital Design

Financial Insight and Investment App
- Banking & Finance
- Investments
- Investing
- App UX
- iPad
- Leadership
- Wireframing
- Sketching
- Client Relations
- Prototyping
- User Flows
- App UI
- UX Flows
- UX Tools
- UX Design
- Interface Design
- User Interface (UI)
- UI Patterns
- UX Prototyping
- Mobile Mockups
- High-fidelity Mockups
- Innovative UX
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- Design Thinking
- UX
- Ideation Workshops
- Field Studies
- UX Research
- UI Design
- UX Strategy
- Ideation
- Web Applications
- Visual Storytelling
- Enterprise Design
FX Trading | CCY Volatility Grid
- Technical Forex Concepts
- Financial UX
- Banking & Finance
- Forex Trading Room
- User Interface (UI)
- UI Patterns
- UX Prototyping
- UX Design
- Patterns
- UX Pattern Design
- User Flows
- Customer Journeys
- Design Thinking
- UX
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- UX Research
- Prototyping
- UI Design
- UX Strategy
- Ideation
- Web Applications
- Enterprise Design
Online Store and Marketing
- Retail & Wholesale
- Design
- Marketing
- Social Media
- WordPress
- WordPress Design
- eCommerce
- eCommerce UX
- UI Development
- Interface Design
- User Interface (UI)
- UX Prototyping
- Mobile Mockups
- Design Thinking
- UX
- Ideation Workshops
- Field Studies
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- UX Research
- Prototyping
- UI Design
- UX Strategy
- Ideation
- Customer Experience
Loan Workflow Manager
- Loans & Lending
- Banking & Finance
- User Experience (UX)
- Commercial Banking
- Corporate Finance
- App UX
- Agile UX
- UX Leadership
- Interface Design
- User Interface (UI)
- UI Patterns
- UX Prototyping
- Loans
- Risk Management
- Credit Risk
- Prototyping
- Customer Journeys
- Interviews
- Interviewing
- UX
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- UX Strategy
- Ideation
- Web Applications
- Visual Storytelling
- Enterprise Design
Banking User Experience Platform
- Banking & Finance
- UX Leadership
- User Research
- Qualitative Research
- Quantitative User Research
- Prototyping
- Axure RP Pro
- Patterns
- Agile UX
- Scrum Master
- Inspiration
- Ideation
- Service Design
- Rich User Interfaces
- CSS
- Liferay
- Portal Design
- JavaScript Libraries
- Responsive
- Interface Design
- User Interface (UI)
- UI Patterns
- UX Prototyping
- UX Pattern Design
- Design Patterns
- Customer Journeys
- Design Thinking
- UX
- Ideation Workshops
- Field Studies
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- UX Research
- UX Strategy
- Web Applications
- Customer Experience
- Visual Storytelling
- Enterprise Design
Ogopo.go
- Startups
- Mobile
- Axure RP Pro
- Events
- Nightlife
- User Experience (UX)
- Design
- Adobe CC
- App UI
- App UX
- Business Ideas
- Interviews
- UX Research
- Illustrator CC
- Photoshop CC
- Android App Design
- Apps
- Prototyping
- Focus Groups
- Design Research
- Research
- Lean Startups
- Interface Design
- User Interface (UI)
- UX Prototyping
- Mobile Mockups
- High-fidelity Mockups
- Design Thinking
- UX
- Ideation Workshops
- Field Studies
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- UI Design
- UX Strategy
- Ideation

