My aptitude to learn your business goals while building design solution to ensure quality standards at every step. My passion is to think out of the box to create the most visceral solutions and paying minute attention to details of the design
Businesses and software are more complex than ever today but end users do not need to bother with such tedium systems.
This singular passion has driven me for the past 25 years as a User Experience (UX) Architect. Leveraging my strong knowledge of interaction design, information architecture, and usability, I try to analyze the needs of the user and the client and then strategize the best way to deliver an intuitive and fulfilling experience to the user while meeting the set performance goals. Through a combination of my skills including creativity, business knowledge, user experience design, art direction, visual design and team building I helped enhance accessibility of number of organizations such as Salesforce, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Blue Green Vacations, Kerzner International, Mednax, Florida Virtual School, Miami Children's Hospital,and many others.
To simplify user interfaces, I aggressively endeavor to reach out to potential end users for feedback and to thoroughly understand their perspective and the problems they are facing. I listen to them patiently with empathy for the user, even going as far as to enthusiastically collaborate with them on specific aspects, especially for the more unconventional yet natural design and process solutions.
I have inculcated problem analysis and internalization processes into my workflow with an aptitude for learning while building in best practices to ensure quality standards at every step. I like to work closely, and often hands-on, with my team and motivate them to solve their problems while paying minute attention to details of the design.
The aim is to create an environment where the team can feed off my passion to think out of the box for creating the most visceral interfaces for even the most unconventional products.
In short, I am the vehicle which helps companies align their business needs with the practical digital functionality desired by users. Under the hood, I work with business to understand their requirements, analyze user data, identify user needs, conceptualize design solutions, strategize implementation and collaborate with teams of business analysts, visual designers and developers. Thereafter, I help iterate and validate design with users to fine-tune the user experience solution to marry it harmoniously with business requirements.
During this entire process, I actively use my expertise, best practices and a thorough understanding of the product to act as the bridge between teams, departments, users and the various levels of leadership to present changes and preserve a coherent vision of the product across VPs, AVPs, Bas and designers.
Over the course of a typical project, companies can expect data on potential user profiles including demographics, preferences and navigation traits, journey and experience maps, mental models illustrated storyboards for interface trees, A/B tests, card sorting, user stories, screen mocks and process flow diagrams, low and high fidelity wire frames for desktops and mobiles (responsive), interaction design, information architecture and visual design.
My creative process starts with learning about the client and user needs through interviews. After collecting data about user needs and analyzing it against client needs, I conceptualize different potential solutions through an iterative thought process to turn abstract ideas in mental images with clear definition offering the best fit using card sorting and A/B testing.
Solutions do not fit tools, tools fit the solution. I am skilled in Axure, Morae, Sketch, InVision, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and more for use per need of the solution.
I often take some time out for my small, private studio where I take to painting new sections of my creative universe on canvas with oil paints.
People interacting with their surroundings is my favorite muse. Since my work feeds into this obsession, with every interview lending a deeper understanding of why some people make the choices they do, it ostensibly manifests itself on my canvases. I use a technique of multi-canvas composition where I create an emotional landscape with geometric shapes and lines to comment on modern society. Some of these windows to my universe have found their way into some gallery exhibits.
I currently working on several projects in the Salesforce search cloud. In the search cloud, I create design solutions to improve search experiences for admins and internal users.
I team up with PMs on selected projects for each release of the year. I collaborate with PMs during the discovery phase and identify business / user needs using surveys, round tables, data analytics, and Voc (using Salesforce idea exchange community Trailblazer)
I define the UX problems using different methods for example user journeys, flow diagrams, screen flows, user mental model, etc. I usually create google slides presentations defining the UX problems with the supporting reasons and facts. These presentations are helpful for each person involved in the process of solving and developing the solution.
After defining the UX problems, I go into the ideation and create multiple solutions. I use the Lean UX method where I create quick solutions using rough sketches to low fidelity wireframes without putting effort into details. I verify my ideas quickly in close collaboration with PMs, engineers, Salesforce design help (SLDS and accessibility slack channels) and customers (Volunteers to provide feedback)
I create high-fidelity wires in Figma of potential solutions using Salesforce design system (SLDS) and validate the design with SLDS and accessibility teams in office hours (office hours are internal 1:1 meeting with SLDS and accessibility experts to verify the design for any UI/UX concerns). I also get feedback from a group of customers and improve the design further, if required.
I create a detailed UX specification document and provide it to the engineering team. I stay connected with the engineers during the implementation phase to answer or resolve any UX issues during development.
At Interval International, I worked on several successful projects for different platforms including desktop, mobile web, responsive sites and even mobile apps which helped improve the user-centered design and grow the company’s revenue. My responsibilities included:
Conducting usability studies via interviews and listening to live customer calls while agents serviced users to determine the overall picture of user experience problems to existing and new time-sharing property products.
Collaborating and role-playing as user advocate in multi-disciplinary team meetings including business and marketing, business analysts, product managers, projects managers, and IT to conceptualize new products.
Brainstorming ideas and devise strategies for better UX solutions based on project needs.
Creating user personas, user stories and scenarios, card sorting, iterative design sketches, storyboards, user task flows, user mental models, concept models to completely understand the problem.
