Portfolio — Theodore Tagulao · Mindful Studio

Theodore Elijah Tagulao

TheStorySoFar

Simplifying complexity into clear, scalable outcomes across people, platforms and emerging technology.

Executive Summary

Senior / Lead Product & UX Designer

Simplifying complexity into clear, scalable outcomes across people, platforms and emerging technology.

Who I Am

Senior / Lead UX & Product Designer with 15+ years' experience leading product, design and delivery across startups and global organisations including Apple, Future Workshops, ASOS and bp pulse.

What I Lead

End-to-end product and design leadership, setting direction, aligning cross-functional teams and guiding initiatives from strategy and discovery through to delivery, optimisation and scale.

What I Deliver

Measurable improvements in user-centric engagement, conversion, retention and operational efficiency.
Scalable design systems, platforms and tooling that support accessibility and accelerate delivery.
Reduced delivery risk, faster time-to-market and clearer decision-making.

Where I Add Value

Complex, multi-stakeholder environments with high ambiguity.
Products spanning digital, physical and service experiences.
Organisations scaling platforms, teams or emerging technologies (AI, automation, data).
Calm, outcome-driven leadership that moves teams from ideas to evidence to impact.

How We Plan & Collaborate

Creating clarity through collaboration, structure and evidence-led execution

Discover → Design → Launch → Measure → Learn → ∞

Setup & Plan

Objective: Establish clarity and alignment before design begins.

Plan: Define milestones, reviews, activities and deliverables.
Align: Clarify business goals, success metrics and desired outcomes.

Deliverables

Roadmap, Project plan, success metrics, stakeholder alignment document.

Research & Design

Objective: Understand users and design solutions that address real needs.

Personas: Define goals, needs, pain points and motivations.
Service / Experience Map: Visualise funnel, touch points and journey stages.
Ideation: Generate ideas (Sketches, Crazy 8's, Storyboards).
Prototypes: Create interactive prototypes, rapid iteration and user journeys.
User Testing: Recruit, facilitate sessions and analyse feedback.

Deliverables

Tested prototypes, personas, experience maps, validated concepts, design rationale and refinement.

Build & Optimise

Objective: Translate validated design into production and measure real-world impact.

Handover: Share specifications, assets and edge cases.
QA & Build: Review, share feedback, iterate and support.
Sprint Demos & Retrospectives: Share progress, collaborate on feedback.
Launch: Celebrate with Team.
Measure Performance: Track feedback, usability, satisfaction and success metrics post-launch.

Deliverables

Specifications, pre-release builds, bug reports, live experience, performance reports and opportunities.

Scenario A

Launch New Product, Feature or Service

Goal: Validate concept with end-users before full investment.

Scenario B

Optimise Existing Product, Feature or Service

Goal: Improve performance, usability and user behaviour.

Analysis: Review analytics, customer feedback and usability reports.
Benchmark: Conduct heuristic evaluation and competitor analysis.
Redesign: Key user journeys and/or interactions.
AB Testing: Conduct A/B or multivariate tests.
Feedback: Collect user feedback and track behavioural metrics.
Implementation: Incorporate changes into Design System and documentation.
Data & Analytics: Establish continuous monitoring and optimisation loops.
Share: Share insights across teams to scale improvements.

Behind The Scenes

How strategy, craft and collaboration translate into outcomes.

Design Systems & Toolkits

Establishing shared foundations that scale quality, accessibility and delivery.

bp pulseWeb, Apps, Print & Hardware

bp pulse Design System

Start → Drive → Park → Connect → Charge → Pay → Manage

Challenge

Support global growth by creating a scalable design system that works across multiple markets (UK, US, DE, NL, China) and touchpoints ranging digital products, physical environments and services, maintaining consistency, accessibility and delivery speed.

Role & Contribution

Led the end-to-end design system initiative, operating at Product Design Lead level.
Partnered with Brand, Marketing, Product and Engineering teams across regions to define shared principles, governance and accessibility standards.
Set direction for multi-platform support, enabling teams to design and build consistently.

