During my time at Altery, I revamped the processes and practices of a four-person design team by establishing new design standards, guidelines and procedures that the team could follow to maintain consistency in their work. I also conducted comprehensive UX and UI reviews of the existing interfaces and developed a documented UI component library for Figma to kickstart a future design system. My other focus was working closely with other departments, such as Business Development, Marketing, Anti-Money Laundering and FinCrime, researching and designing a more efficient business client onboarding process and corporate website.

Throughout my six-month contract, I spearheaded a strategic project to identify growth opportunities and future industry trends for the News section of the Refinitiv Workspace platform for a 5/10-year time frame. I conducted thorough UX reviews on the existing product and production pipeline. Before my departure, I proactively initiated the design of new features incorporated into the 2023 product roadmap.

I was invited to transfer to Designit (part of Wipro Group), where I was involved in some of their top projects: I’ve led the product design for BP Strala (a trial new platform and mobile application for a consumer-focused offering) for two years and the Corporate Website for Cynergy Bank. Before, I was involved in the Cynergy online banking app UX and was responsible for developing a unified Design System for them. Other responsibilities included performing User and Usability tests, collaborating closely with Service Design and facilitating discovery workshops with clients.

At Wipro Digital, I have been developing highly complex intranet systems for BP in collaboration with Designit, not only co-leading the strategic design/user research stage of the projects but also performing Design reviews to maintain a high standard in terms of usability and user-centred design principles. Other responsibilities include performing Usability tests.

As Senior UI/UX, I acted internally as the Champion of UX, helping the Managing Director re-shape the Creative Department to follow UX and Usability best practices by developing internal protocols and ways of working for UI, UX and Development. From Product Strategy to Project Management, from sketches to high-fidelity prototypes, I have developed new projects for the healthcare industry, from CME (Continuing Medical Education) e-learning platforms to disease awareness and event websites, including some of the top congresses in the UK for Healthcare Professionals.

Working as Senior Web Designer, I helped the company to deliver several digital products for the Healthcare industry and develop a proprietary Delegate Management System (DMS) that allowed PCM to manage all the bookings of their multiple healthcare events efficiently. I was responsible for designing (and building using WordPress) most of the digital products developed by the boutique agency, as well as managing and mentoring a team of in-house (and sometimes freelance) web developers and graphic designers.

As Team Lead in FBAUP's Design Lab, I oversaw the entire design production from initial brainstorms to final deliverables – including communication with project stakeholders — of multiple web and print projects, mainly for the Academic and Art industries. In the last two years, I was also the internship coordinator, mentoring undergraduate students and identifying expertise for the team.

Working with a multidisciplinary team of designers, illustrators, developers, copywriters, and photographers, in a highly creative and collaborative environment, I have implemented a User-Centred Design iterative process and methodologies approach to digital projects, following best practices and standards in usability and accessibility, while working on my MA in Usability. Focusing on user research, information architecture, prototyping, visual design and user testing, I also led the front-end development in several projects.

The id:D was an R&D unit within FBAUP and provided scientific and technical expertise for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, which was part of my responsibilities. I collaborated as a communication design expert in the following research projects:

— PEREIRA, Jorge (2015). The contribution of communication design as a strategic constituent for the development of organizations - the input of digital media. PhD Thesis. University of Porto .
— DOLBETH, Júlio (2014). Convergências entre Ilustração Contemporânea em Portugal e Património Popular Português. PhD Thesis. University of Porto.
— RANGEL, Adriano (2009). A Imagem Documental na Construção de uma Memória Cultural Futura. PhD Thesis. University of Porto.

Thesis
Accessible Usability: Methodologies for the Qualitative Evaluation of Usability In Web Design

Preamble
In a world where the Web has become a virtually indispensable tool in people’s lives, either as a space for communication, entertainment or work, it is essential that users can take advantage of this tool, that they can use the sites that form the Web, that they can access the information or service they desire. User-Centred Design is concerned with the users and promotes them to the focus of any design applied to the Web. Usability assesses this same Design with users and guides it so that, regardless of the users’ sensitivities or limitations, they can take advantage of the information or service a particular site provides.

