Nick Herft Email & Phone Number

Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My freelance work involves delivering a variety of online solutions for government funded and commercial Australian and international projects. This work commonly involves website design and development with a strong focus on UX and IA deliverables. My responsibilities often include drawing out website requirements; understanding audience needs and behaviours; communicating design decisions; demonstrating interaction design; website development and programming; and user experience research.

United States

My role on this project involved working remotely with the US-based team to design and build a platform for showcasing their principles, case studies, resources, events, and provide a space for evaluators to network.- I led several online workshops to define the website’s key requirements and develop a shared understanding of their key audiences. - I designed the Information Architecture, offering a comprehensive overview of the different content types, taxonomy, and overall content hierarchy. - I created a series of interactive and responsive wireframes to demonstrate user journeys and specific interaction designs.- I designed the user interface in Adobe XD, using the prototyping functionality to further demonstrate the UX and facilitate feedback and discussion. - I built the website as a fully responsive custom theme in Drupal 8.One year after launch, the website had gained over 500 new members with more joining every day. - I worked with the team to design a UX Research survey, collecting quantitative and qualitative data from members. - Results came back highly positive in areas of design, navigation, functionality, and usability, with a few specific areas identified for improvement. - I am currently working on UX designs and developments to carry through with these improvements.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Devil of a Spot required a complete website overhaul to fully showcase their range of services while their company continues to expand. - I led a series of workshops with the team to establish the goals and vision of the company, target audiences, website objectives, and potential barriers to success. - I collaborated with management to identify key content areas and essential messages for communication. - I completed the UX design in Axure RP and UI design in Adobe XD. - Interactive prototypes were presented through online screen-sharing during Victoria’s lockdown stages, allowing me to overcome physical barriers and continue to demonstrate important user journeys and interactions. - I delivered the website as a fully responsive custom theme in Drupal 8.

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

I worked remotely on this project (from Melbourne and London) to design and develop a bespoke solution for Accountability in Tanzania's Risk Management and Partner Progress Reporting tools.My responsibilities included:- Analysing programme goals and objectives, current data collection tools and their associated challenges and weaknesses.- Explore solutions and tools available to address challenges with usability and data redundancy.- Redesign separate data collection tools: Progress Markers for Partners, Risk Register, Significant Changes, and Disbursement management into a single cohesive system.- Designed and developed new functionality and data visualisations.- UX and IA design, including sitemaps, wireframes, user journeys, and prototypes.- Developing the bespoke system in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, PHP, and MySQL.- Conducting usability tests, identifying barriers and refining based on outcomes.- Providing ongoing development and maintenance support.

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

I worked remotely on this project to redesign Accountability in Tanzania's public-facing website.My role on this project involved:- Analysing AcT2 programme objectives and planning a complete overhaul of the previous AcT website, creating a new look and feel with a focus on communicating programme learnings effectively- Designing UX and IA, comprising of sitemap, interactive and responsive wireframe prototypes, content type architecture, taxonomy, and user privileges- Designing User Interface whilst adhering to KPMG colour palette- Developing the website as a fully customised, mobile-responsive theme in Drupal- Providing training and supporting documentation for website managers

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My responsibility for this quick turn-around project included:- Analysing business goals and website requirements- Researching available platforms to find the most cost-effective solution, saving on development and time constraints- Conducting UX and IA design including user journeys, sitemap, and content hierarchies- Working within the Squarespace environment to setup and customise templates as extensively as possible; using the front-end editor and additional CSS to match the company's desired look and feel- Performing quality assurance testing on multiple browsers and devices- Installing and configuring Google Analytics

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Offered remote UX and IA Consultation services on a forum design and integration for CLEAR AA (Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results, Anglophone Africa).

