irfan.simons@gmail.com

Work

About

Irfan Simons

Irfan Simons

irfan.simons@gmail.com

irfan.simons@gmail.com

Work

About

I'm Irfan,

 London-based end-to-end product designer with 10+ years experience.

I'm Irfan,

 London-based end-to-end product designer with 10+ years experience.

I enjoy working with ambitious teams to turn complex challenges into simple, end-to-end products.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn

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. I drove continuous improvements and led a range of projects. During this time, monthly active users grew from 40K to over 110K.


I was also involved in business-wide initiatives, including improving the user account experience and streamlining customer support.


During my time at Nearmap, the company was acquired by Thoma Bravo for AUD $1.05 billion in 2023.

Core product of Nearmap, MapBrowser
Redesigned layers panel for better alignment and easier scanning
Refined components with the aim of saving space
Mini-MapBrowser, designed to integrate directly into partner platforms
Redesign of MapBrowser focusing on optimising the viewable map area
Updated UI components

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, we 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 research and design for one of our most requested features—project sharing and collaboration.

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 individual user base by 15% in the first 3 months.

Updated projects panel for sharing
Updated projects panel for sharing
Selection of research
Early exploration for project sharing

"

I had the privilege of working alongside Irfan at Nearmap, where he was not only a key contributor across several strategic projects, but also my trusted second-in-command.

Irfan is a creative and conscientious designer who approaches problems from first principles. He pairs strong design craft with the leadership presence needed to drive a project forward and align stakeholders around a shared vision. Whether he was leading the redesign of our flagship product or delivering a complex partner integration, Irfan consistently produced work that was thoughtful, user-centred, and impactful.

He’s also a generous mentor and a steady hand in the team, someone who brings clarity, integrity, and a real sense of ownership to everything he does. I’m grateful for his contributions and would jump at the chance to work with him again.

Aaron Root

VP Design, Nearmap

"

I had the privilege of working alongside Irfan at Nearmap, where he was not only a key contributor across several strategic projects, but also my trusted second-in-command.

Irfan is a creative and conscientious designer who approaches problems from first principles. He pairs strong design craft with the leadership presence needed to drive a project forward and align stakeholders around a shared vision. Whether he was leading the redesign of our flagship product or delivering a complex partner integration, Irfan consistently produced work that was thoughtful, user-centred, and impactful.

He’s also a generous mentor and a steady hand in the team, someone who brings clarity, integrity, and a real sense of ownership to everything he does. I’m grateful for his contributions and would jump at the chance to work with him again.

Aaron Root

VP Design, Nearmap

Monte Carlo Simulator

I wanted to get hands-on with AI coding tools and see what it’s really like to build something functional with them.

That led me to experiment with Figma Make, where I designed and built an interactive Monte Carlo simulator, a tool that runs thousands of randomised scenarios to show how trading performance can vary, even with the same strategy.

I experimented with various tools including v0, Replit, and Loveable, before landing on Figma Make. Figma Make was by far the smoothest and most enjoyable tool to work with.

It was an empowering experience, being able to conceptualise and build an idea is rapid time. It showed me how AI can extend creativity, rather than replace it.

You can try it for yourself https://mature-taper-78105242.figma.site.

Interactive Monte Carlo simulator built with Figma Make

QBE Insurance

Accident & health broker portal

The Accident & Health Portal is QBE North America's first online platform for brokers and policyholders to manage policies and make payments digitally. Previously, policyholders had to send cheques by post, a slow, manual process that created unnecessary admin on both sides and was error prone.

I led design end to end, from requirement gathering and stakeholder interviews through to design, prototyping, and usability testing. Working closely with the product owner, BA, and engineering team, we created two connected portals. One for brokers and one for QBE’s internal admins.

Through the portal, brokers can view and adjust policy details, make payments, track invoices, and manage multiple policyholders from a single place. The result is a faster, cleaner experience that within 6 months of release reduced cheque processing by around 70%, and lowered call-centre enquiries by roughly 30%.


These improvements not only saved time and operational cost for QBE, but also improved and modernised the experience for brokers.