Solution

Implemented a modular, responsive design system with reusable components and visual language.
Established accessibility-first patterns and documentation to support at scale.
Bridged digital interfaces and physical touch points, ensuring consistency from apps and websites to on-site.

Outcomes

Increased development velocity through shared components and guidelines.
Strengthened accessibility compliance and global brand recognition.
Enabled the successful launch of the UK Hub and EV-only sites, supporting bp pulse's next phase of growth.

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ASOSWeb, Apps, Print & Back Office

ASOS Design System

Start → Explore → Add-To-Bag → Place Order → Manage

Web & Apps · Emails · Print · Social

Challenge

Improve consistency, scalability and speed across ASOS's customer-facing and internal platforms, while supporting localisation, multiple markets and complex data formats across a rapidly evolving global e-commerce ecosystem.

Role & Contribution

Led design system initiatives across multiple product teams, operating within a large, distributed organisation.
Partnered closely with Product, Engineering and Operations to align UI consistency, accessibility standards and Back Office tooling.
Helped define shared principles and patterns to support both customer-facing experiences and internal workflows.

Solution

Delivered a unified design system covering digital, print and internal tools.
Created a Back Office toolkit for custom applications, supporting multiple languages, regions and data types.
Embedded accessibility, documentation and governance to scale consistency.

Outcomes

Improved design and development through shared components.
Delivered consistent user experience across teams, platforms and markets.
Supported international growth and the evolution of internal tooling across the ASOS platform and infrastructure.

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AppleWeb & Apps

Apple Developer Program

Start → Enrol → Build → Submit App → Manage

Challenge

Standardise visual and interaction guidelines across Apple's Developer Platform, spanning iTunes Connect, marketing assets and internal tools, while supporting scale, consistency and best-in-class developer experience.

Role & Contribution

Collaborated with cross-functional teams to design and manage the Apps Database, centralising application information, assets and build metadata.
Contributed to interface guidelines, workflows and tooling across web and platform experiences.
Worked closely with R&D, PR, Retail and Developer Relations to support platform launches and adoption.

Solution

Designed templates, internal tools and documentation to support asset management and workflows.
Promoted best practices aligned with Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) for developers and partners.
Helped connect design standards with operational tooling to support end-to-end app submission and management.

Outcomes

Supported wider adoption of Apple's design standards across the developer ecosystem.
Improved efficiency and reliability of internal workflows supporting global platform launches.

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Operational Tools & Platforms

Designing internal platforms that reduce friction and accelerate teams.

ASOSWeb

ASOS Back Office 2.0

Start → Create → Review → Publish → Manage

Challenge

Improve the speed and scalability of internal workflows supporting content creation, pricing, promotions, sizing, imagery, video, product information and experimentation.

Role & Contribution

Led experience design across complex internal workflows, working closely with Product, Engineering, Data and core Operational teams.
Mapped end-to-end processes, friction points and prioritised opportunities for automation and simplification.
Shaped solutions that balanced operational efficiency, data integrity and usability.

Solution

Delivered internal tools and workflows to streamline production flow and cross-team collaboration.
Introduced automation at key stages, including enrichment and QA.
Integrated tooling with MicroStrategy and PowerBI to improve reporting and decision-making.

Outcomes

Reduced manual workload and accelerated time-to-market.
Improved content accuracy and consistency at scale across teams.
Enhanced operational efficiency and coordination across ASOS's production ecosystem.

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JLRApps & Back Office

Jaguar Land Rover Dealership

Start → Explore → Customise → Compare → Quote → Place Order → Manage → Drive

Challenge

Enable Sales Executives to access accurate stock, pricing and vehicle configuration information quickly and confidently within fast-paced dealership environments.

Role & Contribution

Partnered with Product, Sales and Stakeholder teams to understand in-field constraints and sales workflows.
Led the design of mobile-first tools optimised for real-world dealership usage.
Balanced usability, speed and information density to support live customer interactions.

