The goal: Take the current way of working and move it online to help search and reuse, and to reduce the time and money spent sourcing similar images. Flag copyright issues early. Improve oversight for managers.

I was the sole UX and UI, picking up Jira tickets and taking part in stand-ups for three teams and three sets of developers.

Research: This started with stakeholder workshops to define the pain points and goals, followed by online surveys and user interviews to test these assumptions with sketches and prototypes.

The current clearance process involved lots of spreadsheets. There were many acronyms, subtle differences in working across countries and teams reluctant to move away from spreadsheets. To mitigate this I consulted as many users as possible and got buy-in from designated super-users.

The wireframes were created in Sketch, shared as interactive prototypes with InVision. Test, assess, iterate. Once the wires were signed off I moved onto the final UI also in Sketch.

I arranged group sessions with the whole team to define the product in a single sentence, to get out of people’s heads what they thought we were building. This definitions were then reviewed and blended to make a single product tagline.

Site maps and journey mapping also helped to focus attention on where the user may be stuck and where we can help the task.

Challenge 1: The users are used to seeing lots of information simultaneously, if Blueprint shows less without clear advantages then the uptake would be low. The screens below show the panels which expand and collapse according to user choice. This was how I balanced space and consistency with dense, tight amounts of information. Here’s a link to the prototype

Challenge 2: Changes to the style guide - twice! Mid project this shifted to the Pearson pattern and later to Google's material UI. The use of symbols helped to ensure this wasn't too onerous a task. I also had to communicate this to other teams and keep a keen eye on the developers' output to ensure the new pattern was being used.

Challenge 3: Collaborated with teams in three different locations and timezones.

Outcomes:

The success of Blueprint led me to being asked to review and align the other five tools within the Pearson Authoring Framework. I briefed two UX designers in India and Hong Kong to help with the review. Presented the findings back to senior stakeholders and my proposals were approved.

I was also asked to be part of the interview process for new UX hires. Briefed and oversaw a full-time UX based in New York to ensure the tools were aligned and that a user could move from one tool to the next and have a consistent experience.

Stakeholder confidence in the design led to it influencing the look and feel across the whole authoring framework.

Positive engagement and uptake from vendors in India, US and UK.

Discovery: Upon joining the project I undertook a complete review of the site as it had become familiar with a wide user base over the 12 months from release.

As well as my own thorough assessment I did a series of interviews with the director to align business goals, and the two product owners for their general feedback and suggestions. I arranged user interviews (in person and google hangout) to learn from their perspective what was good and bad, this engagement encouraged an easy flow of feedback over the following months and enhanced the reputation of the product.

I was also keen to align the product with the other publishing tools being built and the maturing pattern library. This would help to ensure consistency as the user moves seamlessly from one part of the publishing process to another.

Design process: Wireframes in Sketch, shared as prototypes with InVision. Test, assess, iterate. Once these are signed off and aligned to the user requirements I moved onto the final UI also in Sketch.

Challenge 1: Managing dense amounts of information - users were keen to see as much information as possible while using relatively small desktop pcs. As a result, moving elements close to each other, while retaining the space for the page to be legible and work was a daily challenge.

Challenge 2: It was fiddly! The tool juggled multiple alignment and learning types, which were super obvious to the people work on it day to day, but for me it was often a challenge to understand the user requirement. I kept asking the questions until it was clear.

Challenge 3: Keeping the UI aligned with the other platforms.

Challenge 4: The tone of the platform, error messages especially were often robotic and only helpful to super-users. Changed these for a warmer and more informative, helpful text.

Outcomes:

Asked to mentor a UX designer based in New York on a related platform she was hired to work on.

Built a strong, informal, collaborative relationship with the stakesholders and team.

Managed the move from one pattern library to google material UI.

Discovery: Post it sessions with key stakeholders to identify the aim, the users, who’s responsible for what, identify challenges and answer as many unknowns as possible. Build a consensus around goals.

Led the user testing once we had some wireframes to test assumptions.

Challenge 1: Using Google’s Material Design for the first time.

Challenge 2: Stakeholder management - due to this being a high visibility project lots of people were keen to input and comments on the UX and UI. I mitigated this by presenting the work with reasons for the designs based on user needs and evidence, therefore heading off challenges based on personal preference. Looked to build trust and confidence in my work so team could focus on the bigger picture.

Outcome: The product is now in the hands of the in-house team and continues to be a core part of the Pearson’s digital expansion.

Discovery: Friday evening - discussed ways to map the data, how to make the games engaging and convey it’s noble benefits.

Process: As the only designer on the team with five developers I led the way on UI.

I created the game layout and elements such as the asteroids, spacecraft and background.

Challenge: Time - we had the weekend so it was a late night on Friday and then a full day on Saturday with few breaks. This was a competition so all participants pushed themselves hard.

Outcome: On the Sunday afternoon the teams presented the working games to the scientists and hackers. Ours won the ‘most likely to be commercially successful!’ The released app closely resembled the game we designed over just a single weekend.