Louise Sandiford
User Experience Designer and Researcher
Based in Brighton
Brands I have worked with - agency side
Case Studies
Reimagining a failing booking system
How do you take the cognitive load away from the user and put it back into the system?
Balancing an app which educates, engages and connects.
Enabling global citizens to randomly connect in a meaningful way?
Recommendations to improve user experience
How do we measure and reduce the cognitive load a system is placing on its users?
Ssh...
I can't tell. Under NDA.
As you would expect, some of my work is carried out under strict non-disclosure agreements and cannot be publicly shown.
Get in touch to arrange a meeting and I can talk you through it.
Testimonial
"Louise joined Bozboz during the final months of her Master's Degree in UX Design. She juggled both with professionalism and quickly became a valuable member of the team. Louise is highly organised and self-motivated in applying appropriate design and UX methodologies to solve clients' problems.
You can count on her client-handling skills as her natural empathy makes her a skilled persuader. Louise also demonstrates confidence when justifying decisions to stakeholders and thinks quickly on her feet. Her enthusiastic attitude and hunger to learn makes her a joy to work with."
Gabriela Mamon
Project Manager - Bozboz
About Me
Background
I am a socially intelligent designer with a passion for people and a (slightly concerning) addiction to problem-solving. I bring with me 15 years experience in graphic design and industrial product design teaching and have recently completed a Masters Degree in User Experience for which I received a class of Distinction.
Approach
My background in industrial product design means a user-centred mindset comes naturally to me - this approach to design thinking and problem solving was how I was formally trained and how I went on to train others in the discipline. Finding different ways to frame a problem and looking at it from an angle not so orthodox can generate a whole new realm of solutions. To me, this is the exciting part of user experience design; the shifting of the focus towards the question of how a problem is making people feel, is often the turning point when finding creative solutions.
Skill set
As well as deep design thinking I also offer you a watertight UX skill set; sniffer-dog research skills, in-depth journey mapping, interactive wireframing, creative and graphically-fundamental interactive prototyping and a confident, warm, open style of communicating when justifying design decisions to stakeholders. I take the time to fully understand the why’s and how’s of the stakeholders business objectives, making the justification of design decisions easier to communicate, and the balance with user needs more accurate and on-point.
Attitude
The journey of design is never a straight line - the more bumps in the road, the better the final outcome. I am comfortable, and have experience, working within an agile, iterative environment. With design decisions constantly being tested along the way, as a designer I expect plans to change; this just means I am doing my job properly.
Testimonial
"It was a pleasure working with Louise - she was a positive and happy person to have in the office and was always willing to get stuck in and offer input. The research, insights and ideas Louise presented for my clients were invaluable and prompted significant improvements in their online presence. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Louise - she would be a great asset to any creative team!"
Megan Hopkins
Senior Account Manager - Bozboz
Experience
June 2017 - Oct 2017
Bozboz Design Agency
Brighton
Oct 2016 - Oct 2017
UX Designer - Internship
Working in an agile environment on a variety of products which included e-commerce, complex websites and bespoke CMS. I worked closely with marketing teams and product managers to gather requirements, designed and ran workshops, wrote user stories and acceptance criteria, produced workflows and user journeys, designed wireframes and high fidelity prototypes all showcased and tested through Invision.
MSc User Experience Design
University of Brighton
Award - Distinction
This degree equipped me with the behavioural theory, design practice and technology know-how to move into the UX arena. It focussed on the analysis, design, prototyping and evaluation of multimedia, multi-modal, and multi-platform user interfaces that are intuitive to use and support a great user experience.
2007 - 2016
Freelance
Graphic Designer
Worked generally for clients which required a fast turnaround and high volume output whilst relying on my understanding of their business goals and interpreting many different briefs quickly and accurately. Various positions included digital design, advertisement design, layout design, 3D integration and identity and branding.
2001 - 2016
Shoreham Academy and
Worthing High School - W. Sussex.
British School Manila - Philippines.
Hartford High School - Cheshire.
Teacher of Design Technology
Taught graphic design, industrial design, and art & design through to A-level, focusing mainly on collaboration, problem-solving and user-centric design. Curated schemes of work which included essential materials and processing skills routed in computer-aided design and manufacturing. I also designed and delivered staff and student training and mentor programs for software implementation into the school curriculum. Results proved via improvement of all cohorts’ grades while employed at every school.
1999 - 2001
BA(Hons) Design Technology
Manchester Metropolitan University
Award - 2:2
A dual pathway degree which focussed heavily on industrial design, identifying and evaluating user needs and critiquing products from a human-centric perspective. Additionally, I had to design and conceptualise solutions for complex problems using various methods for stakeholders. The degree provided substantial training in the core areas of design including drawing, graphics and problem-solving as well as design teaching and cognition.
Testimonial
"Louise was an inspiring, conscientious and fun classmate. She approached every project creatively with a sharp focus on the user. She kept the project objectives and big picture in mind throughout, whilst ensuring the detailed delivery was polished to a high standard too.
Her extensive experience in industrial and graphic design gives her a unique perspective, which has helped her to develop into a well-rounded UX design professional. She is skilled in the visual aspects of design as well as the strategic approach that UX requires.
She is always an absolute pleasure to work with, willing to listen and work with other contributions as well as presenting her own ideas and she doesn't bring any troublesome ego to the table. She can be relied on to deliver high-quality work on time and with a smile.
I would have no hesitation recommending Louise for any company lucky enough to employ her."
Kate Rickard
UX Designer - Virgin Holidays