Noora Iso-Kuusela-Marin

• The Idean became Frog in 2021. Both Idean and Frog were part of Capgemini Finland's creative division and under its ownership.
• As a Senior UX designer, conducted user research and interviews to inform design decisions.
• Developed wireframes, prototypes, and user flows for web and mobile applications.
• Worked closely with developers during implementation phase to ensure accuracy of designs.
• I used various UX and service design methods, e.g personas, user flows, co-creation workshops.
• Collaborated with product managers, developers, and other stakeholders on product design initiatives.
• Analyzed user behavior data to understand how users interact with products and services and make recommendations based on findings.
• Designed intuitive navigation structures that facilitate efficient task completion.
• Facilitated brainstorming sessions with cross-functional teams to generate ideas.
• Created detailed style guides to ensure consistency across all products.
• The most notable clients were Ericsson, ABB, If Insurance, H&M, and 3Step IT.

End customer: Ericsson, ESM Team

While at Idean, Noora was contracted as a consultant for Ericsson for nearly two years. For this reason, the project is highlighted in more detail.

Ericsson Security Manager is the 5G cybersecurity platform that addresses the needs of next-generation security operations by making security visible and automating the security processes. Ericsson Security Manager provides security policy-driven automation, compliance monitoring, and security analytics functions to protect networks, including 5G and IoT threats.
The purpose was to ensure dedication and continuity in Ericsson's product development work and enhance design maturity of Ericsson's internal design team.

Responsibilities:

• UX/UI Design of the Cyber Security Product
• Prototyping
• Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams (dailies, sprint planning sessions)
• Participate defining User Stories and Acceptance Criteria
• Recommended the best tools and working methods
• Facilitated co-design sessions
• Create and refine designs based on the feedback and evolving requirements
• Work load estimations and task prioritisation
• Creating templates, eg. Persona, user interview, etc.
• Responsive design
• Support the client team in any task where a design thinking perspective or service design methodologies are needed
• Product testing before deployment
  

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Achievements:

Strengthened Ericsson's design competence for nearly two years, with her contract being renewed every three months. She adopted the client’s working culture, equipment, and Scrum-friendly ways of working.

Noticed that the product was not responsive and did not adapt to large screens. She began advocating for responsive design within Ericsson's product team by facilitating workshops and including key stakeholders in the design process, such as product owners, technical architects, and developers. Responsive design was added to the roadmap and given high priority. Today, the product is responsive.

Promoted a human-centered design approach and its benefits to the entire R&D team, including product owners, developers, and other designers. One challenge was that client companies didn’t understand what they would gain from investing their time in user testing. Ericsson's key personnel, working closely with customers, learned how to communicate the benefits of user testing and research to client companies, encouraging them to participate in user test sessions in the future.

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References:
Product Owner, Ericsson:
“When we get to the implementation phase of the responsiveness that Noora has been driving, there will probably be lot of side-by-side work to see what can be done and what is reasonable. However, I see responsiveness as something we just cannot ignore much longer.”

Service designer, Ericsson:
“Good news! Client agreed that we really need feedback from actual users. They proposed us to have interviews first with their service managers, who spend most of their time with their customers. Anyway, I am super happy about this, thanks a lot especially Noora Iso-Kuusela for the help with the presentations.”

Salla Rantamäki, design lead at Ericsson:
"Noora has been working in our team as a UX designer, with special focus on prototypes and UI design. She indeed has a very good eye on visualizations as well as complex interactions, and has been a big help in the team in our daily work as well as with our design system and how to develop it further. During the 2020's remote work phase, we have very effectively collaborated in a pair design mode and held remote workshops, which has allowed us to quickly iterate through several levels of design together, in a new and demanding situation. Noora is always full of ideas and up-to-date on newest trends and developments on the field. She is able to see more than just one solution to a problem and doesn't get discouraged when facing obstacles. All in all, it has been great working with her."

