With over 15 years’ experience I have a diverse range of skills and a track
record of success in design which is demonstrated in my online portfolio.
I bring a technical perspective and creative problem solving approach to
design products and experiences people love to use. Which makes me a
perfect fit for highly data driven applications. With a background in user
experience research, product design, brand design, team management and
a degree in Multimedia, I am competent in all aspects of the design process.
Studies (distinction)
Central Queensland University,
Australia July 2005 – May 2008
National Senior Certificate in Art
Cape College, South Africa
Training
User Experience (UX): Ultimate Guide to Usability and UX
David Travis
Responsive Web Design
World Wide Web Consortium
Development Campus
Comprehensive Web Design
Using Macromedia Flash MX
City Varsity, South Africa
Comprehensive Web Authoring
Hirt & Carter, South Africa
Desktop Publishing Design
Hirt & Carter, South Africa
Achievements
Golden Key International
Society
Top 15% academic achievement at
Central Queensland University.
Languages
English Afrikaans
Career history
Preservica, Lead UX/UI Designer (consultant)
Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | September 2019 – Current
Successfully built the first design function and UX pattern. Demonstrating ability to establish and drive design initiatives.
Successfully signed up 1400 users during the initial launch and surpassed my target which is a testament to the effectiveness of my design approach and the value my strategic thinking and entrepreneurial mindset brought to the project.
My user research and exploring possibilities of API integration without making fundamental changes to the core code highlights my thoroughness in understanding user needs and leveraging existing infrastructure to enhance the user experience.
Supported the ongoing user experience for the legacy application which demonstrates my ability to balance maintaining existing systems while driving innovation and improvements.
Led on building and shaping the design team which highlights my leadership and expertise in fostering a talented and effective design team. My contributions have had a significant and lasting impact on the success of the platform and the company as a whole.
First launch won additional funding from investors which is a strong
validation of my design work and its potential impact on the company's
growth and future success. This showcases my ability to articulate the
value of design initiatives to stakeholders and secure resources for
further research and development.
AgSpace, Lead UX/UI Designer (consultant)
Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | November 2018 – July 2019
Led UX for all user interfaces. Took charge of the UX design for all the user interfaces within AgSpace.
Involved in overseeing the UX direction for multiple teams in a Scrum of Scrums Agile process. Played a crucial role in aligning the UX efforts ensuring consistency and coherence in the overall user experience.
Responsible for designing a new administration tool, which served as a central hub that handles tasks such as content management, user access control, and satellite image editing.
Redesigned the cropping and planning section of the platform, resulting in a significant increase in website traffic by 72%.
Created a design style guide. This guide helped maintain a cohesive and professional look and feel throughout the user interfaces.
Zift Solutions (formerly Relayware), Lead UX/UI Designer
Oxford, United Kingdom | May 2014 – November 2018
Successfully merged the UX and UI of two SaaS applications with over
160 features when Zift Solutions merged with Relayware.
Led the UX/UI team across 3 different time zones.
Award: Forrester Wave for “Leaders in Partner Relationship Management”.
Built brand guidelines and design tokens to ensure cohesive design
across the platform. I maintained the UX standards across a team of 40
developers globally in Scrum of Scums Agile process.
Led all user requirements gathering and implementations of custom
templates for companies like Canon and Kaspersky.
Sthree Plc, Lead UX/UI Designer
London, United Kingdom | May 2011 - April 2014
UX design lead for the Bespoke CMS systems which charges 15+ apps in 8 languages. Enhanced their user experience and increased conversion rates. Within a highly data-driven app I empowered usability, studied analytics and accessibility. Our products are used by multiple brands with a reach of 7000 clients globally. Awards: MVP for best communication, most dedicated and willing to go the extra mile. .
DNX Marketing, Graphic Designer (consultant)
Surrey, United Kingdom | October 2010 - April 2011
In this award-winning agency, I had the opportunity to work with some
exciting clients including SAP, Cisco, DKNY and Vodafone. My first project
involved creating the Cisco Olympics 2012 design pitch, which won DNX
Marketing the contract
Varistic, Project Manager, Graphic and Web Designer
Surrey, United Kingdom | October 2010 - April 2011
Berkeley Group, Web Designer/Developer (consultant)
Central Queensland University, Freelance Web Designer
Queensland, Australia | November 2005 - January 2006
Inxcom (Design Agency), Designer & Web Developer
Cape Town, South Africa | Mar 2003 - May 2005
Tractor Productions (Design Agency), Designer & Web Developer
Cape Town, South Africa | October 2001 - March 2003
Web Media (Design Agency), Design [digital & print]
Cape Town, South Africa | December 2000 - October 2001
Testimonials
"I worked with Sandra on several UX products across our whole product range. She was quick to pick up our rather unusual world and contributed excellent designs that were attractive and practical. She was a good team player and worked with designers, developers and testers in a productive manner. By the end of her assignment our product range was totally transformed."
3 July 2023, John Tilbury, Founder and Head of Innovation at Preservica
"Sandra is a senior UX and UI professional with a great sense of pride and ownership of her work. Focused on user experience and product value, she is very capable of translating user requirements into outstanding user experiences. As an advocate for the user, Sandra excels through her empathy, her ability to listen and brainstorm, and her openness to new ideas. Sandra is an experienced professional, who delivers prototypes and designs quickly, and she is happy to pivot when requirements change. Even if she is very busy Sandra will go at great length to help out with whatever is required, and I can recommend Sandra as a team player, and a warm and supportive colleague."
2 December 2022, Michaela Heigl, MPhil, PhD - former Product Owner at Preservica
"Sandra is a very talented and professional Product Designer who is able to take an idea from initial concept through to delivery. Sandra managed to bring new life and usability to a very technically focus product and engaged directly with the end users to delivery the best UX experience possible. Sandra also worked very closely with Engineering and Product to ensure both parts of the organisation could better work together to deliver in a very short timeframe. I would gladly recommend Sandra to any organisation."
2 March, 2021, Darren Benson - former Director of Engineering at Preservica
Sandra is one of life's doers. From the moment she joined the company her professionalism and a needle-like focus on improving the UI/UX of our SaaS and app products was plain to see and didn't diminish over time. This focus meant products had a consistent look and feel across the range.
She's a self-starter that you can give a piece of work to and trust she'll come back with designs that will demystify even the most difficult concepts. Her knowledge and self-learning mean designs are always up with the latest ways of thinking. It meant she didn't just have the skills to design but also code, present, carry out user testing, and write user stories to name but a few
She works well both individually and in a team. Sandra is the full package and as such is a great asset to any company that is lucky enough to have her
6 July, 2020, Rob Russel - former Chief Product Owner at AgSpace
Led the UX of all AgSpace’s user interfaces. Managed UX direction across
teams in a Scrum of Scrums Agile process. I designed the new
administration tool which manages content, user access and satellite image
editing across 3 platforms.
Creative direction for building a competitive channel marketing application
2014 - 2018
As the first designer at Zift I built a team of designers and front-end developers, designed the style guide & design system and crafted a standout site experience.
