Spent the week rebuilding our checkout flow around what the research actually said, rather than what we assumed it said. Two of our three "obvious" fixes turned out to make things worse in testing. Writing it up properly, including the bits that did not work.
Sam Okafor
Senior Product Designer | Design systems and end to end product design
Open to work
About
Demonstration profile. Product designer with ten years across fintech and marketplaces, most recently leading design for a payments team of six. I care about design systems that survive contact with real roadmaps, and about research that changes what gets built rather than confirming it. Currently open to senior and lead roles, remote or Manchester based.
Featured
Services
- Design system audits
A two week review of an existing system with a prioritised plan for fixing it.
- Product design consulting
Fractional design leadership for teams without a senior designer.
Experience
Lead Product Designer · Brightline Studio
Lead designer for the payments platform. Built the design system now used by four product teams, and ran the research programme behind the 2025 checkout rebuild.
Senior Product Designer · Northwind Financial
Owned onboarding and account opening end to end. Cut drop off by a third through progressive disclosure and clearer error handling.
Product Designer · Halyard Marketplace
Seller tools and listings. First designer on a team of eight engineers.
Education
University of Manchester
First class. Dissertation on interface legibility for low vision users.
Skills
Product designDesign systemsUser researchFigmaPrototypingAccessibilityDesign leadership