Accident & health sign-in
Policyholder dashboard
Policy overview showing payment history and quick actions for each billing period
Payment history screen for quick reference and transparency
Invoice view showing full payment breakdown and downloadable summary
Simple cart allowing bulk payment of selected invoices

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 24%. 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.

Work view
Work detail
Add account
Tasks
Admin sign-in page

"

I had the great pleasure of working with Irfan on a complete redesign of our Publication and Rights Management System and our Usage Data Processing System.

While I was impressed by his contemporary and creative UI design capabilities, it was his ability to support me by clearly and efficiently translating complex operational functions into a seamless user experience that proved most invaluable.

For this I am grateful, and highly doubt I could have delivered our successful business outcomes without his skill and expertise.

Damien Sims

Product Owner at Copyright Agency

"

I had the great pleasure of working with Irfan on a complete redesign of our Publication and Rights Management System and our Usage Data Processing System.

While I was impressed by his contemporary and creative UI design capabilities, it was his ability to support me by clearly and efficiently translating complex operational functions into a seamless user experience that proved most invaluable.

For this I am grateful, and highly doubt I could have delivered our successful business outcomes without his skill and expertise.

Damien Sims

Product Owner at Copyright Agency

A little about me

A little about me

I'm product designer currently living in London, my home city, after spending the majority of the past decade in Sydney, Australia.

Over the past 10 years or so, I've worked with companies across many industries, including finance, insurance, ecommerce, and geospatial.

I’m most excited by end-to-end product work. From framing messy problems to shipping solutions that feel simple and intuitive. I thrive in ambitious, fast-moving teams where design, product, and engineering collaborate closely to bring new ideas to life.

I think the best design gets out of the way. It should feel obvious, not clever. If someone has to stop and figure out how to use it, something’s gone wrong.

I aim for clarity and simplicity. I cut what isn’t needed and focus on what helps people do what they came to do. Good design should feel intuitive.

Product design

End-to-end product design, making complex tasks simple

Website design

Clean, minimal design with a focus on business outcomes

Research & Strategy

Utilising research to understand business & user goals

I thrive working end-to-end — from research and discovery through to design & delivery.

01

Fast and adaptable

I’m a fast learner, able to pick up new domains, tools, and team processes seamlessly. This lets me join projects at any stage and start adding value straight away.

02

Strategic approach

I take a strategic approach, aligning business objectives with user needs to create clear, goal-driven project plans.

03

Ensuring the right thing gets built

I draw on research when it’s needed, from interviews to competitive analysis, to uncover insights, identify key themes, and make sure we’re solving the problems that really matter.

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

Design is only an assumption until tested. When needed, I run usability testing, synthesise feedback, and present findings to ensure decisions are grounded in evidence.

I thrive working end-to-end — from research and discovery through to design & delivery.

01

Fast and adaptable

I’m a fast learner, able to pick up new domains, tools, and team processes seamlessly. This lets me join projects at any stage and start adding value straight away.

02

Strategic approach

I take a strategic approach, aligning business objectives with user needs to create clear, goal-driven project plans.

03

Ensuring the right thing gets built

I draw on research when it’s needed, from interviews to competitive analysis, to uncover insights, identify key themes, and make sure we’re solving the problems that really matter.

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

Design is only an assumption until tested. When needed, I run usability testing, synthesise feedback, and present findings to ensure decisions are grounded in evidence.

I thrive working end-to-end — from research and discovery through to design & delivery.

01

Fast and adaptable

I’m a fast learner, able to pick up new domains, tools, and team processes seamlessly. This lets me join projects at any stage and start adding value straight away.

02

Strategic approach

I take a strategic approach, aligning business objectives with user needs to create clear, goal-driven project plans.

03

Ensuring the right thing gets built

I draw on research when it’s needed, from interviews to competitive analysis, to uncover insights, identify key themes, and make sure we’re solving the problems that really matter.

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

Design is only an assumption until tested. When needed, I run usability testing, synthesise feedback, and present findings to ensure decisions are grounded in evidence.