irfan.simons@gmail.com
Currently lead design at QBE Europe, focusing on internal tools used by insurance brokers and underwriters.
Nearmap
MapBrowser
Nearmap, a Sydney-based geospatial scale-up, hired me as its third designer in 2020, during my time we grew the team to eight.
I predominantly led the design of MapBrowser, the company’s core product—a web app for accessing high-resolution aerial imagery and property data. During this time, monthly active users grew from 40K to 110K.
I also contributed to various other projects across the business, including redesigning the user account experience and streamlining the customer support flow.
During my time at Nearmap, the company was acquired by Thoma Bravo for AUD $1.05 billion in 2023.
Shipping over x amount of features.,..
Core product of Nearmap, MapBrowser
Updated UI components
Updated UI components
Embeddable 'mini' MapBrowser
Improved layers panel
Redesign of MapBrowser, focusing on optimising the viewable map area
Iterative redesign of MapBrowser
Years of design debt from legacy versions of MapBrowser had been overlooked, leading to compounded inefficiencies.
Alongside larger initiatives, I tackled these pain points through iterative improvements. Over time, these small changes made a big impact, transforming MapBrowser into a solid, user-friendly product.
By refining components and minimising UI clutter, I increased the viewable map area by an average of 30%, allowing users to focus on content rather than the interface, enhancing clarity and usability.
Nearmap
Project sharing
MapBrowser met individual user needs but fell short on team collaboration, which was a growing demand.
I led design and research for one of our most requested features—project sharing and collaboration. Customers now expected this, making it a critical release.
Working closely with the product owner, I built a business case to secure project backing, highlighting its value to customers and its potential to deepen MapBrowser’s adoption, driving user growth.
After launching project sharing and collaboration we grew our user base by 15% in the first 3 months… lorem
Updated projects side panel
Updated projects side panel
Updated projects side panel
Early exploration for project sharing
Copyright Agency
Copyright Agency is a not-for-profit that helps authors, artists, and illustrators in Australia manage licensing and receive royalties.
Their team uses the ‘Works, Rights & Shares’ database to register publications, manage payments, and distribute royalties. The old system was slow, complicated, and didn’t integrate well with other tools.
I led design, working closely with their product owner, to build a new application to streamline processes, add automation, and make it easier for staff to use.
We were able to reduce the processing time of publication registration, the most common task, by an average of 30%. This improvement alone was estimated to make a huge difference to the efforts of the staff and lead to a large reduction in operating costs.
Copyright - Works view
Add account
Tasks
Work detail view
Admin sign-in
ConnectHUB
ConnectHUB is a Melbourne-based wealth management platform for financial advisers and their clients.
Financial advisers struggled with fragmented investment accounts spread across multiple platforms, lacking a consolidated view of client wealth.
The Investor App aimed to solve this by aggregating investments in one place, giving investors better financial visibility.
To quickly deliver value, ConnectHUB focused on a minimal marketable product, allowing iterative improvements based on user feedback.
As the Senior UX Designer, I collaborated with the Product Owner, Head of UX, and UI Designer to bring this vision to life.
Hey, I'm Irfan. I'm currently living in London, my home city, after spending the majority of the past decade in Sydney, Australia.I start with writing to define requirements, then rapidly sketch ideas, refining the best concepts in Figma. I advocate for early, frequent feedback and fast iterations to reach the best solution.
Hey, I'm Irfan. I'm currently living in London, my home city, after spending the majority of the past decade in Sydney, Australia.I start with writing to define requirements, then rapidly sketch ideas, refining the best concepts in Figma. I advocate for early, frequent feedback and fast iterations to reach the best solution.
Prototyping
UI design
User research
Usability testing
Prototyping
Prototyping
01
Strategic approach
I take a strategic approach, aligning business objectives with user needs to create clear, goal-driven project plans.
02
Research is the foundation
I am able utilise a wide variety of research methods when appropriate and necessary, including user interviews, competitive analysis, benchmarking, and UX audits.
03
Ensuring the right thing gets built
I take a holistic approach to research, identifying key themes and core issues to develop targeted, effective solutions.
04
Design is an iterative process
I start with writing to define requirements, then rapidly sketch ideas, refining the best concepts in Figma. I advocate for early, frequent feedback and fast iterations to reach the best solution.
05
Validation is essential
A design is just an assumption until tested with users. Untested assumptions can be costly, so I organise and conduct usability testing, synthesise feedback, and present key findings.
06
Ensuring quality
I work closely with development teams to support and provide design quality assurance during build phase.
01
Strategic approach
I take a strategic approach, aligning business objectives with user needs to create clear, goal-driven project plans.
02
Research is the foundation
I am able utilise a wide variety of research methods when appropriate and necessary, including user interviews, competitive analysis, benchmarking, and UX audits.
03
Ensuring the right thing gets built
I take a holistic approach to research, identifying key themes and core issues to develop targeted, effective solutions.
04
Design is an iterative process
I start with writing to define requirements, then rapidly sketch ideas, refining the best concepts in Figma. I advocate for early, frequent feedback and fast iterations to reach the best solution.
05
Validation is essential
A design is just an assumption until tested with users. Untested assumptions can be costly, so I organise and conduct usability testing, synthesise feedback, and present key findings.
06
Ensuring quality
I work closely with development teams to support and provide design quality assurance during build phase.