UX Research & Design
I really enjoy the user experience process and putting yourself in the shoes of others. I like to play the role of devil's advocate to understand the challenges faced in the user journey, to help drive a better experience, and ultimately, a stronger product.
I worked 9 years for KX Systems, where in addition to my work on KX Dashboards, I was the lead designer for its kdb Visual Code extension, and contributed design work for Insights Enterprise UI and KX's Azure Marketplace.
Competitor Analysis - Playbook UX
Playbook UX is a well designed site, but like the cowboy movie set, it lacks depth where it needs it most.
Design - kdb Visual Studio Code Extension
kdb Visual Studio Code Extension is a feature rich platform for running q/kdb processes. This was a great experience designing within a pre-existing UI/UX framework.
Usability Study - Zignals
With the release of Zignals HTML5 in 2014, we asked users to compare the platform to the Microsoft Silverlight version in use at the time. The study employed semantic analysis and affinity mapping.
Design - kdb Insights Enterprise
kdb Insights Enterprise is a cloud-based data analytical platform. Users can import data from a broad range of sources, query it, then build data visualisations. My role was a feature designer for the platform.
Available on Medium
Maximizing Feature Delivery Efficiency
Getting employees onboard with existing workflows is challenging; to help, here's a guide to an Agile development workflow.
PlaybookUX
A site with potential, but too opaque to give clients or contributors confidence in the offering.
Freenow: When Good UX goes Bad
Bad UX will always infuriate, but when bad UX evolves from good UX, it's even worse.
SAP and its phish email style
The pain of having to deal with Fieldglass Vendor Management System's email.
Profilic: Undone by non-responsive support
All was going well until I went to validate my account.
Paidwork.com
A well designed dashboard, unfortunately let down by the services it promotes.
Working with Declan was a pleasure. His thoughtful approach to UX design, combined with his self-driven attitude, consistently delivered results. Declan is a strong communicator who collaborated seamlessly across our teams—a real asset to any project or organisation!
— Tiarnan O'Dwyer, Head of KX Design