Solution

An intuitive dealership app experience allowing staff to browse inventory, customise vehicles and generate tailored specifications on demand.
Streamlined access to pricing, options and comparisons to support confident, informed conversations.

Outcomes

Accelerated the sales process by reducing time spent searching for information.
Enabled richer, more informed conversations between sales staff and customers.
Improved conversion confidence at key decision points in the dealership journey.

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Customer Experience

Shaping end-to-end journeys that balance user needs and business outcomes.

US BankFinanceWeb & Apps

US Bank x AI Smart Assistant

Start → Set Goals → Manage Finances → Explore Insights → Next Steps → Better Financial Health

Challenge

Integrate AI into digital wealth experiences for emerging-affluent customers, enabling clearer financial understanding, personalised insight and actionable next steps, while integrating with complex legacy systems and regulatory constraints.

Role & Contribution

Led the discovery and experience design working closely with product, engineering and senior stakeholders.
Shaped product vision and experience strategy, informing definition, prioritisation and delivery timelines.
Designed flows for financial data capture, insights and guidance balancing business objectives and technical feasibility.

Solution

Created modular data visualisation patterns and content structures for financial insights.
Designed conversational and guided experiences to simplify complexity.
Integrated customer data and third-party APIs to enable personalised insight.

Outcomes

Integrated third party APIs with AI to create personal finance experiences.
User testing to validate concepts, collect signals and strengthen product-market fit through early feedback.
Provided a scalable foundation for future features and commercial growth.

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IndependentProductivityWeb with Replit

Visual Encyclopaedia

Start → Choose a Subject → Explore the Graph → Discover Connections → Build Your Map → Deeper Understanding

Challenge

Design an AI-powered knowledge exploration tool that transforms dense, connected information into an engaging, intuitive experience, making learning feel discoverable and personal rather than linear and overwhelming.

Role & Contribution

Founded and led end-to-end product and design, spanning strategy, UX and hands-on prototyping.
Shaped product vision, requirements, information architecture and tiered access model from concept to build.
Defined interaction models and onboarding, engagement and conversion strategy while balancing scope and technical feasibility.

Solution

Built a knowledge graph and word cloud navigation system seeded from trending real-world content.
Designed tiered access experiences to balance open exploration with progressive conversion moments.
Used Replit and Google Analytics to rapidly prototype and validate the core explorer experience with live user data.

Outcomes

Shipped a scalable AI-powered experience with content and data architecture.
Identified key retention and conversion signals, including repeat visit patterns and subject-level engagement, to inform the next product phase.

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BloombergNewsApps & Back Office

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Start → Explore → Read → Save → Deep Dive → Stay Informed

Challenge

Streamline the publishing and content management workflow for sustainability-focused news and media, while supporting multiple content types and maintaining quality at scale.

Role & Contribution

Led experience design for editorial workflows, working closely with content, product and engineering teams.
Simplified publishing processes and defined responsive content patterns to support articles, video and reports.
Balanced editorial flexibility with consistency and performance.

Solution

Designed a scalable publishing platform with dynamic templates and reusable components.
Established a lightweight design system to support responsive layouts and efficient content creation.
Enabled faster iteration and clearer governance across editorial teams.

Outcomes

Accelerated editorial production cycles and reduced publishing friction.
Increased readership and engagement across sustainability news segments.
Improved consistency and scalability of Bloomberg NEF's digital publishing capability.

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Saudi TelecomUtilitiesiOS Apps

Saudi Telecom x Walk & Talk

Start → Onboard → Track → Reward → Use Network

Challenge

Design an iOS experience that motivates STC customers to build a daily walking habit, rewarding physical activity with real network benefits, balancing behaviour change principles with a seamless, delightful product that felt native to the telco's ecosystem.

Role & Contribution

Led discovery and experience design in close collaboration with senior STC stakeholders.
Shaped the product vision and interaction framework from concept through to delivery.
Defined prioritisation and design direction across the full iOS experience.