Employment

Client Design Services and Strategy Lead | Design Director
2018 - 2022
Toptal LLC
- Grew design and customer experience services for Toptal to meet the needs of its clients with the top 3% of designers across the globe to accomplish the amazing.
- Worked with enterprises, SMBs, and startups across the globe to bring them the world's top design thinkers; innovators; UX researchers; and UX, UI, interaction, visual, and communications designers.
- Collaborated with revenue teams to grow accounts, which included creating design capability presentations and RFPs.
- Mentored talent and product teams on design best practices and processes.
- Consulted on internal initiatives to increase Toptal core services and revenue and improve its software.
Technologies: Salesforce, G Suite, Slideshows, Management Consulting, Best Practices in Design, Leadership, Product Consultant, Consulting, UX Mentoring, Mentorship & Coaching, User Experience (UX), Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, User-centered Design (UCD), Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, Customer Experience, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, AR Interfaces, Usability Testing Expert, PowerPoint Design
Founder | Director
2015 - 2019
perBodhi Experience Design
- Founded a consultancy that delivered design, development, and marketing of digital services that leveraged HCI, research, design best practices and methodologies, and UX and UI to build value and reward for end users and businesses.
- Led the digital strategy for a retail store, designing, building, and leveraging analytics. Increased the eCommerce presence, engagements, and in-store visits by over 500%.
- Supplied full-lifecycle design practices to improve the customer experience across multiple clients. Conducted design thinking workshops leading to additional funding and innovative solutions, including qualitative user research, UX, and UI design.
- Designed, set up, and developed a WordPress site with eCommerce, CRM, and analytics integrations that enabled others to administer and update the site with ease.
- Identified and built analytics to grow businesses, increasing SEO and social media impact and achieving the top Google Search and Facebook rankings in the local community.
- Worked with startups to evolve their business model canvas through workshops, mentoring, UX research, UX design, and UI design, including creating MVPs and prototypes.
- Consulted on developing startup business models through audience research and rapid prototyping, including consulting with Ogopo.go to create a mobile app bringing offers and services from local lifestyle businesses to young people.
- Mentored and consulted with entrepreneurs, startups, and students in design thinking, UX, and UI design. This included leading an IoT community working group and running courses in prototyping and business model execution and processes.
- Led the online and offline coordination, creative direction, brand, and marketing for a 20,000-capacity festival, delivering web, mobile, and print assets while managing the build-up and event on the day.
Technologies: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Analytics, WordPress, Axure, Photography, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, UX Prototyping, Mockups, Mobile Mockups, High-fidelity Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), Agile UX, WordPress Design, User Journey Maps, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, User Experience (UX), Lean UX, Web Applications, Visual Storytelling, Enterprise Design, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, IA Strategy, Usability Testing Expert, Internet of Things (IoT), WordPress Themes, PowerPoint Design
UI Designer
2018 - 2018
TBTTS, Inc.
- Designed and prototyped the world's first blockchain ecosystem for fully compliant issuance, trading, clearing, and settling of tokenized securities, using Axure.
- Led and guided the design through paper concepts, rapid prototyping, and higher-fidelity concepts to convey the information architecture, visual design, and interaction.
- Project managed and collaborated remotely across time zones with the client and stakeholders to realize the vision for the system.
- Leveraged Axure; online collaboration; and Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat to convey various stages of the deliverables and final concepts.
Technologies: Microsoft Excel, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Axure, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Web App Design, Mockups, SaaS Design, UX, User-centered Design (UCD), Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, User Experience (UX), Web Applications, Visual Storytelling, Usability Testing Expert, Web App UI
Principal User Experience Consultant
2013 - 2014
Tobias & Tobias Consultancy
- Took responsibility for leading simultaneous projects while working closely with clients, stakeholders, and developers (often global) from the pitch to inception and execution.
- Facilitated a client’s product visions by researching, conceiving, wireframing, sketching, prototyping, and mocking up user experiences for digital products.
- Served as a subject matter expert and evangelist in meeting business, customer, and user needs.
- Collaborated and actively participated with multidisciplinary teams to deliver successful outcomes within tight deadlines.
- Led and worked hands-on to deliver desktop and mobile solutions for Deutsche Bank Autobahn, Fidelity UK Investments' investment app, and First Western Trains.
