Handan Richards

HANDAN RICHARDS User Experience Strategist- With extensive industry experience and a deep passion for creating exceptional user experiences, I bring a unique blend of creativity and strategic thinking to every project I undertake. My expertise in Design Thinking and User-Centered Design methodologies allows me to gain valuable insights into the pain points, interactions, and goals of both customers and employees. This knowledge enables me to develop highly efficient and user-friendly services, systems, interfaces, and processes that generate a positive return on investment for my clients. I have successfully navigated and collaborated within large-scale, complex organizations, leading significant UX initiatives that drive business transformation. My ability to prioritize product backlogs, create functional specifications, and document detailed designs has consistently resulted in solutions that meet both user needs and business objectives. CORE SKILLS ▪ User Research: Proficient in comprehensive user research methods including usability testing, interviews, surveys, and data analysis to uncover and address user needs effectively. ▪ UX/UI Design: Skilled in prototyping, user journey creation, process design, interaction design, information architecture, wireframing, rapid prototyping, and user persona development to optimize user experiences. ▪ Design Thinking: Utilizing a user-centered design approach to solve complex problems, involving ideation session facilitation, prototyping, and rigorous testing. ▪ Leadership: Adept at leading UX teams, setting clear objectives, and providing guidance and mentorship to team members to drive successful project outcomes. ▪ Communication: Effective in presenting and articulating design concepts and solutions to stakeholders, fostering strong collaboration both within internal teams and with external clients. ▪ Strategic Thinking: Skilled in aligning design solutions with business objectives, contributing to the overarching strategic direction and vision of the organization. ▪ Collaboration: Experienced in collaborating seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including product managers, developers, and visual designers, to develop solutions that effectively balance user needs with business requirements. - 1 EXPERIENCE Nestlé — Contact, Remote User Experience Strategist - Contact Nov 2023- May 2024 I was contracted to lead the redesign initiative for the SAP Fiori Recipe Optimization tool. When I undertook the project, the tool faced challenges in achieving widespread acceptance, falling short of our initial projections, and receiving less-than-ideal feedback from users. My primary focus throughout the project was conducting an exhaustive assessment of the prevailing user experience across various roles and categories within the community. Following this assessment, I recommended actionable items encompassing user interface improvements, workflow enhancements aligned with user expectations, identification, and rectification of performance shortfalls in the application, strategies for enhanced onboarding and training, as well as the introduction of new features and functionalities to address user needs where the solution fell short. Proposing a new redesign based on these recommendations, I validated this approach through rigorous testing and analysis, ensuring that the proposed changes were grounded in user feedback and data-driven insights. Furthermore, I delivered comprehensive design documentation to ensure developers implemented the designs and recommendations effectively. Ikea — Basel, Switzerland UX / UI Lead in Data & Technology, Core Business Supply May 2022 - July 2022 As the UX lead at IKEA, I held the responsibility of infusing UX expertise across multiple domains within IKEA Supply and throughout the company's business processes and applications. My role involved a diverse range of tasks aimed at integrating Design Thinking within Data and Technology initiatives. A key aspect of my role was leading workshops with automation and innovation teams, collaborating closely to refine innovation processes and develop comprehensive "howto" guides. These guides empowered teams to autonomously conduct ideation workshops, fostering a culture of innovation and creativity within the organization. Additionally, I spearheaded various UX activities, including gathering user experience stories, facilitating design workshops, and rapidly prototyping mobile and web applications across numerous projects. - 2 Nestlé — Vevey, Switzerland Senior User Experience Specialist, Product Manager Feb 2016 - April 2022 As a key member of Nestle's Master Data Solutions team, I led all UX activities for SAP Fiori PLM solutions catering to both process and discrete manufacturing. This involved conducting design thinking workshops to shape project ideation, prioritization, and scoping, as well as thorough end-user research to uncover adoption rates, usage patterns, and areas for improvement. I meticulously analyzed these insights to propose solutions aligning user needs with strategic business goals, bridging the gap between requirements and outcomes. Additionally, I served as both product manager and UX specialist, overseeing the design and development of Nestlé's SAP Fiori Declaration of Compliance (DoC) Module for Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, and packaging businesses Air New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand Senior User Experience Strategist – Team Lead August 2013– Dec 2015 As the UX team lead at Air New Zealand, I mentored a team of five UX designers, guiding them in crafting intuitive user experiences for our digital retail products. Collaborating closely with a cross-functional team of product managers, researchers, UI, and interaction designers, I played a pivotal role in steering the development of value-driven, experience-centric solutions to address complex challenges. My responsibilities encompassed orchestrating discovery and solution strategy workshops to shape vision, roadmaps, and high-level customer experiences. I provided oversight for the creation of user flows, wireframes, mock-ups, and prototypes, ensuring the delivery of designs optimized for diverse devices and interfaces. Upholding a usercentered design ethos, I prioritized rapid testing and iteration to refine and enhance our products continuously. Beyond project execution, I fostered a culture of innovation within the team, advocating for principled design practices, encouraging calculated risk-taking, and cultivating an environment where fresh ideas thrived. Leveraging design thinking methodologies, I identified and addressed design obstacles, consistently elevating user experiences through elegant solutions. Furthermore, I played a crucial role in shaping and governing "Unison," Air New Zealand's internal Design Systems, contributing to its development and ensuring alignment with our overarching design principles and standards. - - Career gap to start my family - 3 Andrew West Stockbroking, Sydney 2008 Senior User Experience Specialist (Contract) Fairfax Network, Sydney 2003 –2008 Information Architecture Team Lead IBM GSA, Sydney 1999 - 2003 Senior Information Architect – Asia Pacific Team Lead The Hiser Group, Sydney 1997 - 1999 Usability Engineer / User Interface Designer Commonwealth Bank, Sydney 1996 User Interface Designer (Contract) EDUCATION ▪ ▪ Bachelor of Industrial Design (hons), University of Technology, Sydney, 1996 Diploma In Industrial Engineering, TAFE, Sydney, 1992 PORTFOLIO Available on request - 4