Solution

Designed a step-tracker with progress, rewards and Apple health integration.
Created surprise & delight animations to reinforce habit-forming milestones.
Built a clear, motivating visual language connecting physical activity to tangible network rewards.

Outcomes

Delivered a health-positive experience that deepened customer engagement with the STC network.
Tied behaviour to network benefits, creating a meaningful loyalty loop.
Established a scalable design foundation for future activity-based reward features.

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NectarProductivityiOS Apps

Nectar x Wellbeing Tracker

Start → Onboard → Log → Reflect → Reward → Use Points

Challenge

Design an iOS experience that helps Nectar customers build self-awareness around their emotional wellbeing through daily mood tracking, connecting consistent habits to meaningful rewards and making invisible patterns visible over time.

Role & Contribution

Led discovery and experience design working closely with senior stakeholders across product and commercial teams.
Shaped vision and experience strategy from early concept through to delivery.
Defined the design direction for mood capture, data visualisation and reward integration.

Solution

Designed an intuitive daily mood logging experience with a clear, low-friction input model.
Created calendar and trend visualisations to help customers see emotional patterns over time.
Built surprise & delight moments to reinforce daily habit completion and reward engagement.

Outcomes

Gave customers a meaningful tool to track and reflect on emotional wellbeing.
Visualised behavioural change, strengthening habit loop and retention.
Reward mechanics tied daily logging to Nectar points for daily engagement.

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The OpenSportWeb, Apps & Back Office

The Open Official Application

Start → Explore → Follow Players → Live Updates → On-Site Interactions → Recap

Challenge

Create a digital companion experience that enhances the live competition for fans attending and following The Open Championship, across on-site and remote contexts.

Role & Contribution

Led UX and UI improvements for the official app, focusing on clarity, speed and engagement.
Integrated real-time data and location-based experiences to support live event usage.
Worked closely with stakeholders to balance broadcast, venue and fan needs.

Solution

Designed an interactive event app featuring news, live scoring, player updates and venue maps.
Introduced iBeacon-driven, location-aware content to enhance on-site experiences during the tournament.
Unified information architecture to support quick access in high-traffic, time-sensitive environments.

Outcomes

Improved fan engagement during event.
Delivered location-aware updates and clearer visitor information on-site.
Enhanced the overall digital experience supporting one of golf's largest global events.

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ASOSE-CommerceEmails, Web, Apps & Back Office

ASOS Shopping

Start → Explore → Add-To-Bag → Place Order → Manage

Challenge

Optimise the end-to-end customer journey from discovery to purchase across multiple markets, languages and devices, while supporting rapid growth and evolving customer expectations.

Role & Contribution

Led design initiatives across campaigns, personalisation, product detail pages, account management and returns.
Partnered with product, data and engineering teams to deliver data-driven optimisation at scale.
Balanced commercial objectives with usability and brand consistency.

Solution

Implemented enhanced discovery features including Visual Search and Dynamic Pricing.
Optimised product information architecture and unified design across email, web and apps.
Established patterns and standards to support consistent global execution.

Outcomes

Increased engagement, conversion and retention across key journeys.
Delivered a cohesive global brand experience across channels.
Supported scalable growth through consistent, optimised customer experiences.

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NatWest / RBSFinanceApps, Emails & In-Store

Business Banking Calculator

Start → Visit → Explore → Get Quote → Compare → Open Account → Manage

Challenge

Design an integrated, end-to-end experience that streamlined interactions, improved sales conversations and worked across multiple brands on shared technology.

Role & Contribution

Led UX and UI design across the end-to-end journey, mapping workflows from internal relationship managers through to business customers.
Developed personas and journey maps to uncover goals, motivations, constraints and pain points.
Designed interaction models and interfaces that connected internal tools with customer-facing outputs, ensuring alignment between workflows and interactions.

Solution

Designed a business banking calculator to support internal teams in generating quotes and comparisons in real time.
An interactive experience that enabled exploration of financial products.
Built a flexible, white-label framework allowing the same technology engine to operate across multiple brands.

