ELENA GORMAN, PHD

Leading UX design for a new website and brand for Bridges Programmes, a charity that supports refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Glasgow (volunteering via the Scottish Tech Army):

– desk-based research;
– facilitating a staff workshop;
– brand and logo design;
– user research via Lyssna;
– website design and prototyping.

Figma | Miro | Lyssna | Canva

Leading User Research within a team of designers collectively working to design a new product and service for the charity Cancer Card. Volunteering via the Scottish Tech Army

Rapid UX redesign of the homepage for Bystanders No More: a multi-national volunteer group advocating for human rights in Palestine.

User research and service design for Jisc: a charity and digital agency for the UK’s higher education sector. Leading a comprehensive review of the online Archives Hub platform and its backend services to identify opportunities for improvement:

– service mapping,
– service blueprints,
– data analytics,
– site mapping,
– user journey mapping,
– user personas,
– facilitating user workshops.

Miro | Matomo

I resigned from this role after discovering that Jisc is working with BAE Systems – one of the UK’s largest weapons manufacturers – and other companies in the sector. After exploring the nature of the partnership on behalf of colleagues, I decided that I could not continue work for the charity in good conscience.

Leading user research for new digital products and services for the DVSA’s work on counter-fraud, intelligence, market surveillance, and prosecution.

My main project was to work closely with a Senior Service Designer to create a new online service for members of the public to report fraud and other concerns anonymously, safely, and securely. Together we co-designed a suite of six GDS-compliant online forms in Figma, and accompanying content and success metrics:

– cognitive walkthroughs;
– desk-based research;
– remote usability testing;
– site visit;
– iterative design, review, and testing.

Figma | Lucid

Sadly, I decided to resign from this excellent role for ethical reasons linked to the Conservative Government’s response to events in Gaza from 7th October 2023 onwards.

UX design and user research at Qrious, a boutique experience design agency in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Working primarily on discovery and user research for the agency’s main client, Ringtons, to help them identify and prioritise business opportunities to inform strategic decision-making for technology investment to catalyse innovation and growth:

– reviewing comprehensive company data and reports;
– interviewing stakeholders from across the organisation;
– interviewing customers;
– conducting ethnographic studies;
– producing design artefacts including personas, service blueprints, customer journeys, and a digital transformation roadmap;
– independently consolidating findings into a comprehensive project report, which I co-presented to the company directors.

My work was central to securing a 7-figure, multi-year client contract; the largest contract the company secured. In light of my success on this project, I went on to lead research for two other projects for this important client:

– conducting research for designing a new Sales Person app;

– conducting research for designing a new CRM.

Sadly, the company went into liquidation, and all roles were made redundant.

Managing the early stages of creating a new digital platform to connect jobseekers with tech jobs in the North East of England:

– working closely with a digital design agency (Mediaworks);
– helping to identify user needs and develop branding;
– shadowing user research workshops;
– independently designing, administering and analysing an online survey;
– organising, hosting, and attending events;
– managing communications, digital marketing, sponsorship, and stakeholder relationships.

Taking a central role in launching and managing a new suite of Skills Bootcamps: free 12-week courses in Data and Software Engineering for people who are underrepresented in tech – particularly women, people from the global majority, disabled people, people from the LGBTQ+ community, and carers – to retrain and secure digital or tech jobs:

– Leading work-streams for communications, student data, and student support;
– Designing and managing social media campaigns;
– Coordinating student recruitment and selection;
– Designing visual and video content and brochures;
– Designing and managing student records systems, and analysing data for reports;
– Creating and managing a series of guest lectures;
– Pastoral support for learners.

Managing the strategic partnership between Newcastle University and The Alan Turing Institute (the national institute for Data Science and AI), and launching Newcastle University’s new Centre of Research Excellence in Data:

– Engaging researchers from across the university to build new research communities and catalyse new research projects.
– Supporting growth in the Research Software Engineering Team.
– Organising institutional and national events and conferences, and creating content for websites, social media, and events.

Whilst in this role, I also volunteered a lot of my free time to lead, launch, and co-deliver Newcastle’s first ever #techmumsClub with the social enterprise #techmums: an extremely impactful, free 10-week digital course for mothers who are new to tech.

Based within the Design School, I managed a university-wide programme of design thinking and innovation activities for creative, digital, and IT organisations, as part of the collaborative research project, Creative Fuse North East:

– Managing a portfolio of design and innovation projects, liaising with the principal investigators to ensure that projects progressed to schedule, complied with external funding requirements and regulations, and achieved the agreed outputs;
– Managing a programme of design-related events for SMEs and freelancers, including a Solutions Hack, large collaborative workshops, and an intensive programme of concurrent design sprints;
– Web content design;
– Recruiting, onboarding, and managing relationships with SMEs and freelancers;
– Designing digital systems for capturing and analysing data related to research project activity, agreed and projected outputs, beneficiaries, and impact;
– Formal reporting on project and programme progress to the consortium of 5 universities participating in Creative Fuse North East;
– Managing procurement processes, contracts, and external service providers;
– Designing processes for compliance with ERDF regulations for projects and audits;
– Recruiting and managing staff.