Elvera Strydom

Elvera Strydom User Experience Designer About me Since 2005 I've been involved in everything from market research, marketing & communications, event and project management to UX design and product management. In March 2015, with my love of the digital space blooming, I left my office chair and became a digital nomad. Since the start of this new journey (that included my career change from marketing & communications to UX design in 2017), I have worked on various freelance and contract-based projects with teams located in 14 different countries. Team members included remote project and product managers, content and copywriters, graphic and UX/UI designers as well as web and mobile app developers. Working together on different projects resulted in the successful conception, development and release of numerous campaigns and products around the world. Today I simply adore UX. My passion for it lies in understanding and filling the gaps of the 'bigger picture', asking the why and answering the how; being challenged to find and create solutions that are focused on optimizing the user’s experience of products - with design tailored to integrate both user and product needs. The goal is to create designs that make users happy! I believe success is achieved by implementing creative problem solving and solutions via the use of each team member’s strengths and abilities. It’s about collaboration, team spirit and great teamwork. In the end it comes down to planning, support, being goal oriented, hard work, having fun and celebrating a great end result together. View my LinkedIn profile if you want more information on my work experience and credentials. Skills & expertise Project Management User Experience Design (Mobile and Web) Marketing & Communications Product Management UX skills & experience ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Competitive research Design management Design verification and validation Information architecture Product planning Product research Usability testing User flows User journeys User stories User surveys UX assessment UX design planning UX strategy Wireframing Software tools ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Basecamp Figma GitLab Google Analytics Instapage JIRA MailChimp MindMup Miro MockFlow Moqups Salesforce Shopify SurveyMonkey WordPress Zeplin Zoho CRM Plus Portfolio samples MAD-learn Form Builder Roles played UX Designer and Product Owner Project dates February - April 2018 Platform Mobile / Tablet Overview Design and development of a form builder tool that is integrated into the MAD-learn K-12 student app creation platform. Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Competitive research Design management Design verification and validation Product management Product planning Product research QA testing Stakeholder and client interaction Usability testing User flows User journeys User stories User surveys UX design planning Wireframing Form Builder wireframe UI design & information Created wireframes that show the general layout and needs - discussed with the UI designer to proceed with finalizing the designs. Presented the UI designs to all stakeholders for discussion and approval. Components and properties Product UAT feedback Documented all components, their properties and relevant wireframes - to provide dev with the information and visuals they need to proceed. User acceptance testing done following every product build received from dev - to ensure all features work on an optimal level as planned. Follow Training mobile app & MC Role played UX Designer Project dates October - November 2018 Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Stakeholder and client interaction User flows User journeys Usability testing User stories UX assessment UX design planning Wireframing Design focus Platform Web, Mobile, Tablet Overview Redesign of the mobile app and management console (MC). This B2B training tool is focused on companies providing their employees with the opportunity to learn a variety of relevant industry related skills from a community of academic experts, trainers and coaches. ● ● Mobile app users, both learners and trainers, revealed that they are confused with the mobile app’s layout and functioning, what they needed to do when and where. Trainers indicated that the use of the MC is not user friendly, that its flow and functions are not working well. That the creation of their training content was not easy and therefore took too long. App - proposed changes App - issues & solutions Screenshots of current app screens with proposed changes of features that will optimize the user journey - internal team discussions. Visual documentation of app UX issues together with suggested solutions - shared with stakeholders for review and approval. MC dashboard wireframe MC journey wireframe Wireframe for updating the management console’s dashboard screen. Wireframe for updating the management console’s Journey Management feature. YourEvent platform Roles played UX Designer and Product Manager Project dates October 2018 - February 2019 Platform Web Overview Design and development of a new B2B event creation and management SaaS platform. Includes the creation of collaborative event workspaces, contact lists, emails, as well as a webpage with form builder feature. Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Competitive research Design management Design verification and validation Information architecture Product management Product planning Product research QA testing Stakeholder and client interaction Usability testing User flows User journeys User stories User surveys UX design planning UX strategy Wireframing Technical analysis - flow User access planning Technical analysis of the platform - visualized in the flow from the back office and user MC to the front end (as seen by the public) Visual of how users can access different sections and features of the app - internal team discussions. Workspace wireframe Event wireframe Wireframe of the workspace screen. Wireframe of the event screen with the event edit features. Email creation wireframe Webpage builder planning Wireframe of the email creation content screen, showing needed features. Wireframe showing needed features on the event webpage screen. Project SOD Project planning and tracking Standard Operating Document shared with admin, UI designer and DevOps - product summary and links to all relevant files. Spreadsheet including relevant app sections, user stories, assignees, JIRA task codes and status, priority level, task titles and descriptions. Your Fair Spring Roles Played UX Designer and Product Manager Project Dates February - April 2019 Platform Web, Mobile Overview Mobile app (view products and order placements) redesign and development as well as the design and development of an exhibitor MC for a French multinational retail company’s B2B spring fair. The event provided Belgian store owners and exhibitors the opportunity to interact on a transaction level. Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Competitive research Design management Design verification and validation Product management Product planning QA testing Stakeholder and client interaction Usability testing User flows User journeys User stories User surveys UX assessment UX design planning Wireframing Design focus A. Create an Exhibitor MC - product listings and order tracking. App catalog access rules Visualised information of app catalog access rules (as agreed upon by stakeholders) prior to creating relevant wireframes. B. The existing mobile app was designed for a fair in Italy and had to be updated for Belgium. Mobile app issues that required attention included: ● General app navigation upgrade. ● Language selection on the new app included English, French and Dutch. Languages differ in text character count and had to be addressed in the layout. ● Registration via Store ID and not name / email. ● Allow users to register multiple stores and store types. ● Products to be listed and not placed as cards. ● Allow users to view list of products, specific product information and add products to cart prior to the fair. ● Belgium app to show product information and pricing. (Italy app showed packages, consisting of multiple products, with no relevant information and pricing. ● Search function to include search-automation. ● Add product to cart via scanning the product QR Code ● Order validation via scanning the exhibitor’s QR code. ● Order list view filter - the user can view all orders placed at a specific exhibitor. ● Order confirmation email upgrade. App features & challenges Product to cart on paper Documented needed app features and noting relevant challenges - shared with the team to discuss and brainstorm solutions. Quick paper prototype created during an internal team discussion on app features needed when the user is on the product and cart screens. App changes - IT to BE Updated app wireframes Wireframes created following an assessment of the old Italy app screens and creation of the new Belgium user flow. Home screen wireframes for the updated Belgium app - used for internal team discussions of what will work best. YourEvent Surveys Role played UX Designer Dates of project May 2019 Platform Web Overview Design of a survey creation and management tool integrated into the YourEvent platform. Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Competitive research Design management Product research User flows User journeys User stories UX design planning Wireframing Survey creation user flow Survey data view planning User flow created following a brief by stakeholders - prior to creating survey wireframes relevant to the flow. Competitive research done on survey data views - compiling screenshots and notes of what views will work best for YourEvent Surveys. Basic survey view wireframe Development tasks planning Survey view wireframe that includes the specific needs as communicated by a client. Spreadsheet including relevant survey sections, Figma page names, user stories, definition when done and issue numbers for dev on GitLab. Your Fair Autumn Roles Played UX Designer Lead and Product Manager Dates of project May - September 2019 Platform Web, Mobile Overview Mobile app, admin and exhibitor MC design updates and development. These tools were used at a French multinational retail company’s autumn B2B fairs. The three individual fairs (held in Poland, Italy and Belgium) provided store owners and exhibitors the opportunity to interact on a transaction level. Activities performed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Design management Design verification and validation Product management Product planning Product research QA testing Stakeholder and client interaction Usability testing User flows User journeys User stories User surveys UX design planning Wireframing Design focus A. Exhibitor MC issues that required attention included: ● The exhibitor MC used at the spring fair required a redesign that allowed exhibitors from three different countries to view their specific dashboards, product and/or packages and order information (reports). ● The spring fair exhibitor MC included a dashboard, reports and products section. Feedback from the spring fair exhibitors noted that the redesign required the inclusion of search and filter functions on the reports ad products sections, an exhibitor team management section, access to exhibitor-specific agenda and map information as well as a contact us option. ● It also had to be updated to select country specific languages; whereby the exhibitor is able to view all information on the MC in English or their selected country’s native tongue (Polish, Italian, Dutch or French). Updated exhibitor MC Implementation of UX and UI design revealed an updated exhibitor MC with a new look and feel and added features to develop. Design focus B. The admin MC used at the spring fair was created by one of the developers. It did provide some of the basic needs but was not user friendly. At the autumn fair, Admin MC issues that required attention included: ● Admin users required access to, and management of, three individual countries’ information on the same platform. ● Taking into account that the admin MC had to be easy to use by administrators in three different countries it needed a redesign in terms of layout, features, functioning and speed. ● Amongst others, it required specific attention to app user information, packages and/or products, warehouses, pricing, orders, news, agendas, maps, exhibitor MCs, information search, create, edit, delete, upload and import functions as well as various data export and print options. Updated admin MC Implementation of UX and UI design revealed an updated admin MC with a new look and feel and added features to develop. Issues: MC dev Managing DevOps action Issues included extended information and visuals - to ensure that management console dev have a full understanding of what they need to do. Use of the kanban board to track and manage product development - issues with relevant information, assigned devs, labels and deadlines. Design focus New order validation flow Planning the new order validation flow prior to wireframe creation - showing how a user will move from one screen to the next. C. Mobile app issues that required attention included: ● Update to meet the individual user needs of Belgium, Poland and Italy. ● App to be available in five different languages (English, French, Dutch, Polish and Italian). ● Languages differ in the amount of text characters, impacting on the spacing of the app’s layout. ● App registration updated to allow users from the three countries access to their county’s fair products/packages. ● Countries had different store types (with different names), allowed to view different products, place orders. ● Each country had their own requirements on product and pricing information shown to their relevant store types. ● Italy required both packages and singular products shown as orderable items. ● Include a new product option known as a Display, with the option to open and close an extended description. ● Simplify the order validation process. ● Provide users multiple validation point options - use of different validation QR codes. ● Information shown on the order confirmation email differs from county to country. Mobile app architecture App text translations for dev Establishing the basic architecture of the app, divided into its different layers. Spreadsheet shared with Poland, Italy and Belgium - specific app sections with UI design and relevant text needed to be translated. Mobile dev issues planning Sharing UI design with dev Documented all issues prior to adding them to GitLab - topic, issue links, title, description and relevant admin notes / comments. All final UI designs imported from Figma to Zeplin and shared with dev so that they have access to all necessary UI design information. Issues: mobile app dev Updated build and QA Test Issues included extended information and visuals - to ensure that mobile dev have a full understanding of what they need to do. QA testing done on updated staging builds (android and iOS) - corrections made before updated production builds are sent to stores. UX Designer and Product Manager MWY, Remote October 2018 - October 2019 Career highlights UX Designer and Product Owner MAD-learn, Remote February 2018 - May 2018 UX Design Intern MAD-learn, Remote September 2017 - October 2018