Outcomes

Streamlined internal workflows, data capture and reducing reliance on paper.
Improved sales efficiency through real-time modelling, quote and comparison.
Created a scalable cross-brand solution that supported consistent customer experience while reducing duplication.

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What I Make

Blending technical skills to balance function & aesthetics.

Experience Design

Designing end-to-end experiences that create user-centric value and drive sustainable growth.

User Experience

Research & Insights: Applying qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover user needs, behaviours and opportunity.
Design Thinking: Framing complex problems, ideating solutions and iterating with evidence.
Design Systems: Building scalable, accessible systems that enable consistency and delivery at pace.

Brand Experience

Design Strategy: Aligning visual and interaction design with brand intent and business goals.
Content & Storytelling: Crafting clear, human-centric narratives that build trust and emotional connection.
Campaigns: Designing multi-channel experiences that strengthen recognition and recall.

Customer Experience

Engagement: Creating meaningful moments that capture attention and encourage interaction.
Conversion: Optimising journeys to turn intent into measurable action.
Retention: Building long-term loyalty through trusted, considered experiences.

Collaboration

Shared principles and frameworks that align teams, reduce risk and deliver outcomes.

Design Process

Human-Centric: Grounding decisions in real user needs, behaviours and context.
Form & Function: Balancing clarity, usability and visual craft.
Test & Learn: Validating ideas through early feedback, experimentation and iteration.

Discover → Define → Develop → Deliver → Repeat ∞

The Double Diamond: A flexible, scaleable approach that evolves with products, teams and user needs.

Ways Of Working

Multi-Disciplinary Teams: Design × Product × Technology working together to align vision, strategy and execution.
Agile Delivery: Applying Scrum, Kanban and sprint-based practices to prioritise work, deliver value and adapt quickly.

Sectors

Applying product, design and technology to deliver scalable, high-impact experiences across B2B, B2C and SaaS environments.

Platforms, Software & Hardware

Designing end-to-end experiences across digital platforms and physical products, from SaaS tools to connected devices, ensuring performance, usability and governance at scale.

Apple Developer Program. iTunes Connect. United Arab Emirates Government.

Enterprise & Internal Platforms

Designing operational tools and internal systems that reduce friction, improve data quality and accelerate teams across complex organisations.

E-Commerce & Retail

Creating high-performing commerce and service experiences that simplify transactions, support global scale and drive measurable growth.

Apple. ASOS. Waitrose. Marks & Spencer. Jaguar Land Rover. The Rhumerie.

Finance

Translating complex data, regulation and security requirements into clear, trustworthy digital experiences that help people and organisations.

US Bank. Envizage. Deloitte. Royal Bank of Scotland. Natwest.

Research & Development

Collaborating on experimental concepts and emerging technologies, using design-led prototyping to explore, test and optimise new capabilities at pace.

Apple. Microsoft Phone & Tablet OS. Blackberry OS. RIM OS. Google Glass OS. WatchOS. tvOS. IBM. OpenAI. FitBit.

Sustainability & Energy

Designing responsible, human-centred solutions that encourage behavioural change, improve clarity around environmental impact and support long-term organisational value.

GlaxoSmithKline. National Grid. bp pulse. Bloomberg New Energy Finance. bp.

News & Media

Shaping editorial and media platforms that balance storytelling, accessibility and monetisation.

Metro Newspaper. News UK. BBC.

Sports, Events & Live Experiences

Delivering dynamic, content-driven experiences that enhance live engagement, on-site interaction and brand loyalty across digital and physical.

The Open Championship. Driven by Us.

Gaming & Entertainment

Crafting immersive, intuitive experiences for players and communities, blending storytelling and interaction design.

London Olympics 2012: Tom Daley. Electronic Arts.

Hospitality & Travel

Designing guest-centred journeys that connect physical services with digital tools, from booking to feedback, improving satisfaction and efficiency.

