Fortify
Overview
I joined BrandLock in 2023 as a Senior UX UI Designer for their e-commerce analytics and optimization platform. I’ve also played a key role in research and design thinking, as well as in their client projects.
Designing at BrandLock
I joined BrandLock because it offered me a broader scope of influence and more freedom to contribute compared to my previous roles. When I came on board, BrandLock had a small team and worked with an offshore design team, which meant the design culture was still developing. I thrive on leadership in design, and BrandLock provided ample opportunities for that. At BrandLock, I regularly...
Lead meetings, demos, and team-building activities.
Improve workflows between design and product teams.
Mentor junior designers and occasionally engineers.
Establish and maintain high design quality standards.
Encourage user research and tailored solutions for B2B clients.
Present ideas for the product roadmap.
Work with various teams to ensure clear communication.
Promote and support our design system throughout the company.
Address additional needs for the marketing team and clients.
I work closely with the product team to grasp the problem domain and understand our client's needs. I focus on setting standards, improving designs, and adding value beyond just creating visuals.
Research
Shortly after joining the team, I took the initiative to explore how we add and manage features within our product. I noticed an opportunity to better align our product with customer needs, as we hadn't been regularly gathering feedback from actual users about their experiences. Recognizing this gap, I embarked on a mission to integrate more customer insights into our development process.
I aimed to deeply understand how our customers use our product, so I initiated a generative research project focused on our analytics tool. I designed the research script, collaborated with our data analytics team to recruit participants, conducted the sessions, analyzed the results, and presented the findings to the entire product organization. This research significantly enhanced our main analytical dashboard. Leading this project also positioned me to effectively advocate for additional products, such as:
the Coupon Monitor
When I joined BrandLock, there were ongoing discussions about creating a coupon ecosystem to track coupon performance across publishers. To start, I helped the team catch up by conducting research and creating wireframes. This often involved designing new products from scratch based on the team’s requirements.
Coupon Monitor oversees a vast network of over 12,000 coupon sites, helping businesses manage and control coupon distribution. It allows you to deactivate incorrect coupons, prevent leaks, and notify publishers - all from a single platform. My role includes researching publishers and coupon sites, designing user flows and wireframes, and developing the user interface and experience. I also work on expanding the design system for the product and ensuring it effectively promotes our main product, BrandLock.
Brandlock Marketing
The marketing team was using generic materials for client presentations, landing pages, and emails that didn’t reflect BrandLock’s unique identity. When I joined, I standardized all marketing assets to align with BrandLock’s brand identity. This helped ensure that BrandLock maintained a consistent and cohesive presence across all channels.
One of the biggest impacts has been how BrandLock now approaches design. We’ve made generative research and design consistency standard practice, and I encouraged both the product and data teams to actively participate in the research and design process. By the end of my first year, I saw our design maturity grow significantly.