Technologies: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Axure, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Mindjet, Mind Mapping, OmniGraffle, SaaS, SaaS Design, UX Design, UX Research, Responsive UX Design, Presentations, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, Field Studies, User-centered Design (UCD), Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, User Experience (UX), Lean UX, Web Applications, Visual Storytelling, Enterprise Design, Payment Gateways, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, IA Strategy, Software Interfaces, Usability Testing Expert, Banking UI Designer, PowerPoint Design, Web App UX, Web App UI
Senior Architect: User Experience
2008 - 2012
Finastra
- Led and worked hands-on with the global UX team to deliver usable, functional, and intuitive software applications of high complexity for the banking, treasury, trading, risk, and healthcare industries across desktop, web, mobile, and cloud.
- Led the design program for a white-label experience banking platform for Misys that consolidated legacy financial technologies into a new flexible, unified, and highly configurable experience platform.
- Designed the UI and interaction patterns for a cloud-based carbon emission certificate trading and compliance SaaS-based platform.
- Consulted on and assisted in designing an electronic health record (EHR) for Allscripts, working with the US design team to conduct qualitative research and create journey maps and design concepts.
- Program managed projects, including obtaining funding, conducting strategic requirements gathering, program planning, business case development, stakeholder engagement and leadership, vendor selection, definition management, and design management.
- Followed an iterative design process, progressively creating detailed designs and higher-fidelity prototypes through sketches, wireframes, and prototypes to refine the best design solutions.
- Led and mentored interdisciplinary, distributed teams with members in London, India, Manila, and the United States. Worked directly with clients, end-users, managers, and senior stakeholders for a worldwide distributed user population.
- Reduced operational costs and improved usability and brand value through a common user interface, interaction patterns, training, standards creation, implementations, and governance.
Technologies: Agile, Wikis, Portals, CSS, HTML, Liferay, Visio, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Axure, UX Design, UI Design, Mobile, Mobile UX, Mobile UI, Apple Watch, Enterprise SaaS, Mobile Banking, Online Banking, Islamic Banking, Consumer Banking, Digital Banking, Private Banking, Healthcare Management Systems, Healthcare IT, EHR, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Web App Design, Mockups, Mobile Mockups, High-fidelity Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), Agile UX, SaaS Design, User Journey Maps, Portal Design, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, Field Studies, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UX Strategy, Ideation, Lean UX, Web Applications, Customer Experience, Visual Storytelling, Enterprise Design, Payment Gateways, PowerPoint Templates, IA Strategy, Software Interfaces, Diary Studies, Usability Testing Expert, Banking UI Designer, Internet of Things (IoT), WordPress Themes, PowerPoint Design, Web App UX, Web App UI, Health IT
Head of Information Architecture and User Experience
2006 - 2008
Euromonitor International
- Increased business revenue streams, reduced operating costs, and improved brand awareness through research and user-centric redesign of Euromonitor's market research, business intelligence reports, and data on industry products.
- Developed business cases, elicited business, and did a usability analysis to determine the acquisition and implementation of a SaaS architecture.
- Translated ideas and prototypes into production-ready designs while understanding the high-level constraints of the user, technology, business, and brand.
- Rolled out new web products and features within this environment, improving the overall architecture, usability, and design for users while also improving internal processes, increasing productivity, and reducing overhead.
- Delivered collaboration, personalization, publishing, search, knowledge management, and other web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies to clients and businesses.
- Led workshops and conducted usability research to identify and document requirements.
- Spearheaded the development of Passport, which became Euromonitor's flagship product and won numerous awards in its market for content and usability.
Technologies: Portals, CSS, HTML, Microsoft PowerPoint, Axure, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Market Research & Analysis, Business Intelligence (BI), Consumer Insights, UX Research, UX Design, UI Design, Mobile, Web, Big Data, Data, Complex Web Systems, BI Reports, Reports, Infographics, Presentations, Vendor Selection, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Web App Design, Mockups, High-fidelity Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), SaaS Design, User Journey Maps, Portal Design, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, Field Studies, User-centered Design (UCD), Prototyping, UX Strategy, Ideation, Web Applications, Customer Experience, Visual Storytelling, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, IA Strategy, Diary Studies, Usability Testing Expert, PowerPoint Design, Web App UX, Web App UI
Head of Information Architecture
2003 - 2005
Centrica