Creating information architecture and interaction design using low and high interactive wireframes for complex business applications by translating business goals, project specifications and product goals into simple user-centered designs with intuitive and inspiring UI experiences.
Usability testing of low and high fidelity wireframes using Morae software.
Creating and iterating solutions based on usability and A/B tests, and present them to users and multi-disciplinary teams to validate the solution and guide product decisions.
Evaluating and defining usability issues in existing applications and providing recommendations through updated UI designs and usability results to satisfy user goals and optimizing business performance.
Focusing on details while successfully juggling multiple assignments and competing priorities.
Project: Property management web application
Goal: Maximizing inventory use and property management through ease-of-use interactions to save time and money.
Re-designing the information architecture and interaction design of time-share property management web application for desktops.
Creating the information architecture and interaction design of separate, new application which is a limited version of the main property management system for use by application supervisors.
Metamorphosing complex functions into an intuitive user interface solutions based on user needs, allowing them to open multiple member contracts in a single window view so that they could perform different tasks with the contracts.
Brainstorming ideas with stakeholders to re-design the UX of the existing property management web application. Interviewing end users of the application and their supervisors to identify hard to use segments and bottlenecks in the application.
Observing users as they use the application and documenting findings on UX problems.
Creating presentations and videos to demonstrate major UX issues in the existing application as part of the successful project pitch.
Creating user personas, user stories, task flows, scenarios, low and high fidelity wires frames.
Usability testing of the redesigned user interface and iterated design according to usability to optimize user experience.
Working collaboratively alongside business analysts and developers to ensure a smooth and intuitive user experience.
Project: Responsive web billing application for physicians to view claims and billing statuses from their mobile devices
Goal: Improving patient care and revenue maximization through an optimal UI/UX to the entire billing workflow to increase product adoption.
Conducting interviews of physicians for detailed mapping of the existing manual medical billing process.
Creating storyboards illustrating how physicians can submit medical billing claims and service their patients.
Conducting card sorting along with brainstorming sessions with stakeholders to understand existing billing problems and finding desirable solutions.
Mapping processing in flow in diagrams to picture existing task flows to optimize processes based on user journey history in the proposed solution.
Creating simple information architectures for what was originally a messy and complicated system and custom crafted it to make interactions easy for users of the complex software.
Creating multiple low and high fidelity wireframes and iterated them to come up with a simple, intuitive, flexible and engaging design based on user needs.
Creating and providing UX documentation including user profiles, user journey maps, illustrated storyboards, process screens and process flow diagrams.
Working with visual designers to transfer the UX approach to the visual design.
Reviewing UI during and after front-end development of the application to make sure the UX design visualization are accurately translated into the program during the application's development.
Project: Student K-12 admission and registration web application
Goal: Creating an intuitive user interface which provides an application which allows students to complete enrollment and registration tasks easily and painlessly.
Researching how teenagers use computers and understanding the interface expectations of a generation which grew up with computers, mobiles and the internet.
Participating in interviews of K-12 students to learn exactly how students register and enroll in online courses.
Creating profiles for different types of users including parents, guidance counselors, and students.
Brainstorming and sketching ideas with BAs and other stakeholders to determine user goals and desired features within the application.
Creating flow diagrams and information structure based on user experience at each stage of the development process.
Creating quick mockups for stakeholder groups for on-the-go critiques and revisions.
Creating different interface options for testing in student focus groups to select best approach.
Reviewing UI during and after front-end development of the application to make sure the UX design visualization is transferred during application development.
Project: Designing user interface for a web application-based reservation system for Atlantis, Cove and One & Only Resorts and Atlantis: The Palm Jumeirah Dubai.
Goal: Redesigning reservation system without using Adobe Flash so that the user experience is fast and seamless to let users make reservations in just a few clicks..
Analyzing the existing application’s UX for improvements and UI for pitfalls and major problems which were then presented to the stakeholders.
Serving as a bridge between the technical and marketing teams to fulfill their UI requirements and limitations without compromising on user needs.
Creating different information architectures for the reservation application which was then tailored to the websites of the resorts.
Simplifying the user interface for a site where the booking engine and website work seamlessly to drive direct bookings and increasing profit for the company.
Introducing the contemporary approach of map interaction allowing guests to find resorts based on the activities they like, room types, pricing, availability and special offers – an immensely popular and successful feature among users visiting the websites.
Creating multiple iterations of low and high fidelity wireframes to trace the best UX approach to replace existing flash-based websites with an innovative and interactive design for complex information.
As a client-facing Practice Lead for the User Experience team, I worked on complex enterprise-wide projects for various clients. Along with leading the UX design team, I also pursued UX business development opportunities at both new and existing clients.
In project proposals, I advocated UX perspective by outlining project scope, defining activities, and estimating delivery timelines. I also helped build standard UX practices by creating go-to-market strategies, and UX offerings through an internal roadmap.
During my tenure at AAJ technologies, I worked on the UX aspect of many in-house client projects including:
Bachelors of Visual Design
Microsoft Certified Specialist: Windows UX Design
All pencil drawings on this website are drawn by Saqib and Copyrighted
