Michael Korzilius

Lead UX/UI designer with over 15 years industrial experience.

I design websites and apps, translating complex business logic into a simple and engaging language for everyday people.

Skills & Perks

Figma
Sketch
Adobe
Creative Suite
Art Direction
Wireframe / Lo-Fi / Hi-Fi Design
Sprint 2.0
Client Interaction / Presentation
Design Strategy
Usability / Prototyping / User Testing
HTML / CSS / JS / React / LAMP

Pushing for the unique
& exceptional.

Every project is an opportunity for craftsmanship.

I’m passionate about what I do. Truly. I’m the guy who is still at his desk at some late hour because I’m simply enjoying my time.

There are few greater senses of reward than that of a job well done, especially when I’ve pushed past expectations and pulled a rabbit out of a hat to do it.

Image of a craftsman working on a cuckoo clock.

Design that’s accurate
& communicative

A diligent grasp of the problem is already half way to the solution.

I drill deep to come to firm grips with the task at hand, exploring the grey area to find a solution that will be thoughtful, deliberate, and often right outside of the box.

This requires understanding the trinity of the client, the project and the user — mixed in with a healthy dose of initiative.

A designer that knows code.
Why’s that important?

Planning ahead for fresh ideas that are feasible.

As a project passes from design to development and onward, things get exponentially more expensive in time, money, and thought power.

Drawing on years of experience in front and back-end development I design with a plan in mind before passing finalised ideas to the dev team — even complex ideas.

Shiny, happy people.

Every team I work with is my dream team.

To make great things you need a team of great people, be they stakeholders, designers, developers or even end users. Everyone has value, even if they don’t know it.

I’m a people person. I take pleasure in bringing people together as a team in a way that’s enjoyable, collaborative and supportive. All for one and one for all!

The Process

An objective, real-world path to successful design, born from my time in agency environments where things move fast and deadlines are immoveable.

Tenet 1: Get things done.

Time is precious, so keep the project moving forward. Carefully consider where time should be spent and where it should be saved.

Tenet 2: Speculate early.

Draw on principles of UX, Design Thinking and traditional design practices to test and establish direction early, where decisions are cheaper to change.

Tenet 3: Design with vision.

Focus on core features and build outwards. Experience of the complete project pipeline gives me vision as to how each decision affects the whole.

Steps of the process.

Investigate
Ideate Test Measure
Design
Deliver

Investigate.

Discover and define users and their behaviours, alongside business needs, success conditions, and other valuable insights. Results are compiled into an information deck and underpin the direction of the project. Methodologies used are tailored to project requirements.

Client / stakeholder interviews.
Market / competitor research.
Discovery workshops.
Design sprint workshops.
Establish users & groups.
Project / business goals.
User journeys / needs.
Content / UX audit.

Ideate, test & measure.

Explore how success conditions can be met, and then test those ideas against business capabilities and/or users. Begin with low fidelity mediums, which allow for rapid iteration, and then progressively move to more detailed ones. At the end of this step the core strategy will be in place.

Information architecture.
User flows / red routes.
Wireframes.
Storyboards / wireflows.
Prototyping.
Lo-fi / key page design.
Client & user testing.
Defining & refining strategy.

Design.

Structure and strategy in place, breathe life into the project. Begin with core pages and devices to establish aesthetics, then thoroughly design all the pages, states and breakpoints. Iteration and further testing can also be introduced.

Complete hi-fi design suite.
Visual design / look & feel.
Proofs of concepts.
Functional repsonsive design.
Client & user testing.
Asset generation.
Demonstrative animations.
Design systems / libraries.

Deliver & delight.

Using the results of steps 1 and 2 to form a concrete basis, I rationally deliver the completed work to stakeholders. My design files are clearly laid out and assets in place in a way that a development team can easily adopt.

Stakeholder presentation.
Developer handover.
Exportable assets.
Documented designs.
Pre-coded components.
Schema of required plugins.

One size doesn't need to fit all.

Agile & scrum.

There are a number of solutions to allow design — which is often quite holistically driven — to fit into an Agile workflow, which can include the Process above.

