Background
I was the first dedicated UX Designer hire by Igloo in early 2016. Up until that point, the company had relied on both product managers and developers with an eye for UX and visual design to influence the product as it was developed. The company had no defined process for how product design would function and support the efforts of its 3 internal sprint teams prior to me joining the company.
What I did
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Worked on establishing expectations and articulating what deliverables would be provided to development in advance of an upcoming sprint; this included the introduction of Zeplin as a tool to provide clear specifications for Front End Developers.
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Leveraged the company's own product to raise awareness of user experience. I Invited team members from across the organization to participate in synthesizing user research, review early design concepts, watch videos of recent usability tests, etc.
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Championed user experience across the organization and demonstrated the value of UX and user-centred product design to grow from a team of one (me) to a team of 3 within 14 months.
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Initiated the creation of a usability testing program with one of my fellow designers. The program encouraged employees from all levels of our customer base to join the pool of recruits that would be invited to participate in future usability tests of both prototypes and the product itself.
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Implemented Lean UX process to foster quick validation of hypotheses and also provide early insight to developers. The process included user research, ideation and design critique sessions within the design team, as well as an early preview of work with developers to discuss technical constraints and feasibility of designs prior to adoption in an upcoming sprint. The process also set clear expectations and deliverables at each stage for all stakeholders involved.
