Aaron Ooi

Aaron Ooi

Lead Product Designer in New Zealand

About

I’m Aaron, a Lead Product Designer with a background in software engineering who has successfully impacted millions of users through strategic and innovative design solutions. With over 8 years in UX, I’ve helped companies craft engaging digital experiences that blend design and technology seamlessly.

Work Experience

2024 — Now
Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Mystartup.ai is an AI-driven app designed to guide entrepreneurs through the early stages of launching a business. It offers valuable insights and advice on diverse topics such as business planning, funding, marketing, and legal considerations.

2023 — Now
Lead User Experience Designer at Westpac
Auckland, New Zealand
  • Led the redesign of a complex, high-impact project redesigning (the Westpac Mobile Banking App) from discovery through delivery across web, mobile, and tablet platforms. Achieving an 80% increase in customer engagement.

  • Planned and facilitated user research to gather stakeholder insights and validate design decisions for (the Westpac Notification, Cards Hub and Transaction feature). I conducted usability tests with over 30 users. I translated these insights into actionable design improvements, resulting in an 80% increase in customer engagement.

  • I’ve built a strong cross-functional collaboration effectively with various teams and designers to ensure seamless design implementation, resulting in an 90% improvement in design quality through mentorship and guidance.

2022 — 2023
Lead User Experience Designer at Contact Energy
Auckland, New Zealand
  • Led the user research process, conducting over 20 qualitative user interviews and surveys to understand needs and preferences, resulting in a 50% increase in user satisfaction and engagement.

  • Developed intuitive information architecture and navigation structures, which reduced user navigation time by 30% and improved task completion rates by 20%.

  • Created and refined wireframes and prototypes, iterating based on feedback from 20 usability tests, leading to a 50% increase in user engagement.

  • Collaborated closely with developers to ensure design solutions were feasible and aligned with project requirements.

  • Mentored 2 junior designers, providing guidance and support that improved design quality, design process and best practices.

  • Collaborated with the Head of Design and fellow designers to identify and address gaps in design practices, specifically reducing the time spent recreating components from scratch by enhancing the design system and process efficiency.

2021 — 2022
Lead Product Designer at AskNicely
Auckland, New Zealand
  • Mentor other members of the Product & Design team, both inside and outside of your product(s) on how to approach design problems, solicit feedback and drive for impactful outcomes.

  • Collaborate across teams to generate, analyze, and act on feedback and data to deliver quality experiences.

  • Work closely with Product and Engineering in the discovery and hand-off of designs to ensure high-quality execution and adoption.

  • Engage across all stages of product development using skills in concepting, design systems, user interface, and user research.

  • Conceptualize and detail user flows and end-to-end experiences via mockups, process flows, and prototypes.

  • Apply strategic thinking to design and deliver innovative user experiences that drive business outcomes.

2019 — 2021
Lead UX Designer at Tax Management NZ
Auckland, New Zealand
  • I’ve led projects to overhaul some key product features (request quote, request finance and dashboard redesign) and coordinate with product management, marketing, and engineering to integrate new design concepts that simplified processes and aligned with evolving business goals and user needs.

  • Defined and delivered design artifacts (e.g., user personas, sitemaps, wireframes) and collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure designs met business goals and technical constraints. Conducted user research and usability testing and developed detailed design documentation.

  • Created detailed design artifacts, facilitated several workshops, and used Design Sprint and Design Thinking methodologies to align designs with user needs and business objectives. Incorporated feedback from over 20 users based on qualitative research into design improvements and ensured accurate implementation through comprehensive documentation and realistic release estimates.

  • Achieved a successful feature and dashboard overhaul, enhancing usability and increasing user satisfaction by 80% based on positive feedback through NPS. The project led to a more intuitive user experience, accurate implementation of designs, improved team alignment, and a significant increase in user engagement and adoption.

2018 — 2019
Senior UX & UI Designer, Software Developer at Mustard Technology
Hamilton, New Zealand
2017 — 2018
Business Intelligence Developer at Livestock Improvement Corporation
Hamilton, New Zealand
2016 — 2017
UI & UX Designer, Full-stack Developer at Nyriad
Cambridge, New Zealand

Education

2018 — 2019
Postgraduate in Information Technology at University of Waikato
Hamilton, New Zealand
2011 — 2013
Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management at University of Waikato
Hamilton, New Zealand

Certifications

2023
Scaling Design System from Dribbble
2021
Google UX Design Professional Certificate from Google
Dribbble
LinkedIn