Intercontinental Hotels. Guoman Hotels. LoveHomeSwap. Drum Cussac. Thomas Cook.

Deliverables

Turning strategy, design and technology into clear, scalable outputs that drive delivery.

Alignment & Direction

Workshops & Shared Goals: Facilitated sessions to align stakeholders, define objectives, constraints and success criteria.

Personas: Clear definitions of internal and external stakeholders, including goals, needs, pain points and motivations.

Problem Statements & Hypotheses: Framing what we're solving, why it matters and what we need to validate with evidence.

Delivery & Definition

Research: Qualitative and quantitative research to uncover insights, risks and opportunities.

Experience & Service Maps: Visualising journeys, touchpoints and system interactions to identify leverage points.

Roadmaps & Phasing: Defining MVP scope, sequencing and dependencies to support confident delivery.

Design & Validation

Maps & Wireframes: Structuring content, flows and interactions for early validation.

Prototypes: Interactive prototypes to communicate behaviour and intent.

User Testing: Evidence-led iteration through early usability testing, concept validation and feedback loops.

Delivery & Scale

Design Systems & Brand Guidelines: Scalable frameworks that support accessibility, consistency and speed.

Specifications & Handover: Clear documentation, assets and guidance to support engineering delivery.

Success Metrics & Measurement: Defined KPIs and feedback loops to track performance and inform next steps.

Design Patterns

Designing reusable patterns that scale quality, consistency and delivery across products.

Experience Patterns

Digital & Physical: Bridging interfaces with real-world interactions for cohesive, end-to-end experiences.

Onboarding & Identity: Guiding users through sign-up, authentication and trust-building moments.

Content Discovery & Personalisation: Helping users find relevant information through context, preference and behaviour.

Help & Support: Inclusive, responsive support patterns that listen, adapt and resolve issues effectively.

State & Feedback: Clear loading, empty, error and success states that build confidence and resilience.

Product & Commercial Patterns

Payments, Subscriptions & Account: Simplifying transactions, preferences and lifecycle management.

Progression & Engagement: Using milestones, nudges and guidance to support adoption and retention.

Privacy, Consent & Trust: Designing transparent data use, permissions and compliance experiences.

Platform & System Patterns

API & Platform Integration: Connecting systems through scalable interfaces (e.g. HealthKit, notifications, location, Bluetooth, AR/VR, AI, automation, cloud).

Data Capture & Analytics: Embedding insight collection to support continuous learning and improvement.

Experimentation & Optimisation: A/B testing, feature flags and evidence-led iteration.

Accessibility & Inclusion: Designing for diverse abilities, contexts and assistive technologies by default.

Internationalisation & Scale: Supporting multiple languages, regions, formats and regulatory contexts.

Who I Am

Balancing craft, curiosity and simplicity.

Hello, I'm Theo

Based in London, United Kingdom

I'm a product and design leader / creative technologist with experience leading complex work across organisations of different sizes and maturity. Outside of work, I'm a father and family-oriented person who values balance, craft and continuous learning. I enjoy music and guitar, strength training, football, cooking and building small creative and technical projects using Swift and Python.

How I Lead

I collaborate with responsibility.
I take decision ownership where clarity is required, balancing user needs, commercial outcomes and technical constraints to keep work moving.

How I Add Value Quickly

When joining a new team, I focus on creating clarity and trust early.

30Days

I listen deeply, map systems and relationships and identify risk, friction and opportunity across people, process and platforms.

60Days

I set direction, align teams around priorities and make deliberate trade-offs to ship meaningful progress.

90Days

I scale through systems, patterns and ownership, enabling teams to move with confidence.

I'm most effective where clarity, trust and craft are required to move complex products forward.

I Aspire To Inspire, Make Waves & Move Mountains.

Thank You!

If you've made it this far… I truly appreciate your time & consideration. I'd welcome the opportunity to connect and explore how I can help.

tagulao_t@me.com +44 (0)7545 394418

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