Health career break
I took time away from work to focus on my health and recovery. I also spent it with my family, kept learning and thought about what kind of designer I want to be. I came back with more energy and a clearer sense of direction.
Zainab Abadi
Product & UX/UI designer in Madrid. I work out why complex products are hard to use, then fix them, with research, accessibility and design systems.
Experience
UX/UI Designer @ Oxford University Press
- Led end-to-end product design for Oxford Premium, Oxford's educational platform, across 4 products: research, accessibility, information architecture and design systems.
- Analysed 600+ Hotjar sessions and 31 teacher interviews. The behaviour patterns I found shaped product and roadmap decisions.
- Redesigned the information architecture for thousands of educational resources, with research-driven navigation so teachers can find what they need.
- Owned the design system across the 4 products: components, responsive behaviour, accessibility standards and implementation guidelines.
- Built accessibility into core workflows with WCAG audits and screen reader testing (NVDA, JAWS, Microsoft Narrator), and shipped reusable accessible patterns adopted across the 4 platforms.
- Worked with Product, Engineering, Editorial, Legal, Commercial and Oxford UK teams to ship cross-functional initiatives, balancing user needs with business and technical constraints.
- Cut design-to-development ambiguity with structured UX documentation and handoff guidelines, and kept a living documentation system (design rationale, component usage, accessibility guidelines) that became the team's reference for onboarding and consistency across products.
- Set up GenAI-assisted UX workflows (Copilot, LLMs): the prompts and documentation the team used for AI-assisted educational experiences.
- Ran ongoing market and competitive research on new features and product directions. The findings fed prioritisation and go/no-go decisions.
UX Designer @ Plytix
- Set up the UX function as the company's only UX designer, introducing user-centred design practices, workflows and documentation for a B2B SaaS platform.
- Analysed user behaviour and existing interfaces to find usability issues and improve workflows.
- Documented design system components and guidelines in Zeroheight.
- Turned user stories into UX solutions, working with the development team through Shortcut.
UX/UI & Visual Designer @ Independent design projects
- Designed websites (UX/UI) for a school and individual clients, working with a developer.
- Created visual identities for a school and a content creator.
- Designed editorial materials for the NGO Ca-minando Fronteras and for individual clients.
- Developed the visual concept for the social campaign Defendiendo a Maleno.
- Provided design consultancy for individual clients.
- Handled the client conversations, scope, creative direction and handoff myself.
I also worked on projects with Poplockslay, Lactando SOS and Alma en Pena.
Earlier experience
Graphic Designer @ Regalador
- Adapted designs for personalised products.
- Checked design quality and accuracy before production.
- Planned and coordinated orders to support timely delivery.
Product Designer Intern @ Sheedo
- Contributed to research and development for new physical products.
- Developed branding and product concepts for a new product line.
- Designed packaging and created technical drawings with CAD tools.
- Assessed project feasibility and supported design development.
Product Designer Intern @ Zara Home
- Carried out independent market research to inform product development.
- Developed a smart mirror concept for retail and home use.
- Explored product form, styling and aesthetics.
Administrative Assistant @ IPSIK
- Supported administrative organisation, document management and academic coordination at a private nursing and physiotherapy education institute.
- Followed course administration and academic processes, and answered student and customer enquiries.
Tools
Figma & FigJam
Interfaces, prototypes & workshops
Hotjar & Contentsquare
Behavioural analytics
Maze
Usability testing & validation
Zeroheight
Design system documentation
Axe & screen readers
NVDA, JAWS & Microsoft Narrator
Jira, Productboard & Shortcut
Product collaboration & delivery
Also: Adobe Creative Suite, Bootstrap, GitHub, Copilot and LLMs.
Skills
Research
- UX research
- Usability testing
- Research synthesis
Structure
- Information architecture
- Interaction design
- Product design
Build
- Prototyping
- Responsive UI
- Design systems
- Accessibility
- UX documentation
Work with others
- Developer handoff
- Cross-functional collaboration
Awards
Green Concept Award, Mobility winner
Responsible recreational boat concept recognised in the Mobility category.
Young Creators Scholarship
Study grant supporting young people with creative potential in design.
Education
Master's in Methodology of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Research design, quantitative and qualitative methods, statistical analysis, surveys and Python.
Bachelor's in Product Design
Product design, ergonomics, accessibility, interaction design and technical development.
Advanced Techniques & Tools for Social Science Research
Content analysis, qualitative methods, behavioural research and usability evaluation.
Master in Interior Design
Spatial and experience design, exhibitions, sustainability and technical development.
Interior Design Technician · DEC
Spatial design, materials, technical drawing and visual representation. Diploma of Excellence.
Violin studies
How I work
I start with the people, the content and the constraints behind a product. Research, behaviour data and conversations with the team tell me what needs attention and what is worth testing.
I move between research, information architecture, interaction design and implementation. I write down why a decision was made, treat accessibility as part of the design and stay close to developers while the work goes from Figma into the product.