Craig Willers
A multi-disciplined, end-to-end product and design strategist working as an independent consultant within design, product, and experience. A creative thinker and tinkerer, I work hands-on across cx, service design, design-ops, data science, analytics, technology, data visualisation, and project management.
During the course of my 20+ year career, I’ve led major experience and design projects for organisations such as Accenture, Oracle, Time Out, AT Kerney, Arab News, Alshaya, Tallarium, ADCB, Etihad, Dubai and Abu Dubai Governments, amongst many others.
Professional experience
Independent Design Consultant (2011-Current)
Recent Consulting Roles
Head of Product and Co-founder — Reach by Channel Pro (current)
Design Lead — Tallarium (current)
Chief of Innovation Design & Product — EdStatica (Current)
Design Direction (Identity) — Which School Show
UI & UX lead — ScoutSSS mobile application
Design and Experience Director (Admin Platform) — Leo Trippi
Design lead — Omobono / Accenture Presentation For RILA
Lead cross-functional teams across design, UX, and engineering; fostering a collaborative, open approach which lead to the dovetailing of team skills
Successfully established technical methodologies to help clients grow demand for products and services through experience design, product design, product strategy and creative leadership
Scoped, analysed, and documented product requirements via stakeholders and business owner interviews on customer behaviour
Mentored by promoting a growth mindset throughout teams, enabling efficiency, openness, and collaboration
Owned and delivered major design projects for start-ups, governments, and Fortune 500 multinational across a wide range of industry sectors
Established and maintained long-lasting relationships with corporate clients, 3rd party print and engineering suppliers, and potential partners
Constantly and consistently maintained my multi-disciplined craft and skill set, staying abreast of new platforms, technology, design culture
Successfully built, maintained, and extended design systems over ever-involving software such as Figma and Sketch
Prioritised key product components against resources and milestone limitations whilst planning release iterations
Selected additional clients
Accenture, Arab News, Al Arabiya, Alshaya, AT Kearney, Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi (Gov.), Etihad, Shurooq (Gov.), Lime Tree Café & Kitchen, M&C Saatchi, Omobono, Oracle, Prime Minister Office (Gov.), Qatar Diar, Al Shaya, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com
Professional experience (continued)
Mokus.io (2015-2017)
Co-Founder, Chief of Design & Product
Developed the launch stage agency model team to fund the MVP of the product
Aligned creative functions (brand and UX) and developed the business strategy of the product
Cultivated and project managed a remote team of international UX designer and developers
Orchestrated the product’s brand, communication, and presentation efforts to pitch for investment in UAE and UK
Roles
Design / UX Lead — Beneple (HR Application)
Design / UX Lead — Democrance (Insurance Mobile app)
Project Manager, Head of QA — Health at Hand (Mobile APP)
Design / UX Lead — Abjjad (Arabic E-Reader app )
Selected client list
Health at Hand (Meditech), Beneple (HR / Insurance), Abjjad (E-reader), dtec (Gov.), AT Kearney (Consulting), Democrance (Insurance)
ITP Publishing Group, Dubai (2007-2011)
Executive Creative Director
Recruited and mentored a multicultural team of 30+ creatives and engineers
Pioneered UX, UI and content strategy based on data analysis and financial response
Successfully pitched and won client-side advertising contracts worth well in excess of US$1 million
Accelerated YoY traffic growth up to 1,000%+ across on both ArabianBusiness.com and TimeOutDubai.com
MAC Corporation (2005-2007)
Creative Director
Directed firm’s communication and presentation efforts with client-side investors and property developers for two real estate companies.
Lead discussions and managed all vendor and supplier relationships (advertising, architecture, tech, videography)
Desert Fish Magazine (2005-2006)
Design Director
Led the design direction and identity of the trailblazing magazine photography and fashion magazine.
ITP Publishing Group, Dubai (1998-2005)
Junior design > Creative Director
Established the company’s design department, growing team from three to 30+ in three years
Hands-on lead & launch design director of Time Out Dubai, Time Out Abu Dhabi, Ahlan!, Etihad Inflight, Arabian Business
Skills
Business acumen, with an acute sense of the dimensions of a client’s business issues
Leadership, mentoring, and hiring of cross functional, culturally-diverse team members
Client-facing: empathy to customer needs, rationalising concepts, visual and verbal presentations
Understanding of coding language, development environments and handover communication tools
Data analysis & visualisation of customer and user scenarios
Strong visual and written, storytelling, positioning skills
Mentoring on design thinking & product strategy
Problem-solving under pressure, time-management
Grid-systems, design systems, design, music, film, typography, and brand design
Deep interest in psychology, behaviour, and culture
Collaboration and project management up-down-sideways
Agile & lean service design methodology and project management
Behavioural research, analysis, diagramming, prototypes
Comprehensive hands-on skills across most related software (Adobe CC, Figma, Sketch, Keynote, Powerpoint, Jira, Gitlab)
Software
Figma
Sketch
Photoshop
InDesign
Illustrator
XD
OmniGraffle
Marvel
Google Analytics
Invision
Balsamic
Glyphs
Zeplin
Jira / Confluence
Volunteer experience
Young Innovators Programme (2017-current)
Mentoring Year 9 students through innovation and design thinking workshops
2018 cohort won Project Design Space at DIDI
Desert Fish Magazine,
Design DirectionEmirates Red Crescent Book Design, supporting orphan camping in Yemen
Education
University of Portsmouth BA(Hons) Communication Design
Shephalbury College of Art
& Design
Foundation Course in Art & Design, Graphic Design & Film