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About me

I am a Product and Service Design Lead with a Master’s of Design in Industrial Design and over 15 years of experience in building variety of products. To me design world is a vast ocean, the more I dive in, the more I discover. My design philosophy is grounded in a thorough understanding of user’s needs and a passion for creating solutions that enhance users' experiences without compromising business' goals.

 

I believe designing a successful product is not about a polished look, but is the holistic approach the product team would take when starting to build it. It requires a true dedication to learn about users and the business, to analyze and discover the existing or possible pain points, to understand the process and required methodologies and to find a common language between cross functional teams in order to build a successful product.

 

Over the course of my design practices, I've had the opportunity to expand my design knowledge by working with a diverse range of organizations and Industries, including higher education institutions, Startups, e-commerce, and standard organizations.

Ella Rabiei Headshots-04-no cut.jpg

Photo by Lindsey Tran

Education

2018-2020

​University of Alberta. Canada

Master of Design in Industrial Design​

Thesis: Bringing a New Life to the Northern Houses: An experiment in the Redefining of Home. This project examines the role of design and technology in home spaces in the Northern part of Canada. It explores the reciprocal relationship between mental health and Interior design. Recent research has demonstrated that individuals' well-being remains constant when both physical and psychological factors are at an equal level of satisfaction. The effective factors for this level of satisfaction are intimately related to culture, kinship beliefs, entertainment, and economic situations.

Professional Experience

Jan 2023 - Present

CSA Group

Toronto. ON

Lead Product Designer

Over the course of my collaboration with CSA Group I led over 10 research projects using various research and design methodologies Including, but not limited to:

  • Holistically Analyzing Customers’ and Members’ journey

  • Blue Printing to visualize the entire process of service delivery

  • Analyze and provide new Information Architectures based on digital products and services

  • Developing Hypotheses and Ideating based on them for the discovered challenges

  • Wireframing and High Fidelity Prototyping for usability testing with customers

  • Service, product and content based Customer Interviews (depending on the project) Conducting the followup user interviews

  • Internal Partner Interviews (Members and business owners)

  • Testing the products/platforms and digital services
     

My contribution with Digital Innovation team included Member and business facing products:

  • Transformation of the CSA Community platform with over 2500 members globally.

  • Standard Development and management platform to be used by CSA Group’s Canada Base and International project managers

  • implementation and transformation of the CSA Learning Management System (LMS) to a new operating model for internal partners and customers.


Additionally, I led the development of Design System based on WCAG guidelines and focusing on the digital service deliveries. During all my projects I worked directly with PMs, Developers, Information, UX & Service designers, business owners and leadership team.

My collaboration on Research and Redesign of the CSA Store as a customer facing product led to a significant Increase on product sale. I continued monitoring and testing the website’s engagement using Full story platform and update the designs accordingly to align with customers and business’s needs.

Dec 2021 - Jan 2023

MobileLive Inc.

Rogers Communication

Toronto. ON

Senior Product Designer

I led Connected Home design projects including Internet, TV, and Smart Home monitoring Products. Throughout my position I used variety of research and design methodologies to enhance the User’s experience and product sale including benchmarking, interviews, cart sorting, wire framing, and mind mapping. The new designs highly impacted product sale growth.

Jan 2020 - Dec 2021

University of Alberta (GPS)

Edmonton. AB

Product Designer

I Collaborated closely with marketing and communication teams to enhance the faculty’s website and Professional Development Platform after the lunch of the new branding for U of A in 2020. during my position I continued conducting follow up interviews with the relevant users to further improve the user’s navigation through website and PD Platform. The research result showed a 63% increase in user’s engagement with both of the products.

July 2019 - Dec 2019

Medo.Ai

Edmonton. AB

Graphic Designer

Within this startup company I provided branding and marketing materials for the team and website. While I mostly focused on marketing I collaborated with the team on digital platform’s user experiences and accessibility.

Aug 2016 - Aug 2018

Shoniz Industrial Co.

Tabriz. Iran

Graphic Designer and Product Designer

Sept 2014 - Aug 2016

Sobh Parlar Industrial Co.

Tabriz. Iran

Senior Product Designer

July 2013 - Mar 2014

Azaran Tahrirat

Tabriz. Iran

Industrial Designer

Sept 2007 - Aug 2022

Self Employed

Canada and Iran

Freelance Product and Graphic Designer

During my freelance experiences I have collaborated within variety of product fields, including SAAS, Networking, Communication and Community platforms as well as brand and marketing. through out my projects I always focused on user-centred design and optimizing the business’s growth and engagement.

Teaching and Mentorship

July 2024 - Present

​University of MacEwan. Canada

User Experience Design Instructor and Mentor

Sept 2018 - June 2020

​University of Alberta. Canada

Fundamentals of Design Instructor and Mentor

Skillsets

Hard Skills

  • Design System

  • Accessibility

  • Information Architecture

  • User Research

  • User Journeys

  • A/B Testing

  • Wireframing

  • Prototyping

Soft Skills

  • Design Leadership

  • Mentorship

  • Empathy

  • Problem Solving

  • Inspire People

  • Adaptability

  • Time Management

Technical Skills

  • Figma

  • Optimal Workshop

  • Full Story

  • Sketch

  • Adobe Creative Suites

  • Project Management tools

Please don't hesitate to reach out; I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

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