Open to product design roles · New Zealand & international
Product design, traced from human need to business outcome.
I'm Ari, a UX/UI & Product Designer. I frame the problem, shape the product, craft the interface and work with engineers to ship it, with the reasoning visible at every step.
Companies I've worked with
Selected clients & teams
01Selected work
Proof before promises.
Each study shows the problem, my role, the reasoning and, importantly, what the evidence does and does not support.
- 01 / 02Live buildRead the case study
Product design · Self-initiated · 2026
This portfolio, treated as a product
A hiring-focused portfolio designed around how reviewers actually decide: a thirty-second scan, then a five-minute test of the designer's reasoning.
- The opportunity
- Most portfolios assert quality. Reviewers need evidence they can scan fast and verify slowly.
- My role
- Product design, interaction design, visual design, front-end implementation
- Core challenge
- Make a reviewer's decision to read on easy in thirty seconds, and reward a five-minute deep read, without inventing any evidence.
- Evidence
- Shipped as a static, accessible, responsive site with keyboard navigation, visible focus states and reduced-motion support.
- Problem framing
- Information architecture
- Interaction design
- Accessibility
- Design tokens
- Front-end build
- 02 / 02Concept
1 · Choose a new time Read the case studyHealthcare · Mobile · Concept · 2026
Rescheduling an appointment without a phone call
A self-directed design exercise exploring how a small clinic could let patients reschedule in under a minute while protecting the clinic from last-minute gaps.
- The opportunity
- Changing an appointment often means ringing during opening hours, which is hard for people who work or feel unwell.
- My role
- Concept, UX, interaction design, visual design
- Core challenge
- Make rescheduling feel safe and effortless for a patient, while giving the clinic enough notice and control to keep its calendar healthy.
- Evidence
- How I frame an ambiguous service problem, design for failure states, and define how a design would be validated.
- Problem framing
- User flow
- Interaction design
- Error and edge-case design
- Hi-fi mobile UI
- Validation planning
Depth over volume. Employer and client case studies will be added here as they become shareable; anything conceptual stays labelled as a concept.
02Design process
A way of working, not a straight line.
Methods are chosen by the question, the evidence available and the constraints. Findings regularly send the work back a step, and that is the process working.
- 01Discover
What is actually going on?
Start from behaviour, context and constraints. Choose research methods that fit the question and the time available, and say plainly what the evidence can and cannot support.
- User research
- Stakeholder interviews
- Evidence audit
- 02Frame
Which problem is worth solving?
Turn observations into a sharp problem statement, user needs and success measures that product, engineering and business can all argue with.
- Problem framing
- Jobs to be done
- Prioritisation
- 03Structure
How should it hold together?
Shape flows, navigation and content hierarchy so the product's logic is obvious before any pixel is polished.
- User flows
- Information architecture
- Journey mapping
- 04Shape
What does it feel like to use?
Explore alternatives quickly, then design the states that make a product trustworthy: loading, empty, error, success, and the edge cases between.
- Wireframes
- Prototyping
- Interaction design
- Visual design
- 05Validate
Does it work for people?
Test the riskiest assumptions with the lightest method that can answer them, then let the findings change the design.
- Usability evaluation
- Accessibility review
- Iteration
- 06Deliver
Can it be built well?
Design with engineers, not for them: components, tokens and documentation that survive contact with a real codebase.
- Design systems
- Developer handoff
- Feasibility
Iteration is continuous: validation can reopen framing, and delivery constraints can reshape the structure.
03Capabilities
Beyond the interface.
Capabilities grouped by the part of the product they serve. Where a skill is demonstrated in a case study, it is listed there rather than rated here.
01
UX & Research
Understanding people and framing the right problem.
- User research and discovery
- User flows and journey mapping
- Information architecture
- Usability evaluation
- Personas and behavioural insights
- Problem framing and requirements analysis
02
Product Design
Turning direction into interfaces people can trust.
- Product strategy and prioritisation
- Interaction design
- Wireframing and prototyping
- High-fidelity interface design
- Responsive and mobile-first design
- Accessibility and inclusive design
03
Design Systems
Consistency that scales across a team.
- Component libraries
- Design tokens
- UI consistency
- Design documentation
- Developer handoff
04
Technical Collaboration
Fluent enough in the build to design what ships.
- Figma and interactive prototyping
- Frontend and responsive design principles
- Technical feasibility and constraints
- Cross-functional collaboration
04About
Human and technical, by design.
I'm a product designer who works across the whole arc of a product: understanding an ambiguous problem, deciding what to build and why, designing the experience, and working with engineers to get it shipped.
I care about the reasoning behind an interface as much as the interface itself. A good screen should be traceable to a user need, a business objective and a technical reality, and I try to make that chain visible to the people I work with.
I'm comfortable with technical constraints because I design with them in mind, which keeps conversations with developers practical and decisions easier to defend.
Ariena Phannaen (Ari) · UX/UI & Product Designer · New Zealand & international
Evidence over assertion
I label what was researched, what was assumed and what is still unknown.
Clarity before polish
Structure and language first, then craft. Beautiful on top of confusing is still confusing.
Design with the build in mind
Feasibility is a design material, not a late-stage veto.
05Experience & credentials
Easy to verify.
Full history, dates and references on request.
A complete CV with employers, roles, qualifications and referees is available to anyone considering me for a role.
06Contact
Let's talk about your product.
I'm looking for product design roles where research, strategy and craft carry equal weight, in New Zealand or with international teams. If that sounds like your team, I'd like to hear about it.