Patrick Semple
User Experience & Product Design Manager
Product Design & Leadership for start-ups and large orgs.
I'm a Product Design Leader with over ten years of experience leading AO.com, Mobile Phones Direct, Xwerx, and TankLabs teams.
As a leader and manager, I've helped large organizations build happy and successful teams and provided the right environment for designers to do their best work. As a designer, I've helped start-ups and large organizations figure out what they should be building and transform their vision into real products that help millions of their customers.
AO.com
AO.com is the UK’s most trusted electrical retailer, helping customers easily shop online for complex domestic products like ovens and washing machines. I led this design team to optimize site performance and launch their membership scheme to AO’s customers.
I've led a talented design team to create measurable, collaborative, and data-driven improvements in our digital experiences. This has helped the business exceed revenue targets and maintain an impressive 89% NPS score.
Additionally, through experimentation and A/B testing, I've driven significant performance gains. I've also championed our design system, ensuring seamless integration across various platforms. Before becoming UX manager, I designed part of the AO membership experience and then led the UX team to meet the business's ambitious target for its year 1 and 2 growth plans.
AO Mobile, MPD & A1 Mobile
AO Mobiles is a market-leading mobile phone retailer using circular economy, trade-in, and reselling; AO Mobiles has created an industry-leading proposition to delight customers. I led the design team during the acquisition of A1 mobile, integrated customer research practices, and helped them navigate the launch of a new industry-leading proposition.
I led a small design team of incredible designers in the AO Mobiles subsidiary of AO.com. I helped the team develop their skill set to become well-rounded design thinkers and research practitioners. I helped create structures that integrated the Designer in Mobile and AO to work effectively.
TankLabs
Tanklabs was a start-up incubator that helped startups in the Northwest launch products to customers and seek funding for business growth. I joined the team as a UX designer, helping lead the discovery and design of new businesses.
I worked closely with the founders of this start-up incubator as a UX designer and was quickly promoted to Lead UX after eight months. My role was key to helping our customers find product market fit. I conducted various research and design activities with our clients and their customers.
I helped design Hiring-Hub’s website and the beginning of their app transformation. I created a Marketing/Interview Tool for Savanna Bison, a brand and marketing service. I led all the discovery, design, and service design for a healthcare start-up called EnlighingSoftware.
Xwerx
Xwerx is Ireland’s leading UX agency, helping organisations succeed by innovating, designing, and building outstanding customer experiences. I joined the team as a junior UX designer to begin my career in UX design. I worked closely with the founders to pitch new projects to Ireland's biggest financial services companies and helped bring new work into the business.
Beginning my professional UX journey at Xwerx as a UX Designer, I quickly adapted my foundational skills in illustration and storyboarding to serve Xwerx's clients. I ensured that every design resonated with the client's brand and enhanced user interaction with their products and services. My role involved translating client requirements into visually and functionally compelling digital experiences using research and design rationale, strengthening my growth towards more strategic UX responsibilities.
Director, Animator & Storyboard Artist
Ireland's animation sector has transformed into a global powerhouse, boasting world-class storytellers and studios, alongside a thriving industry for international enterprise. I joined various top-tier animation studios in Ireland as a 2D/3D Animation Generalist, leading and coordinating projects to deliver exceptional broadcast animations for platforms like the BBC, Amazon Prime, and RTE.
I was privileged to lead and coordinate projects at several esteemed animation studios in Ireland, delivering world-class broadcast animations for platforms like the BBC, Amazon Prime, and RTE. My role involved steering project visions to fruition, ensuring high-quality outcomes aligned with client and viewer expectations.
During my time in these roles, I was credited as a storyboard artist for the popular children’s show on the BBC, ‘Go Jetters.’ I also received an IFTA nomination for my direction and animation in the acclaimed short film, ‘Headspace’. In addition, I contributed to academia by teaching advanced animation modules at IADT and DCU, shaping the next generation of animators.
How I approach design & leadership
Know the user
I've boosted engagement with our research platform, speeding up design tests and increasing iterations. By teaming up with research experts, our design team now crafts intuitive, elegant user journeys. This has resulted in more test-and-learn cycles, leading to better and more impactful designs.
Explore ideas
I've encouraged my design team to think broadly about their design challenges and generate multiple solutions. By collaborating with customers and stakeholders, we decide on the best option. This approach has increased our confidence in our output, resulting in more prototypes and improved project performance.
Show early, show often
We've streamlined our design feedback process with frequent design reviews and quick video demos. This has built confidence in my design team's abilities with our stakeholders; we believe it has improved our ways of working and sped up project timelines by cutting down on meeting times while still getting quality feedback.
Collaboration
Collaboration is important to me; people just work better together. I guide my design team to engage with as many points of view as possible. I believe it results in higher-quality, more well-rounded design solutions. The activities can be as simple as face-to-face calls or large-scale workshops.
Make it real
I believe in creating realistic prototypes to evaluate our design choices. Each idea will always be better evaluated in its intended context. Seeing a mobile design on your own phone gives customers and stakeholders the right framing to critique the experience. By leading teams to demo through prototypes rather than mocks, we've seen more user testing sessions and cycles of iteration in a sprint.
Mentoring
I mentor UX designers and help them develop their skillsets so they can achieve their goals. One of my biggest joys since becoming a design leader is seeing how my team is progressing and getting better. I truly believe it's ultimately their efforts that make them successful, but I love being part of that journey with them. As well as mentoring my teammates, I volunteer on ADPList.