Alan Bull

User Experience LeadMar 2011 - Present

lastminute.com – London, UK

• Currently leading user experience for a new hotel and flights mobile website using the latest agile/lean UX and product discovery techniques alongside global IT consultancy, ThoughtWorks. Responsible for customer discovery, user research, wireframing and prototyping and UI pattern standards.
• Gained buy in for the setup of an internal usability lab, sourcing and implementing equipment, planning and running tests, training the team whilst encouraging wider adoption.
• Introduced remote user testing to the company and made it part of the everyday UX process.
• Managed and conducted specific user research for a number of projects including card sorting for navigation, user interviews for merchandising and surveys for search & header re-design.
• Successfully planned and run multiple companywide UX project workshops to engage stakeholders, gain and prioritize business requirements, encourage cross team collaboration and to clearly highlight issues and how to resolve them throughout the user journey.
• Complete end-to-end involvement and sign-off in all projects and enhancements from idea creation through to QA, UAT and post release reviews.

User Experience ManagerMay 2010 - March 2011 (11 months)

Comet Group Plc – Rickmansworth, UK

• Led the definition of user experience within Comet and established common UX goals.
• Worked with the business to ensure user experience, usability and accessibility deliverables were incorporated into project timelines.
• Led the iterative review process with designers, developers and business owners, acquiring consensus and approval on design and documentation throughout a project lifecycle, including assistance with QA and UAT.
• Communicated user experiences through storyboarding, detailed wireframes and prototypes, task flow diagrams, user flows, design specifications and more.
• Presented concepts, facilitated brainstorming sessions, organised and ran UX workshops with both internal and external clients.
• Managed UX of Comet’s second major mobile website release and mobile app strategy.
• Conducted regular user research tasks through surveys, interviews, card-sorting etc.
• Created usable UI designs by applying user research findings, IA and design standards, business requirements and industry best practice that worked within systems constraints.
• Oversaw all project and enhancement releases to ensure they met strict SEO and accessibility guidelines and we’re in line with our brand values.
• Managed regular usability testing of Comet’s websites. This included creating test strategies and plans, test scenarios and tasks, screening participants, facilitating testing and incorporating learning’s into future development.
• Contributed to the continuous improvement of UX methodology/processes, work flow, documentation, ROI metrics and design standards.
• Acted as a UX advocate and consultant for wider company projects, providing expert guidance and thought leadership.
• Provided design governance and mentorship to line reports and other members within the wider team, exposing them to new UX challenges and how best to overcome them.
• Continued to manage the multi variant testing strategy for Comet’s desktop and mobile sites.

Co-FounderJune 2006 – October 2010 (4 years 5 months)

TravelSpeak Co., Ltd – Chiang Mai, Thailand

Worked with over 20 hotels in Chiang Mai, Thailand to promote and assist with the implementation of new green practices.

Senior Web DesignerJune 2008 – May 2010 (2 years)

Comet Group PLC – Rickmansworth, UK

• Managed user experience, design and front-end code phases of major website re-platform, re-design and re-brand which resulted in a 0.5% increase in site-wide conversion. This included leading the user research and wire framing, overseeing the design and front-end code, managing timelines and co-ordinating resource whilst engaging stakeholders and
  ensuring we met business objectives.
• Managed 4 direct line reports including 1 permanent and 3 contractor roles.
• Created and maintained SEO strategy and code standards along with a 3rd party.
• Introduced and oversaw Comet’s usability testing process, gaining business buy in at all levels, creating and running tests, reporting back findings and project managing any actions.
• Responsible for wire framing, designing and project managing Comet’s first mobile website.
• Led end-to-end multi variant testing project that resulted in a 0.4% increase in conversion.
• Continuously gained user insight through our web analytic tools, onsite and after sales surveys to find and resolve user issues to increase conversion and reduce drop-out.
• Assisted our insights team to research and form Comet’s user segments and online personas.
• Ownership of our multi variant testing program; including managing the test roadmap, co-ordinating test builds, reporting and raising enhancements for release.
• Managed Comet’s on-going enhancement releases. This involved raising new enhancements, scoping, planning and front-end coding them before handing them over to Java developers to set deadlines. Then managed any changes/de-bugging resulting from QA and UAT.

Web DesignerAugust 2005 – June 2008 (2 years 11 months)

Comet Group PLC – Rickmansworth, UK

• Designed, coded and maintained feature pages/micro sites on behalf of brands such as Apple, Hotpoint, HP, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony and TomTom on the Comet website.
• Designed and developed the Comet email newsletter brand.
• Created and maintained search engine optimization code standards for our content.
• Responsible for planning, wire framing, implementing and tracking multi variant tests.
• Setup and ran our in-house photography studio for product photos used on comet.co.uk.
• General production duties of creating banners and graphics and supporting promotions.

Freelance Web Designer (Alongside my work with Local Origins Co., Ltd)September 2004 – May 2005 (9 months)

Hi-Powered – Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Designed and produced XHTML and CSS 2.0 templates and websites of behalf of Hi-Powered.
• Dealt directly with their clients, I was responsible for establishing their needs and providing professional advice to create SEO optimized, high quality websites.

Co-Founder / Operations DirectorDecember 2002 – May 2005 (2 years 6 months)

Local Origins Co., Ltd – Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Setup and maintained the company’s retail and wholesale e-commerce web sites.
• Designed materials for online and offline marketing, photographing and editing product photos for both our website and various printed publications to increase worldwide sales.
• Sourced new products and agreeing the best buying price with suppliers.
• General day-to-day duties including overseeing the accounts, dispatching orders, updating our websites whilst continually developing new and more efficient systems etc.

Product ManagementMay 2012

Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG)

• Three day intensive course on ‘How to create products customers love’. Covering agile product management techniques, Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and product discovery.

Further information can be found here: http://www.svproduct.com/

Usability & AccessibilityJanuary 2011

Web Credible

• Two week Usability & Accessibility course. Training modules included: Web Accessibility, Web Usability, Usability Testing, Information Architecture and Prototyping with Axure.

Further information can be found here: http://www.webcredible.co.uk

Impact & Influence CourseDecember 2010

Effective Communications

This 1 day course raised the following question:
What impression do you make on people?

I learned the following from taking this course:

• How to communicate ideas quickly, concisely and powerfully
• How to persuade colleagues, customers and suppliers of the value of your project
• How to enhance the quality of your personal management skills
• How to improve performance in all aspects of day to day business

Course information:
http://www.effectivecommunications.co.uk/

Project Management SkillsSeptember 2007

Project Innovations

• 3 Day Interactive Workshop on Project Management Skills

More information about the course can be found here:
http://projinn.co.uk/

Search Engine Strategies Training WorkshopFebruary 2007

SES London (Incisive Media)

I attended a 1 day training workshop which covered the following key areas:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Paid Search Fundamentals
• Keyword Research
• Press Release SEO

Following this I attended the 3 day conference covering a huge range of subjects centred around Search and Usability.

Good DecisionSeptember 2007

The Mind Gym

A half-day workshop which taught me the following:

• To understand my own personal decision-making style.
• To appreciate the strengths this can bring as well as the dangers that I should be wise to watch out for.
• To become familiar with 5 decision-making traps that we fall into daily and what to do to avoid them.
• To put into practise a number of easy to use decision making techniques to help overcome even the most paralysing dilemmas.

More information about the course I attended can be found here:
http://www.themindgym.com/