Oscar Hamren, Developer:
"I have been working together with Noora for long and she is a great UX designer and colleague. She can design everything from pixel perfect components to large entities of highly technical applications. For me as a developer, Noora is a great team member who makes it easy for me to implement designs, she helps me in clarifying how the design should work and also involves me into the design process. This does not only create designs that are great from an end users point of view but also are technically viable and scales well. In addition, Noora is active in sharing her knowledge with other designers and whole organisations. She presents at events and can communicate the importance of great design well to large audiences."

• Successfully analyzed customer needs and converted them into intuitive designs, optimizing accessibility of web services for enhanced user experience.
• Designed and structured information to enhance accessibility and discoverability.
• Responsible for incorporating usability and aesthetics while collaborating cross-functionally.
• Managed multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines and maintaining quality standards.
• Optimized images and graphics for the web according to best practices and standards.
• Created visual designs for websites, mobile apps, and other digital products.
• The most notable clients were Familon, Unicef Finland, Cloetta, Palmia, Vianor, and Marja Kurki.

• Worked as a part of the product management team, which worked in close cooperation with the R&D team and its developers.
• Enhanced the user experience of the company's software, Dream Broker Studio, by modernizing its interface and visual appearance.
• Simplified icon-based functionalities by adding button labels, improving understanding for users.
• Designed and optimized UI/UX for Dream Broker Studio, enhancing the video creation, editing, and sharing capabilities.
• Collaborated with developers to implement design solutions into existing applications.

• Contributed to the success of the company's flagship products, Intellipocket Studio, and its Enterprise version as a member of the R&D team.
• Responsible for UX design of web-based products to create, manage, and monitor mobile applications.
• Effectively communicated highly technical matters with developers in the role of sole UX and visual designer at start-up.
• Managed the visual branding and design of all marketing materials for the company.
• Crafted user-friendly guides and introductions for software applications.
• Customized the product to match clients' brand.
• Created visual designs for websites, mobile apps, and other digital products.
• Conducted training sessions for new staff members.
• Considered the UX design perspective to ensure seamless functionality of loyalty and membership cards across various phone models and interfaces.

• Created written and visual marketing materials for company, including content for newsletters and website.
• Redesigned multiple page templates to enhance the appearance and customization options of a content management system.
• Created search engine optimized content.

• The role involved assisting with a substantial workload across various client teams.
• Created visually appealing designs and user-friendly UIs for various projects.
• The three-month fixed-term contract was extended for an additional six months. During the initial contract, the client companies were small and medium-sized. In the extended contract period, the clients included some of Finland's most prestigious brands.
• The most notable clients were Marimekko, Mandatum Life, Hartwall (Upcider, Jaffa, Lonkero), MTV3, Scanwood and Wärtsilä.
• Worked with the development team to ensure a smooth transition from concept to production-ready assets.

• Ensured brand consistency across all platforms.
• Designed promotional materials such as brochures, flyers, posters, banners, newsletters, logos.
• Adapted existing designs and created new ones based on client needs.
• Concept and visual design for digital services and web pages.
• Collaborated with copywriters to ensure that the art direction complemented the written content.

• Visual design for digital services and web pages.
• Designed promotional materials such as brochures, flyers, posters, banners, newsletters, logos.
• Adapted existing designs or created new ones based on client needs.
• Supervised junior designers and provided guidance on their work product.
• Collaborated with copywriters to ensure that the art direction complemented the written content.
• Worked with creative directors to develop design solutions.

• Managed multiple projects with competing deadlines simultaneously.
• Conducted regular status meetings with internal teams and external partners to track progress against established milestones.
• Communicated with stakeholders to ensure project goals are met on time and within budget.
• Coordinated resources across multiple departments and teams as needed for successful completion of projects.
• Developed and maintained project plans, timelines, and budgets.

• Provided artwork support on a variety of projects such as flyers, business cards, banners and posters.
• Built brand identities from scratch including logo design, color schemes and typography.
• Designed and developed websites.
• Presented creative concepts persuasively during client meetings in order to secure buy-in.