Image of Rob

Transforming ideas into reality through accessible design.

About

Hi, I'm Rob, a researcher and designer from the lower North Island of New Zealand. I'm passionate about crafting accessible designs that make a meaningful difference in people's lives.

With a sharp awareness of trends and a user-centered, empathetic approach, I aim to understand users' thoughts, emotions, and reactions. This insight allows me to design experiences that genuinely meet their needs.

My design journey began with Multimedia, where I developed a passion for 3D animation. As I explored further, I pursued studies in UX theory and design. During my time in the public sector, I conducted user research and contributed to various projects, gaining valuable skills in accessible design along the way.

As an experience designer, I have expertise across a variety of domains, including UX/UI design, visual design, animation, accessibility, and front-end development. This diverse skill set enables me to address multiple facets of the design process, ensuring cohesive and inclusive experiences.

Work

Export New Zealand

UX UI Front-end

To address the diverse needs of regional teams across New Zealand, I conducted UX research with regional leaders. This informed the creation of low-fidelity wireframes and allowed for testing and feedback before proceeding to develop high-fidelity designs.

Front-end development was undertaken to transfer the prototype to HTML, SASS/CSS and javaScript before embedding within a Content Management System.

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Export New Zealand

New Zealand Customs Service

UX Front-end

As part of a collaborative team effort, I conducted UX research and design for the reconstruction of the Customs Service website. This project brought together the expertise of both the NZ Customs Service and government vendors to ensure a successful outcome.

Once the website was launched ongoing Front-end and design work was continued to finish user stories and add enhancements.

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New Zealand Customs Service

a11y Guidance

Accessibility UI Front-end

The foundation of the accessibility (a11y) guidance originated from an internal project at the Ministry of Social Development. Initially developed to support internal project managers, content creators, designers, and developers, it was later adapted and enhanced for public users.

The guide outlines existing standards and provides helpful guidance to ensure all features meet accessibility (WCAG) standards.

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Accessibility Guidance website

Ministry of Social Development

UX Prototyping

The Single Client View project was a substantial endeavor aimed at consolidating multiple software systems into a unified platform for staff at Work and Income offices.

As part of a larger team, I extracted valuable insights from user research and low-fidelity wireframe testing. These insights informed the development of high-fidelity prototypes, which were then tested and refined based on feedback from New Zealand Work and Income staff members.

A generic light mode and the dark view were designed for testing environmental lighting conditions.

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Single Client View
Design System

iPayroll

UX Visual Design Prototyping

In my current role, I lead an ongoing Design System project aimed at improving product development efficiency. This Design System promotes visual consistency, incorporates design principles, and acts as a shared language for both design and development teams.

Through continuous feedback, research and design strategies are undertaken to create a usable system providing design rules, accessibility, patterns and diagrams.

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CloudPayroll

UX UI Front-end

This landing page focuses on CloudPayroll's relationship with Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.

Before creating the interactive design prototype, both low and high fidelity prototyping were thoroughly analyzed and driven by the feedback between our clients and CloudPayroll.

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CloudPayroll Limited
iCito

iCito

UX Prototyping Front-end

The iCito project is a new product launch due to soon go live, this involved working with stakeholders, product management and the software team.

Front-end development involved converting the prototype into HTML, SASS/CSS, and JavaScript for real-time user testing.

(this link opens an external website)View prototype

History

Explore the evolution of my skillset and discover how my experiences in teaching, human interaction, animation, and user-centered design have shaped me into the creative designer I am today.

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Teaching

Diploma of Teaching completed in the early childhood sector, specialising in human interaction and development.

Multimedia Design

Tertiary studies in digital media focussing on web design, visual design, animation and video.

3D Modelling and Animation

Research and development in 3D animation with an emphasis on Character animation.

Video Production

Final year studies in Digital Video Post Production. Specialisation in compositing 3D animation in real-time environments.

Tertiary Teaching

Teaching Advanced Animation with a key focus on Design, Character Rigging and Animation.

Web Design

Web design & development using HTML, CSS3 for web based animation and motion graphics.

Javascript

Vanilla javaScript and jQuery development utilised for interactive development and Web 3D.

User Experience

Further studies toward User Experience (UX) for web design and user Interface development.

Front-end Development

Design and development in the global sector utilising NodeJS, JavaScript, Gulp and SASS/CSS.

Web Advisory

Web and Usability specialisation in the public sector based upon NZ government web standards.

Accessibility

Embedding accessibility into design and testing to meet Web Accessibility (WCAG) & Usability standards.

Agile

Agile certification for implementing more flexibility and change in the web application work flow.

UX Design

UX Design in the payroll sector inclusive of user research, print, web and product design.

Contact

Want to get in touch? Drop me a line!