- Reduced operational costs and improved work practices and knowledge sharing to all group employees across the corporate center, British Gas, Centrica Energy, Direct Energy (USA), Automobile Association, One.Tel, and Dyno.
- Led the information architecture and taxonomy in designing, developing, and implementing the global intranet and extranet across various mediums and technological platforms, including desktops, laptops, mobile, and navigational systems.
- Improved knowledge-based sharing through improvements in the overall search and findability of information.
- Ensured that the intranet and related products complied with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) for accessibility through forums, documentation, and user testing.
Technologies: Plumtree, Portals, Pencil & Paper, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Visio, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Web App Design, Mockups, Mobile Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), Agile UX, SaaS Design, WordPress Design, User Journey Maps, Portal Design, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UX Strategy, Ideation, Web Applications, Visual Storytelling, Enterprise Design, PowerPoint Templates, Software Interfaces, Usability Testing Expert, Internet of Things (IoT), PowerPoint Design, Web App UX, Web App UI
Lead Information Architect
2001 - 2003
Object One (Now Digitas)
- Worked on RFPs, met with clients and end users to gather requirements, and led research and UX activities for a range of clients, primarily within government services.
- Conducted end-user interviews at the start and end of delivering client solutions.
- Delivered task flows, information architecture, sitemaps, wireframes, user interface designs, and requirements for one of the UK’s best-regarded internet agencies.
- Pitched, won, and delivered information architecture and user experience design for the award-winning Stockton Borough Government Council site serving 180,000+ people and many personas.
- Delivered the UK government education standards website and the UK government drugs intranet.
Technologies: CSS, HTML, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), User Journey Maps, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, Field Studies, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UX Strategy, Ideation, Visual Storytelling, PowerPoint Templates, PowerPoint Design
Head of Design
1999 - 2001
LineOne (Now TalkTalk)
- Reported to the CEO while providing creative direction in visual and interaction design and managing resource allocation, hiring, budgets, and schedules.
- Increased click-through rates and commercial value through the redesigned LineOne and Tiscali websites.
- Designed the mobile presence and template-driven sign-up CD products.
Technologies: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Visio, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Mockups, Mobile Mockups, High-fidelity Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, Visual Storytelling, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, Usability Testing Expert, PowerPoint Design
Senior Designer and Web Master
1996 - 1999
Multiactive Software (Now Maximizer, Inc.)
- Joined the company to lead the design team right after completing my Vancouver Film School Multimedia Diploma. Delivered UX and UI designs for Concord Pacific and Dunn & Bradstreet.
- Led the design of the UX and UI of Canada's first MLS realty website with a team of designers.
- Led the architecture, user testing, interface design, prototyping, and XML/HTML coding of templates for the CRM and eCommerce software for web and desktop.
- Delivered the COMDEX award-winning ecBuilder while recruiting and managing a team of five designers.
- Designed a user- and action-based navigation system to funnel users based on their choices within a website that integrated with Maximizer CRM and ecBuilder eCommerce website builder.
Technologies: Visio, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe FreeHand, Adobe Photoshop, Interface Design, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), UX Prototyping, UI Patterns, Web App Design, Mockups, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), SaaS Design, User Journey Maps, Portal Design, Design Thinking, UX, Ideation Workshops, User-centered Design (UCD), UX Research, Prototyping, UI Design, UX Strategy, Ideation, Web Applications, Visual Storytelling, Enterprise Design, Payment Gateways, Digital Strategy, PowerPoint Templates, Software Interfaces, Diary Studies, Usability Testing Expert, PowerPoint Design

Education

Diploma in New Media
1996 - 1997
Vancouver Film School - Vancouver, Canada
Diploma in Retail Management
1993 - 1996
Sainsbury's PLC - London, England
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Product Design
1989 - 1992
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communications - London, England

Experience

Product Design20 years
Design Thinking20 years
Interface Design20 years
Prototyping20 years
UX Research20 years
Discovery20 years
UX Design18 years
UX Strategy16 years

Location

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Designer in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Portfolio

Employment

Client Design Services and Strategy Lead | Design Director

Founder | Director

UI Designer

Principal User Experience Consultant

Senior Architect: User Experience

Head of Information Architecture and User Experience

Head of Information Architecture

Lead Information Architect

Head of Design

Senior Designer and Web Master

Education

Experience

Location