À la carte.

Some of the Process may not be required for your project, or maybe more tools are. I can offer those services individually or in a number of combinations.

Something else...

There are some cases when something truly bespoke is required. Let’s talk. A pragmatic mindset can accomplish anything.

Portfolio

Selected clients from freelance and agency roles.

TV5Monde Asie-Pacifique

User Analysis/Testing
Strategy
Flow/Wires/Protos
UI
More

Modernising the online platform for an international TV network. Balancing business needs with those of users with very different behaviours, cultures and geographical locations.

Case Study

As Lead Designer at Rush Hour Media, HK

HK University of Science & Technology

User Analysis/Testing
Strategy
Wires/Protos
UI
More

Consolidating and rationalising numerous student resources into a single, user-friendly knowledge base which students and faculty would need to access daily.

Case Study

As Lead Designer at Rush Hour Media, HK

Seven Seas Shipping Worldwide

Sprint 2.0
User Analysis
User Testing
Strategy
UI
More

Creating a new shipping calculator for users — during the stressful time of moving house — to quickly and easily generate a quote that can then be converted into a sale.

Coming Soon

As contract UX/UI Designer for Browser, London

Mr. & Mrs. Fox

Visual Design
UI Design
Developer Support
More

One of a series of newly opened restaurants that required a stylised online identity to reflect and sell the unique environment of the establishment in a competitive F&B market.

Coming Soon

As contract UX/UI Designer at Turtle Media, HK

HSBC
Hang Seng Bank
RSPCA
Agence pour l’enseignement français á l’étranger
Anna Sui Vision
French Chamber of Commerce
Nixplay
Swire
Alliance Française
Invesco

Roles

Lead / Senior Designer

I have extensive experience leading a design project from beginning through to delivery and launch. This has been my day-to-day for many years, the benefits of which I offer to you.

Direction & initiative.

I am well versed in what’s required for a design project and how to deliver it.

Objectively creative.

A place for everything and everything in its place. Beautiful designs, yet rational.

Solo or team.

I can work either alone or directing a team. I have experience in both areas.

Collaborative.

Working together with peers to become greater than the sum of our parts.

Hands on.

I’m a practical person. I like to get my hands dirty with the tasks I’m assigned.

Entropy control.

Spot problematic factors that affect the project before they can make an impact.

As part of an existing workflow.

Alternatively, I can work alongside existing teams and fit into their workflow and process.

UX Designer.

Designing the core strategy, structure and user interaction of the project to meet user needs and business goals.

UI / Visual Designer.

Creating high definition designs in detail and/or establishing visual language of the project.

UX Consultant.

Guiding optimisation of existing sites, or assisting those embarking on a new venture to gain insights.

Hybrid Designer / Dev.

Creating designs and then reproducing them in code, either as React or standalone front-end components.

About Me

I am an experienced UX/UI designer based in Dorset/Somerset, UK.

I’ve many years of experience across different industry sectors, and different skillsets too. My career has straddled leadership, UX and visual design, and development. I know each step of the project pipeline rather intimately. I could — and have — delivered entire projects myself. This knowledge has served my teams well and has helped us push beyond the boundaries of the proverbial box, often surpassing expectations and delighting clients and users alike.

Digital design has been one of the best parts of my life for, well, the best part of my life. The last 20 years, from when my journey began, have been somewhat dedicated to mastering my craft; a mindset I still maintain to this day.

I come from an agency background, working here in the UK and in Asia. I now operate as a contractor, which allows me to throw myself into my projects more than full-time positions do. Remote is my preference, because I can pour more hours into my work, but I am also open to commuting if needs be.

Fields I’ve worked in include:

Fintech / information dashboards
Events / event management systems
Academia / education
Retail brands / marketing campaigns
E-commerce / brand awareness
Fleet management
Integrated hard/software systems
Charity / NGO
Freight / shipping
Health, fitness and wellbeing
Informative / brochureware

Get in Touch

If you think I can help you, please pop me an email. It'd be great to hear from you.

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