Chris Binou

O2 Virgin Media

Chris B — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:35:10 +0000

Accelerating the design system in one of the biggest mergers in decades.

Role: Lead Product designer
Client: Virgin media O2

Problem statement

Improving workflows and moving into Figma

Virgin media has been merged with O2. What that means in the product world is that the product teams are currently improving and aligning tools and processes. The O2 design team is currently using Sketch on their day to day work. The design system has been built in Sketch as well.
 
The main objective was to create a centralised place to host the O2 design system, all design mockups and assets, easy developer hand off, design feedback built in, multiple designers to work on a design in real time and to work in the browser as well as windows and Mac natively.

Roles and responsibilities

The first thing was to audit the O2 design system on its current architecture (Sketch library) including the monument website hosted on Invision Design system manager. This gave me and the wider team a good estimation of the scope of work that had to migrate to the new platform – Figma. That included documentation, component built, identifying patterns, onboarding process and the contribution model. Everything was mapped down on miro. Not only it helped me split this massive task into subtasks, helping prioritising and estimating timings and effort but also to understand and map out components behaviour and variations.

“Thanks for all your hard work on the ODS and especially the patterns work, which we are now building out. It was a pleasure working with you, all the best in your new adventure”
Nicolas Lamp – Lead UI/UX at Virgin Media O2

Atomic design principles and outcomes

Identifying patterns on eComm and eCare

After auditing the Oxygen Design system one of the most important outcomes, was the absence of organisms or patterns. Product teams were working on pages using existing templates within their own squads. I run several workshops to identify pain points with the wider design and copy teams both on eComm and eCare (My O2) products. I fully mapped down these common patterns as well as the addition of a new section under content for copywriters to start shaping a content design system, resulting on improved workflows, clarity and alignment. After all content is king!  

495 pages audited, 200+ components and patterns built in Figma, over 150 hours consumed in meetings and workshops, over 4000 words written, 40+ donuts consumed and 100+ double espressos.

Learnings and challenges

Design systems take time to mature and evolve. They require continues engagement with the product teams in order to do that.

Changing the O2’s operating model from centralised to federated helped breaking the silos and improve communication within different teams.  I was the key contact point for any new requests, bugs, design reviews and operations. Bridging that gap and initiated the addition of a content design system that helped increasing transparency and improved workflows between copy and design.

Re-building the components from scratch in Figma required a lot attention to detail, good planning and strong information architecture skills apart from UI/UX. Naming conventions especially for patterns required strong alignment with the teams and their input (user feedback) really formed those patterns and increased findability.

Communication and transparency was the key. Setting up the right foundations in Figma, understanding where we are and what to improve and how to plan ahead as a team was the key to succeed one of the most important milestones.

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Aviva design system

Chris B — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 19:48:24 +0000

Transforming a 325 year old company through design thinking

In 2016, Aviva opened of a startup-esque “digital garage,” hired high-profile digital executives, and recruited a new pool of world-class design talent from places like Google and Activision. I joined in January 2017 till April 2022 as a senior visual design consultant to help on the creation of the design system that till today successfully serves all of the product teams.

That included the creation of UI components, iconography, look and feel, illustration, photography, documentation. Working closely with the brand, the global UI and UX team and the research practice.

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230+ UI Components to build fast any number of websites and apps, serving 190 designers in 9 countries: UK, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Poland, France and many more.

“I collaborated with Christina on the Connect project , one key task was to build a new multi-level navigation component to be integrated into the design system. This was a complex component that offered significant UX and design challenges – Christina’s design expertise, analytical approach and ability to rapidly iterate let us reach a coherent design solution quickly. I enjoyed working with Christina, and her input was a great benefit to the project.”

Heenesh Patel – Programme Lead UX Architect

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Workday Thales

Chris B — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 16:00:32 +0000

Workday Thales

Internal campaign to introduce Workday to Thales employees. ( UI / Art Direction / Illustration / Whiteboard animation / Storyboarding / Poster design)

Workday provides unified finance, human resources and student/faculty lifecycle management cloud applications designed for the way people work in today’s organisations.

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“Thales Group is a French multinational company that designs and builds electrical systems and provides services for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security markets.”

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

McDonalds careers

Chris B — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 11:31:11 +0000

McDonalds careers

Website design ( UI / Art Direction / Styleguide creation / Photo retouch).

Based on Talentbrew a technology that supercharges your ATS and comes with the brains, advice and support of an entire recruitment marketing team.

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“Each year McDonalds invests £43 million in training to develop their people. They won the Large Youth Friendly Employer of the Year 2020 at the Youth Employment UK Awards in recognition of their commitment to youth employment.”

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Saudi Aramco dream big

Chris B — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 22:14:47 +0000

Saudi Aramco dream big

Website design ( UI / Art Direction / iconography / photo retouching).

As of 2020, Saudi Aramco it is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue.

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“Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. As of 2020, it is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue.”

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Disney future faces

Chris B — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 22:07:36 +0000

Disney – Future faces

Website design (UX / UI / Art Direction). Based on Talentbrew a technology that supercharges your ATS and comes with the brains, advice and support of an entire recruitment marketing team.

According to Disney, their company values are “optimism”, “innovation”, “decency”, “quality”, “community”, and “storytelling.”

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“Dear Chris, I want to personally thank you for your stellar TalentBrew design for Disney. Your time and Talents are greatly appreciated on top of delivering such quality.”
Russell Miyaki – Senior Vice President, Global Creative Director, TMP Worldwide

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Aviva Save

Chris B — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 22:48:28 +0000

BP Careers in retail

Chris B — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 22:06:37 +0000

BP Careers in retail

BP is one of the world’s leading international oil and gas companies. They employ more than 80,000 people in around 80 countries worldwide.

Website Redesign (UI/Art direction/Photoshoot and edit, employer brand identity design)

“Onrec Awards winner for The Best Corporate Use of Online Recruitment and winner of The Best Use of Mobile.”

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If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn , I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Aviva business redesign

Chris B — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 06:14:25 +0000

Aviva Business redesign

Large scale deliverable for Aviva Business. Including all products such as workplace pensions, business insurance and healthcare. UI, Photography, iconography, illustration, styleguide creation.

“Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 33 million customers across 16 countries. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general insurer and a leading life and pensions provider. ”

Thanks for scrolling that far!

If you’re interested in discussing a project email me at hello@chrisbinou.com  or message me on LinkedIn I will reply within 24 to 48 hours.