This thesis proposes a reflection based on the principles of User-Centered Design and the Usability of Web sites, demonstrating a set of usability evaluation methodologies within a low-cost framework that designers can use regardless of the size or complexity of the work at hand and stressing its importance as a design tool as valid as any knowledge of Design principles or philosophies, programming or software specific to their professional careers.

* Licentiate (Portuguese: Licenciatura) was a five (six-year in some cases) degree with a required Final Project or Thesis defence that was given to all students before the adoption of the Bologna Treaty in 2005, and the three-year bachelor's format. In the UK its equivalent to a BA(Hons).

Licentiate Degree Final Project
The National Museum of Contemporary Art website redesign

The new website project for the Portuguese National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) was born out of an exchange proposal between the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and the MNAC, inserted in the context of developing academic works for the conclusion of the BA Hons in Communication Design in a professional internship environment.

The project was presented to the Museum Board before being shown publicly at the end-of-year School Exhibition (Designorama '06). Even if it wasn't part of the initial agreement, the Board considered that the redesign project exceeded expectations and requested it to be built and implemented. The redesigned website was used by the MNAC between 2007 and 2013.

Before moving to Design, I attended and successfully concluded the Year 1 in Fine Arts - Sculpture course. Exception made for the main subject, all classes in Year 1 in the Fine Arts Faculty were the same for Design, Painting and Sculpture students.

The AutoCAD Designer for Architecture was a three-month certified professional course for advanced training of Technical Designers in the new digital tools available in the industry. Sponsored by an Architect, and with a High School background that included technical drawing, I was able to join this course even if I had no prior professional experience.

Soares dos Reis School of Arts is a specialized High School institution. The knowledge and learning of the students are oriented by a team of teachers with specific training and preparation in the arts and by teachers of special techniques in the diverse technological areas that make up the school’s curricular offer, from Visual Arts to Product Design, Artistic Production or Graphic Arts.

As Chief Editor, I've managed a team of four collaborators, overseen the production of all content for the news website, and evaluated and made decisions on its appropriateness or timing for publication. I translated articles from other sources and press releases, created opinion articles and conducted interviews.

The Le Mans Portugal news website was a news project in motorsport, mostly in endurance racing (think 24 Hours of Le Mans). The objective was to provide information about this type of racing in Portuguese because it was scarce in the mainstream media and even in the specialized one. It was a passion project that soon became an almost full-time (second) job. As a team, we closed it after the main championship we covered acquired FIA World Championship status. It was clear that to keep the quality we were providing, we would have to transform this fan project into a real business, which wasn't in anyone's plans.

Even if it was a fan project, and no one in the team had press professional credentials, our work was recognized and considered relevant by race organizers. We received press accreditations for several national and international events, and we were also regular guests during the Eurosport (Portuguese edition) live broadcast of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

As a Freelancer Graphic and Web Designer, I have been involved with several clients, from the award-winning restaurant La Ricotta to the renowned FuturePlaces Media Festival, or from the most successful Motorsport Team in Portugal, ASM Team, to the multiple awarded film production company O Som e a Fúria. The focus of my work varied between mediums ranging from web design and development to print. In the early days, I acquired expertise working with WordPress CMS to build what I design.

As a Press Officer for the Portuguese racing team ASM Team, I've fulfilled one of my childhood dreams: being at the 24 hours of Le Mans. For two weeks, I was responsible for all the press releases of the team, managing press contacts between the racing drivers or other personnel and the press, and acting as a spokesperson for any TV request, mostly from Eurosport.

As a Tutor in the Junior University programme of the University of Porto, I have created and lectured a module on basic web design principles, including HTML and CSS, to high secondary students aged 14 to 17. The Junior University programme allows primary and secondary school students to test vocations and experience higher education during the summer holidays in areas as diverse as science, technology, humanities, arts or sports.

Using my project management experience from the sister lab id:D, I helped implement project teams and help with client presentations at Projectos Vivos in its first steps within FBAUP's CEDA as its Sculpture R&D unit. During my involvement with this Sculpture Lab, I co-managed several Public Art projects, including the School participation in the Imaginarius 2009 – International Street Theatre Festival, and several others with the Porto Public Transport Authority and the SEA LIFE Porto.

As a Junior Architecture CAD Designer, I assisted with architectural projects, converting sketches into AutoCAD technical prints, including 3D modelling. I also helped with client presentations, both in print format (designing presentation posters) and PowerPoint.