Experience
Senior Product Design Lead, Viasat, Inc — 2019-Present
I joined Viasat in July 2019 as Senior UX / Product Designer and in February 2020 I became lead for Field Services, a business unit with 2 products: TechTools, an Android + iOS app, and Installer Portal, a responsive web app. I've established a way of working with Product and Engineering that frees me up to focus more on strategy and product direction than in low level Design decisions because everyone is fundamentally aligned on what the user experience should be. This allows me to spend more time with higher management influencing decisions and advancing Design in the organisation.
Parallel to that, I'm focused on improving the Design practice and UX maturity level of the organization. In that regard, I've championed a few iniciatives like in-house training, which resulted in a very large number of our 30+ designers enrolling in some sort of long term / specialized training; tool stack update, where we have addopted Abstract among other still ongoing inniciatives; and the (Design) Internship Programme, which I have voluntered to create and run, and where I'm also mentoring the 3 design interns.
Lastly, I'm also involved in multiple social volunteering activities in the company of which I highlight my project to place beehives in the roof of our building in Oslo and commiting to the pollinators.ie chater.
Some samples below (case study coming soon):
Director, Ricardo Lamego Design — 2017-2019
In July 2017 I decided to resume my consultancy services. As a consultant, I can carefully curate my clients and projects to include industries/fields I want to know better, as well as broaden my experience in new areas and deepen my skills in subjects I had limited experience before. Working mostly with early stage startups helping them build better products through lean product validation frameworks and get to market by adopting a user centred approach of product development.
Some case studies and work samples below:
Head of Product & Design, TenderScout — 2016-2017
I started working in Tenderscout in June 2016. Due to the small size of the team, my role is hybrid and spans multiple departments and responsibilities from which I highlight:
- Responsible for developing the product vision, strategy and roadmap as well as the tactical delivery of the solution
- Responsible for creating and implementing a digital marketing strategy, focused on brand building, recognition and growth
- Responsible for creating and delivering a new brand vision and strategy
- Performed product and UX oriented audits and research like competitive analysis, task analysis, heuristic analysis and market research among others
- Improving all areas of business with design processes and methodologies, providing thought leadership, facilitating development, communication, team building and improving overall performance by bringing focus to areas where there wasn’t enough experience.
On Nov 30th, at the 21st eir Spider Awards, Tenderscout won Best Digital StartUp of the year and received The Grand Prix award, the highest accolade of The eir Spiders, for outstanding levels of achievement in the areas of technology, innovation, functionality & interactivity coupled with a world class user experience.
Principal UX Architect, Logentries / Rapid7 — 2015-2016
In May 2015 I began working as the Principal UX Architect for Logentries, an Irish startup leader in Log Management & Real-Time Analytics, where I lead a small team responsible for the entire in-app UX/UI and reporting directly to the VP of Product. I brought processes and methodologies that made Logentries a more user-centred organisation, and planned and executed on a large number of short to long term projects ranging from strategic to tactical to operational.
In October 2015, Logentries was acquired by Rapid7, a leading provider of security data and analytics solutions that enable organisations to implement an active, analytics-driven approach to cyber security, where I became UX Lead for the Search product.
- Evangelising UXD standards, providing thought-leadership and guidance within the team and company
- Championing user needs, making user-centred, data informed recommendations for improving the customer experience
- Developing and maintaining a deep understanding of our target audiences, their behaviours, needs and expectations
- Driving the inclusion of UX requirements into the product development process, the creation of cross-team tools and the collection of key metrics to support strategic and tactical recommendations of objectives and business goals
- Managing the product design process, concurrent multiple projects and activities, driving decisions, tracking issues, while providing guidance and direction to the team, and preserving product goals.
Information Architect / Design Lead, Fidelity Investments — 2014-2015
From October 2014 till April 2015, I have worked as an Information Architect / Design Lead (contract) for Fidelity Investments, one of the largest mutual fund and financial services groups in the world, in their Continental Europe Site Redesign project, which aimed primarily at establishing a consistent Fidelity Digital User Experience across all European websites, while preserving the unique qualities of each local business and market. Under this scope, I was responsible for, and supported the team in:
- Compiling and analysing all the data used for the pilot study, including website traffic and user behaviours, sitemaps, content inventory and assessment, CMS and tech audits, stakeholder interviews, multiple user research activities, etc.
- Developing personas and user scenarios, experience brief, competitive analysis, current and future state assessment, etc.