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My work with Qardia involved a detailed analysis of the business and company vision, website key objectives, and their different audience needs. Key activities involved:- Examining materials ranging from business plans to medical documentation and brochures, breaking it down and adapting segments of information to suit different target audiences in an online context.- Building a clear customer journey to develop a shared understanding of the complete user experience for patients- Designing the sitemap and wireframes in Axure RP, offering a detailed look into the user experience and information architecture design.- Designing the user interface in Adobe XD and transforming it into a high-fidelity interactive prototype, further allowing me to demonstrate the complete user experience before committing to development.- Building the website in Drupal 8, giving me the power and flexibility I needed to deliver this website, fully complementing the intended user experience and information architecture design.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I was presented with an initial challenge experienced by Monash Electrical Maintenance regarding an invoicing portal they were required to use by Monash University. This portal required them to manually enter and upload individual lines of data when their previous method allowed them to conveniently submit data in large batches.After investigating their problem, I developed a custom-built macro to launch, navigate, and control an external website. The macro automatically submits data securely from locally stored Excel Workbooks whilst simultaneously uploading the relevant required PDF documents in a continuous loop until the job is done.This solution integrated perfectly into their already existing Excel Workbooks, saving hours of work each month when required to perform this operation. User error has also been eliminated as the macro directly imports data from Excel.Following this work, I was recommended to other service companies to develop automation solutions for similar problems.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My work on this project included:- Analysing key website requirements and alignment with target audiences- Designing information architecture including sitemap and wireframes - Designing the user interface and building interactive prototypes for testing and feedback- Designing icons and colour palette- On-site photography to capture the team in their working environment and alongside branded work-vehicles- Developing the website as a fully customised, mobile-responsive theme in Drupal 8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My role in this project was performed while BetterEvaluation was based at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). My responsibilities included:- Collaborating in goal, objective and strategy setting discussions- Performing technical reviews of website usability; identifying website UX barriers; prioritising developments in alignment with project vision and active strategies- Designing sitemaps, wireframes, content models, responsive designs, high fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes- Developing UX research plans, analysing survey results, synthesising findings and developing reports- Conducting UX interviews and observation studies; leading feedback panel engagement- Leading design and technical discussions with key partners, developers, and key stakeholders- Ensuring development progress and final implementation is to specification through provision of governance and quality assurance- Supporting website administrators in creating and uploading content, ensuring content meets standards and policies- Monitoring, analysing and reporting on user engagement via Google Analytics

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Fulfilled this role while BetterEvaluation was situated in the Centre for Applied Social Research (CASR), RMIT University, Melbourne. Performed the work whilst living in Melbourne and continued working remotely when living in London.My responsibilities included:- Leading the design and development of the Program Managers' Guide to Evaluation for the International Development Research Centre, Canada.- Collaborating with project managers and stakeholders to establish project goals and objectives in alignment with the website's engagement and content development strategies.- Evaluating areas of the website’s design, usability, and functionality.- Identifying and prioritising developments in alignment with current project activities.- Designing wireframes, sitemaps, mockups, prototypes, and information architecture.- Producing technical documentation and specifications; briefing external development teams.- Ensuring development and implementation is to specification through provision of governance and quality assurance.- Designing graphics and media for download and print, such as PDF publications, business cards, and banners for conferences.- Creating a bespoke CMS for monitoring and tracking content; designing and managing systems for tracking user engagement, member registration, and content contributions.- Monitoring and identifying bugs, errors, spam, and other threats to the integrity of the website.- Configuring event tracking via Google Analytics; monitoring and reporting on website downloads and specific usage statistics.- Supporting project team and contributors in the creation of new content; ensuring content meets style and policy guidelines.- Exhibiting at local and interstate conferences; developing strategies for acquiring new website members and content contributors.

London, England, United Kingdom

My responsibility at NDP Studio included:- Leading client kick-off meetings to establish and define project goals, objectives, site audiences, competitors, design guidelines, and content strategies- Analysing provided UX research reports to inform UX and IA design- Designing UX and IA, comprising of user journeys, high-level and low-level sitemaps, interactive and responsive wireframes, content type architecture, taxonomy, user privileges, and technical specifications- Leading workshops with clients, co-designers, and developers to discuss and refine UX developments- Delivering final UX and IA designs to business owners and key stakeholders, demonstrating essential user journeys whilst discussing specific user experience points and interactions

Singapore

Provided remote design and development consultation for their existing website.Identified gaps in content.Reported on usability issues and recommended design improvements.Implemented improvements through website development.