About

Customer experience
champion

Hello, I’m Shebs, an UX Leader with over 20 years of experience in UX and Design, including 14 years in the Online Retail sector. I’ve worked with well-known brands such as Currys, House of Fraser, John Lewis, and Ogilvy & Mather.

I thrive on mentoring and coaching teams, guiding them in leveraging various UX techniques to create best-in-class experiences. Crafting development plans, I find joy in witnessing their growth and enhanced performance.

Outside of work, I embrace a variety of sports – completing two London Marathons with a personal best time of 04:24:15, participating in cycling events like London to Brighton and London to Essex, and relishing hiking adventures with friends across different parts of the UK.

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Online retail experience

I have worked in three large UK retailers; John Lewis, House of Fraser and Currys. This totals to 12 years of online retail experience. This experience has allowed me to understand the retail customers pain points, characteristics and what delights them.

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Checkout progression

One of my key achievements has been the Currys checkout redesign project. The original checkout was slow, hard to use and 10% of customers were dropping off before completing an order. My new design solved of all these and increased progression to the checkout by 1.88%.

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Currys app store rating

The Currys iOS and Android app which I designed was easy to use and navigate to buy products. It helped customers to complete the order, This resulted in app store rating of 4.5.

Questions and Answers

I read the technology section on the Sky News and BBC app and like listening to the Tech Tent podcast about latest technology news. Currently, I’m listening to an audio book called ‘The Making of a Manager’ by Julie Zhuo. I also like doing experimental work outside of work which helps me to be creative without boundaries or restrictions.

During the ideation and design phase when I have detailed designs and prototypes ready, I test early assumptions using a tool called UserZoom to validate my ideas. I also take prototypes into user testing labs and watch how customers interact with my product and iterate from the feedback.

In my role at Currys, I have Product Designers who report into me. I hold their annual appraisals and help them to set their career objectives. I coach and mentor them so they are able to deliver their projects in-line with the business values.

For the apps and checkout projects,  I created different types of designs systems using sketch and Axure. In these documents, I showed the different states and styles of the components and its business rules. This helped developers to build components which were consistent.

I use a UXD process when I start a project which has 6 phases – discovery, research, ideation, design, implement and evaluation. Throughout each phase, I am transparent with all my stakeholders so they know exactly what will be delivered at the end of the project.

I use the various options available on a tool called Contentsquare to measure and track elements on the page, which helps me to make decisions if the design is working or if I need to make adjustments.

I enjoy running and have run the London Marathon twice and my record finishing time is 04:24:15. I also enjoy cycling and take part in the London to Brighton cycling event every year. I also like gardening which helps me to switch off. Each year, I give myself a challenge to grow something exotic. I have grown Dragon fruits, Lemons and Pineapples.