- Creating wireframes, user and work flows, current and future state site maps, mental models, design concepts, prototypes, etc.
Senior UX Manager, Apierian Learning — 2013-2014
From February 2013 till June 2014, I have worked as a Senior UX Manager for Apierian Learning, an Irish company based in Oslo.
My main duties were IA, UX, UI, CX, Web Design and Development, managing contractors and reporting directly to the COO.
Planned, designed and developed a niche online eLearning courses website in 3 months (clevercourses.ie).
Under this scope, I was responsible for:
- Defining the product vision, translating business requirements and stakeholder requests into specifications, managing its design, development and deployment process, driving decisions, tracking issues, estimating resource needs and schedules
- Reviewing and creating wireframes, site maps, process flows, navigational flows, functional specifications, prototypes, sketches, storyboards, scenarios, user research and testing
- Conducting audience, user, and stakeholder interviews, competitive audits and participating user research, concept testing, usability testing, and market research
- Challenging processes and look for efficient ways of doing things based on usability testing, requirements gathering, mental models, and personas
- Conducting strategic workshops on topics including innovation, goal prioritisation, identity, message and content architecture
- Looking at a broader context of customer behaviour and building solid products and updates based on web traffic analysis reports, social analytics and behavioural analytics
Web Developer, Jugnoo Inc. — 2114-2215
From July 2011 to August 2012, I have worked as a full-time Consultant for Jugnoo, Inc, a Social CRM startup company based in Toronto, Canada. My main duties were planning, development and maintenance of all company’s web properties reporting directly to the CTO, which included:
- Reviewing and redoing technical projects to minimise their cost and development time
- Collaborating within an agile environment on teams made up of product managers, engineers, data experts, and designers to deliver world-class experiences and reporting on the progress done by teams in 4 different countries across 3 continents.
Founder, mblz.me — 2011-2013
In May 2011 I opened a small web studio, mblz.me (mobilize me), mainly devoted to mobile development, migration and integration in an effort to answer the growing volume of work I had in this area and to officialise a partnership with Pagelines, a SF based company, developer of the most advanced Wordpress Framework, of whom I was a recommended Professional partner. A month and a half later mblz.me led me to be contacted and offered a contract by Jugnoo, Inc, thus being placed in stand-by.
Web Developement Manager, Soroptimist Internacional - Invicta — 2006-2008
From January 2006 to December 2008, I worked for the Portuguese chapter of Soroptimist International, an NGO advocating for human rights and gender equality, to help women and girls achieve their individual and collective potential, realise aspirations and have an equal voice in communities worldwide.
I was responsible for all web-related aspects of 4 projects including: planning, design, development, management and support of all web assets throughout their entire lifecycle, as well as the training and assistance to 4 editorial teams.
These projects were focused on gender equality and migrant issues, and aspects of their intersection, like the role of women in the Portuguese diaspora for example, and were co-financed by the European Union and the European Social Fund within Measure 4.4 (Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women) of POEFDS (Operational Programme for Employment, Training and Social Development).
Independent Consultant — 2002-2013
From October 2002 to February 2013, I have been working as a Freelancer, delivering services in Graphic and Web Design, Web Development, Consultancy, QA and Software Translation among others, for several clients based mainly in Europe and North America. Main areas of work include Web Marketing, Content Management & Strategy, Information Architecture, Advertising, SEO, SEM, Social Networking, e-Commerce, Responsive Web Design, Mobile conversion and optimisation, and Mobile UI & UX.
Web Designer/Dev., Graphic Designer & Project Manager, Cubo Mágico LDA — 1999-2002
From 1999 to 2002, I worked at Cubo Mágico, LDA., as a Web Designer/Developer, Graphic Designer, and Project Manager in a multidisciplinary team who launched, managed and maintained a 19 website network in services, information and entertainment. http://web.archive.org/web/20031122062146/http://rede.aeiou.pt/
Founder + Web & Product Development Manager, Prodigio + Ideia Visual — 1995-1999
Internet Start-Up's pioneer in Portugal, as a co-founder of Prodigio – Produções Digitais Online (a company later on purchased by the Sonae Group) and of Ideia Visual – Comunicação e Design Interactivos, Lda., a company later on integrated into Esoterica – Novas Tecnologias de Informação, S.A., the first private ISP to operate in Portugal, where I held the position of Web & Product Development Manager from 1997 to 1999