Rachel Wallis

About

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Rachel Wallis
UK, remote

Nearly two decades of designing, coding, collaborating, and learning, mostly learning. How the pieces fit, when they don't, and when to pivot.

Failure isn't what stops production; it's what stops you shipping mistakes. Users will tell you their story if you ask, and those stories are gems.*

* Thanks Teresa Torres, I'm your number one fan.

And hello AI! I'm still building, just faster and leaner, with more room to experiment. I'm still designing, with a colleague who can audit tokens and jump into Figma while I'm talking to users. I've done too much, too little, and wasted tokens along the way. It's exciting anyway, and I'm using it.

I've sat on the bridge between design and development for years. It was sometimes lonely when neither side wanted to step on. I have explained UX to managers who thought it was UI, and components to people who wanted to build freehand. That gap is smaller now. This is me: a lively enthusiast for exceptional experiences rooted in real user needs, on accessible, secure, scalable platforms.

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What I do

Strategy / planning

Product direction, roadmaps, aligning design work to business goals, analytics.

Research

Research frameworks, interviews, usability testing, journeys, workshops, card sorting, A/B testing.

Design

Product UI, wireframing, prototyping, Figma, design systems, tokens, email, forms, data visualisation.

Engineering

HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript, React, Next.js, Storybook, Git, Agile, Jira.

Team leadership

Leading and mentoring designers, pairing with engineering, getting both sides onto the same bridge.

In production

Accessibility, WCAG, performance, maintainable UI, debugging what shipped.

AI

Using AI to move faster in design and code, and knowing when it helps versus when it wastes tokens.

Uses

Design

Figma, FigJam, tokens (Token Studio, Token Dictionary), prototyping, AI prototyping (Claude, Cursor).

Build

VS Code, Cursor, GitHub, Next.js, React, Storybook, Sass, Tailwind, Astro, Vercel, Cloudflare, TursoDb, Stripe, Terminal, Lighthouse.

Research / product

UserTesting, Dovetail, Miro, Notion, Jira, Analytics, Hotjar, Userpilot, Optimal Workshop.

AI

Cursor, ChatGPT, Claude, Figma AI, Grok, Gemini (Nano Banana).

Roles

  1. Mar 2026 – now

    Senior UX Designer

    Housemark · housemark.co.uk

    Solo designer on the member product for UK social housing: benchmarking, dashboards, and self-serve insight.

    • Research with housing staff and tenants, and strategy with product managers.
    • Design system in Figma and in code (Storybook); I ship UI, not only files.
    • Brand and marketing work sits beside the product work.

  2. Aug 2025 – Mar 2026

    Senior UX Designer

    Cytiva · cytivalifesciences.com

    Contract role, via an agency, on internal lab and biomanufacturing software in a regulated environment.

    • Launched a new user research platform.
    • Started a design system so the internal tools could share a language.
    • Research and accessibility in a validated process, not a marketing site.

  3. Jul 2024 – Aug 2025

    Co-Owner/Design Engineer

    Dot Studio · dotstudio.uk

    Freelance design systems and websites, designed and built.

    • Shipped a tokenised component system in Figma and Storybook, then used it to build the studio site.
    • Designed and developed client sites end to end (not a handoff).

  4. Mar 2024 – Jul 2024

    Senior UX Product Designer

    Checkatrade · checkatrade.com

    Led UI for B2B partnerships, jointly setting research objectives with the product manager and engineering lead.

    • Checkatrade × Heatable quote-and-book journey: 25% less drop-off in the brand transition, 15% more bookings. Shipped with engineering.
    • UX redesign of the B2B Guided Sales Flow in Salesforce: 30% fewer user errors.
    • UI for the trade app proof of concept.
    • Researched guarantee monetisation and stopped it before the company invested in a non-viable product.
    • Alternative for site Service Charge: clearer pricing, 20% better satisfaction.

  5. Dec 2021 – Mar 2024

    Senior Product Designer, promoted from Product Designer

    Feefo · business.feefo.com

    End-to-end product design on B2B SaaS. Email, forms, the design system, and a 3-person design team, with engineering in the room.

    • Redesigned feedback emails: 43% uplift in response rates (A/B: 40% response, 15% CTR).
    • Redesigned the review form: 28% more completions, 70% uplift vs control.
    • Led the design system rebuild: tokens, 50+ components, Storybook, WCAG 2.1 AA. Teams designed and built 40% faster; Figma reusability cut rework by 35%.
    • Introduced user-testing; engineering rework down 10%.
    • Shopify integration: 20% uplift in engagement. Grew a 3-person design team; delivery 25% faster.
    • As Product Designer, redesigned the B2C platform: 9% more page views.

  6. Mar 2020 – Dec 2021

    UX Lead

    Zupa / Caternet · zupa.com

    Led UX on catering operations software used across hospitality.

    • Put a research framework in place. Reduced friction by 15% and moved SUS up 12 points.
    • A user-centred design process and a scalable design system, with engineering in the work.

  7. Aug 2019 – Mar 2020

    Senior UX Engineer

    Warp · warp.co.uk

    The title already said it: accessible front-end, design systems in code, not only in Figma.

    • Led front-end design systems work and interactive prototypes into the codebase.
    • Accessible patterns and WCAG; measured usability improved by 30%.

  8. Oct 2018 – Aug 2019

    Media Development Manager

    Babcock International · babcockinternational.com

    Team lead. Owned the design system and style guide.

    • Led the design and development team.
    • Built the design system and style guide, improving collaboration and reducing design-related development time.

  9. Jul 2008 – Oct 2018

    UX/UI Manager

    Harris Poll · theharrispoll.co.uk

    Then Maru / edr. Led design for B2B and B2C research platforms.

    • Oversaw designers and developers on surveys, emails, communities, and panels.
    • UX for data visualisations so stakeholders could cut and roll up insight.

Side projects

  1. 01RGW Heating & PlumbingA conversion site with an instant boiler quote, designed and built for a two-person firm.rgwplumbing.co.uk
  2. 02Quote DirectA white-label quote funnel that prices from live supplier cost, on the trade's own site.quotedirect.uk
  3. 03ReadywebA storefront and quote widget for trades who do not have a website yet.readyweb.trade
  4. 04Easy CP12Gas safety certificates on a phone: log the check, issue the PDF, chase the renewal.easycp12.com
  5. 05SparkA trade business app in progress. The marketing site is live; the product is not.spark-app.co.uk
  6. 06FamtasticA household dashboard the family uses: meals, chores, money, and permission-aware chat.App, in progress

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