Some people call me Harjypoo. You can too.

I’ve been working in Toronto as a Design professional for over a decade. My current focus is responsible and innovative Design Leadership.

Current focus

Going Agile —
This is rarely an easy transition for designers who are used to waterfall, so I’ve been actively working to bridge the gap by planning flexible team activities for short sprint cycles and using collaborative tools to lean out the maintenance of WIP.

Usability for Design Systems —
While Design Systems tend to pull focus to the pieces that comprise a whole, the execution of those pieces (at a page level) must result in a usable and successful experience. Recently, I’ve been implementing regular testing and comprehension reviews to ensure that we don’t lose sight of this.

Defining Discovery —
I’m in the process of refining a framework for Discovery that supports Stakeholders, Strategists, Product Managers, and Designers. It’s tentatively titled “The 5 pillars of Discovery”. Coming soon.

Ethical design —
I’m currently involved in a growing collective under the banner of Human Positive Design, a group that builds on the HumaneTech initiative out of Silicon Valley. Now, I’m focusing on how to weave this into my daily work.

Thought leadership —
I have a lot of opinions and examples from my career that I’d like to share with the world. I’ve mostly been writing UX-related blog posts for a few channels, but my plan is to expand out of that genre in the coming year. Head to my blog for a taste.

Toolkit for teams —
Over the course of my career, I’ve stood up several frameworks and templates for efficient, rinse-and-repeat work. Call it DesignOps or call it an obsession with process—either way, I’m giving away my goodies. Check out my toolkit to see what’s up for grabs.

Growth for designers —
One of the joys of doing what I do is supporting designers with their careers. I’ve recently been working with other practice leads to develop a fair and transparent levelling framework for our direct reports.

Expertise and skills

Discovery and research —
Talk to stakeholders, talk to users, collect requirements, analyze data, investigate competitors, and then, synthesize it all and formulate a plan.

Information architecture —
Audit the content, organize it, give everything a home, and connect it in meaningful and strategic ways.

Experience design —
Capture scenarios, map out tasks, wireframe touchpoints, and prototype the interactions.

Usability testing and iteration —
Don’t leave UX in the hands of the client or designers—find people who represent your personas and have them regularly test the experience. I always push for usability testing in a SOW—it should NOT be considered a luxury line item.

Accessibility —
AA is coming for all of us—achieve WCAG criteria without sacrificing a unique and creative experience. Ask me about some neat and innovative workarounds I’ve used to meet a11y.

SEO and content design —
Using hot and trending keywords simply isn’t enough—create strategic pathways to content with a robust global approach to naming and tagging that sets your content up for success.

Copywriting —
I push for clear and concise communication, injected with personality to achieve the right tone. It results in better usability. People don’t read…unless they have to, so get to the point.

Conversion funnel optimization —
Did you know that showing just an email entry field for a mailing list upfront increases conversion by more than 20%, versus just having a signup CTA? Did you know that less CTAs on a single page results in greater CTR?

Legal compliance for marketing —
I’ve worked on several projects where considerations for CASL, CAN-SPAM, and GDPR need to be anticipated and accommodated in design and development.

Service design —
Service blueprints are one of my favourite things to work on. They bridge both online and offline activities while illuminating areas for improvement throughout the entire customer experience.

DesignOps —
Process and structure brings calmness to chaos. I prepare designers to hit the ground running so that they can just design and not worry about all the other stuff (not to sound reductive).

Workshops and training —
I plan and conduct group sessions that help people learn about UX as a practice and how they can influence the outcome of a project. You can contact me to come give a talk at your office or event—I’m happy to do so.

New business and scoping —
I help prepare and deliver presentations for potential clients in order to best sell design practice and expertise. I also work closely with other department leads to establish scope of work and staff teams.

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Where’s the best place to bury a dead body? Page 2 of Google search results.