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Service 01 / 04

UX/UI &
Design Systems

Interfaces that are researched, prototyped and tested, then built on a system of tokens and components that carries into code.

  • Research
  • UX
  • UI
  • Design systems
  • Accessibility
  • Figma

Research

Start from what people actually do.

Research sized to the project and the budget — enough to replace guesses with evidence, never a report that sits in a drawer.

  1. Stakeholder interviews

    What the business needs, what has been tried, and what success looks like — written down and agreed.

  2. What you already know

    Analytics, search terms, support tickets and sales questions: most teams hold more evidence than they think.

  3. Talking to users

    Short interviews with the people who use the product, where there is access to them and time in the plan.

  4. A look at the field

    How competitors and the tools your users already know solve the same problem — to borrow conventions, not copy screens.

  5. Journeys and pain points

    The steps people take today, where they stall, and which of those moments the design has to fix first.

  6. Gaps named, not guessed

    Whatever the research couldn’t answer is listed as an assumption, so it gets tested rather than forgotten.

UX

Structure before style.

How the product is organised and how people move through it, settled in grey boxes — where changes are cheap — before any colour goes on.

  1. Information architecture

    Navigation, labels and page structure that match how your users think, not how the company is organised.

  2. User flows

    Every path through the critical tasks — sign-up, search, purchase, booking — including the errors and the dead ends.

  3. Wireframes

    Low-fidelity layouts for every key screen, to agree on content and hierarchy before the visual design starts.

  4. Clickable prototypes

    The main flows linked together in Figma, so everyone reviews how it works, not just how it looks.

  5. Content first

    Real headings, labels and error messages drafted alongside the layout — placeholder text hides problems.

  6. Edge cases on paper

    Empty states, long names, slow connections and missing data designed up front, not discovered in the build.

UI

Visual design, with reasons.

Visual design that carries the brand and stays easy to use: every colour, size and motion chosen for a reason you can read in the file.

  1. Type and layout

    A type scale and grid that make pages easy to scan on any screen, with room for real content to breathe.

  2. Colour by contrast ratio

    Every text and control colour pair measured and documented. I’m colour blind: ratios, not eyesight, decide.

  3. Every state designed

    Hover, focus, active, disabled, loading, error and empty — the states developers usually have to invent.

  4. Motion with purpose

    Transitions that explain what changed, with a calm version for people who ask their system for less motion.

  5. Icons and imagery

    A consistent icon set and art direction for photography and illustration, so new pages don’t drift.

  6. Files ready to build

    Organised Figma files, named layers and specs, so nobody has to guess during the build.

Design systems

Atoms, tokens and components — in Figma and in code.

An atomic, token-based system mirrored one to one in code, so every new page is faster and more consistent than the last.

  1. Audit what exists

    Every button, card and form in the product collected and compared, so duplicates are merged and gaps are visible.

  2. Tokens named by purpose

    Colour, type, spacing, radius, elevation and motion as tokens — surface, text-muted, focus — not raw values.

  3. Atomic components

    Atoms combine into molecules and organisms, each with its variants, states and accessibility notes.

  4. Figma ↔ code, one to one

    The same names, tokens and states in the Figma library and in the code, so design and build don’t drift apart.

  5. Documentation people read

    When to use each component, when not to, and examples — written for designers and developers alike.

  6. A way to grow

    A changelog and a simple process for proposing new pieces, so the system keeps up with the product.

Accessibility

Accessible from the first wireframe.

WCAG 2.2 AA is designed in, not audited in at the end — it costs far less than fixing it later, and the result is better for everyone.

  1. Contrast and colour

    Ratios documented for every pair, and colour never the only way to tell things apart.

  2. Focus and keyboard

    Visible focus states, a logical order, and nothing that only works with a mouse or by dragging.

  3. Targets and spacing

    Controls at least 24 × 24 pixels with room around them, so they’re easy to hit on any device.

  4. Forms and errors

    Visible labels, clear instructions and errors that say what went wrong and how to fix it — in words.

  5. Headings and structure

    An outline that screen reader users can navigate, noted on the designs for the build.

  6. Motion and zoom

    A reduced-motion version of every animation, and layouts that hold at 200% text and 320 pixels wide.

Responsive

Designed for the phone in someone’s hand.

Most visits start on a phone. Layouts are designed across real widths, not as a desktop page squeezed into a column afterwards.

  1. Mobile first

    The smallest screen designed first, so the essentials are decided before there is room for extras.

  2. Fluid, not just breakpoints

    Type and spacing that scale smoothly between sizes, with breakpoints where the content needs them.

  3. Touch and thumbs

    Targets, gestures and the thumb zone considered, with an alternative to every swipe and drag.

  4. Fast by design

    Image sizes, fonts and effects budgeted in the design, so the page is quick on a mid-range phone.

E-commerce and conversion

Design that helps people decide.

For shops and lead-driven sites, every screen stands between a visitor and a result. The design removes doubt and friction on the way.

  1. Catalogue and search

    Categories, filters and search shaped around how customers look for products.

  2. Product pages

    Photos, price, stock, delivery and the answer to the obvious question, where people look for them.

  3. Cart and checkout

    The fewest steps and fields that work, guest checkout, clear costs and errors that help.

  4. Trust and clarity

    Reviews, guarantees, returns and contact details placed where hesitation happens.

  5. Landing pages

    One page, one goal: a clear offer, the proof behind it and a single next step.

  6. Measured, not assumed

    The numbers that matter agreed up front — conversion, drop-off, basket value — and checked after launch.

Testing

Checked with people before it’s built.

Testing scaled to the project: a few sessions often reveal most of the problems. Where the traffic is there to support it, changes can be compared with A/B tests after launch.

  1. Usability sessions

    People from your audience try the prototype while thinking aloud; the findings are ranked by how much they hurt.

  2. Quick checks

    First-click and preference tests for navigation and key decisions, when a full session is more than the question needs.

  3. Accessibility checks

    Contrast, focus order and structure reviewed on the designs, before a line of code.

  4. A/B tests, where they make sense

    On live sites with enough traffic, set up with your analytics to compare versions of a page or flow.

Deliverables

What you get.

The usual output of this service. Every project is scoped on its own, so the final list is agreed before work starts.

  • Research findings and journey maps
  • Wireframes and clickable prototypes
  • High-fidelity UI for desktop and mobile
  • A design system: tokens, components and documentation
  • Accessibility notes on every component, ready for the build
  • Usability findings, where testing is in scope

Process

How it runs.

Three steps, each one handing over to the next — so you always know what’s happening and what comes after.

  1. Map the goals, the users and what already exists

  2. Wireframe, prototype and test the critical flows

  3. Refine to high fidelity, on a system of tokens and components

Selected work

Where it’s been put to work.

All work
  1. 01 / 06 With Loco Digital 2026

    ERP HEADtoHEAD

    One event brand selling two events, in two countries and two currencies — rebuilt as a single site with a booking engine that bills each order from the right company.

  2. 02 / 06 With Grupo Leonora 2022

    Leonora E-commerce

    A complete redesign of Grupo Leonora's B2B store on VTEX IO — research, wireframes, an atomic design system and every screen in Figma — and the e-commerce tech lead role through the build, with the developers at Econverse.

  3. 03 / 06 With Loco Digital 2026

    ESMA International Network

    The design of a fifty-year-old FMCG trade network's new platform — public site, members' dashboard and native app — on one design system shared by all three.

  4. 04 / 06 With Loco Digital 2025

    Profit Pays

    A website for a construction cost consultancy, taken from the first idea to launch, with a content system the team extends themselves as the offer grows.

  5. 05 / 06 With Loco Digital 2025

    Irish School of Motoring

    The UX and UI of a driving school's new site — car lessons and seven commercial licences around one lesson template and one booking panel.

  6. 06 / 06 With Loco Digital 2024

    Trident Holiday Homes

    The research and the design of a direct-booking site for self-catering holiday homes across Ireland — user tests, analytics and heatmaps first, then every page and component.

FAQ

Before you ask.

Still have a question?

Ask it in the chat — Sky and Ritalino will pass it on, and you’ll get a straight answer.

Ask in the chat

The work

Do you run user research, or work from what we already know?

Both, scaled to the project. Where there’s budget and access to users: short interviews and usability tests. Where there isn’t: your analytics, support tickets and stakeholder interviews — and any gaps are named, not guessed.

Is accessibility part of the design?

From the first wireframe. Contrast, focus order, target sizes and every state are designed, not added during the build.

Can you design inside our existing design system?

Yes. I work with your components and tokens, and flag where the system needs a new piece rather than adding one-off patterns.

Design systems

We already have a UI kit. Do we need a design system?

Not always. A kit is a set of parts; a system adds the rules — tokens, usage and documentation — that keep new pages consistent. A short audit shows which of the two you need.

What do the tokens cover?

Colour, type, spacing, radius, elevation and motion, named by purpose (surface, text-muted, focus) rather than by value, with the contrast ratio documented for every colour pair.

Figma only, or code as well?

Both, mirrored one to one: the same names, tokens and states in Figma and in code, so design and build don’t drift apart. Either half can be done on its own.

Working together

How do we review the work?

In Figma, with comments on the frames, and on a clickable prototype for the key flows. Reviews close each stage, so feedback lands before the next one starts.

Will we get the Figma files?

Yes. They’re yours, organised with components and styles, so your team or another developer can pick them up.

Do you also build what you design?

Yes — the same person takes it to production and keeps it close to the design, even when plans change. You can also hire the design on its own.

Next step

Tell me what you’re building.

A short message is enough to start: what it is, roughly when, and who else is involved. I’ll reply personally on fit, timing and cost.

Sky & Ritalino
Laures crouching on a cobbled street lined with colourful houses, with Sky and Ritalino at his side
The family: Laures, Ritalino & Sky 🐾
Hi! I’m Sky. Laures is our human — we’re family, so Ritalino and I run his front desk while he’s busy designing and coding.

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