I love contributing to outcomes.

While bringing together stakeholders to create bespoke advertising campaigns from design and development, I had no idea, I was performing the job of a User Experience Designer. For me, it just made sense to put people who had different strengths together to create something unique to reach our audiences.

Once I understood that this was part of what it meant to work in a Product Team I took a year out to study and get a Masters degree in Interaction Media and become a User Experience designer in 2011.

Previous employment

Career Break(Aug 20223- Present): Built a Bar & Restaurant on the North Kenyan Coast.

I am currently studying for a certificate in UX Writing,  UX Content Collective. 

Brain in hand, Remote/Contract, UK — Senior Product Designer

April 2023 - Aug 2023

Brain in Hand is a mental health service and app for Autistic and neurodivergent people. I was the sole designer on a transformational project of their internal tools and new user registration platform for the initial sprints. The last sprint collaborated with a perm new hire and handover.

Working on Internal tools and data migration project

  • Review and Revamp the Design System(Material) UI component library. Recommended a reduced component library. 

  • Redesign the internal SAS User management system for migration from a third-party tool.  

  • Conducted stakeholder interviews, gathered requirements and used Design thinking to recommend journey changes.

  • Created dashboard and user profile designs for handover to devs.

Working on Brain in Hand’s registration form for new users

  • Customer product sign-up form redesign, mobile-first, as well as desktop versions for internal stakeholders to create intakes and external parties to white label and create new customer, intakes for their initiatives. 

  • Prototype for testing with users. Handed over to new in-house designer brought on board. 

  • August 2021 - Oct 2022

    First Product team member in start-up to scale up business.

    • Created a new design system and flows to combine multiple funnels into one product to build Europe's largest classic car marketplace. Catering for all enthusiast needs from browsing, researching, buying and selling.

    • Facilitated Design Thinking workshops.

    • Planned, Recruited, and created prototypes for user testing new mobile designs for search and home.

    • Hired and mentored a six-member design team.

  • June 2021 - August 2021

    • Redesign site architecture, created new site map, wireframes and user journey for site rebrand.

    • B2B website content and architecture redesign for Internaional Corporate Company. 

  • April  2021 - May 2021

    • Two three-week usability and user research studies. The first is on the SkyQ Subscriptions Box to gauge customers' understanding of purchasing add-ons or subscribing to additional channels. The second on customer use of Groups on Facebook and what improvements could be made to increase engagement with groups in particular with ”Lurkers”, users who don’t engage beyond hitting the like button.

    • Wrote the script, hosted interviews and delivered a written report based on

View more on Linkedin or by downloading my CV.

Recommendations & Reviews

I really enjoyed working with TJ, she lead design on a complex sign-up and user management project. She was able to get up to speed and make progress really fast. Her facilitation skills, and her ability to get on with everyone, meant that she was able to get to the core of some difficult and opaque legacy issues, and design solutions for the key business outcomes rather than iterate on our existing process.

Matthew Arnold, Product Director, Brain in Hand

For me it’s very fufilling to create work that hits the goals of my clients and is compelling for the people who would like to use them.

Taraja

More than a digital space designer

While I’ve always loved design I never felt it was just about pixels. I have been lucky enough to be able to take my knowledge of designing experiences and bring it in the physical world with tremendous success.

A year of physical experience design

Having worked in restaurants during my university days I always had an affinity for good food and drink. So when the opportunity came to rent an untamed natural bush beach on the Northern Kenya coast I jumped at the chance. We cleared some of the bush but wanted to keep its natural beauty, planted 20 trees and built a simple beach club. I designed the flow of the space, the structures from the cabanas to the tiny house where the staff live, to the Swahili Seafood menu and even wrote my own recipes. My fish curry has been lauded as one of the best on the coast and you must try my smoked aubergine samosas.

Peponi Beach Cub Lunch
Happy customer. What more do you need? Shade, sun bed, white sands and a book.
Beach Club on the Kenyan Coast Indian Ocean
I am very hands on when it came to running the beach daily.
Describe by customers as the best Swahili Prawn Curry

Other services I offer

  • UX Writing

    Whether it be microcopy, conversion funnel copy or optimisation to copy based on data let's work through this to get your product performing.

    UX writing upsell example

  • Presentation Design

    Do you have content but don't know how to package this to present to your clients, stakeholders or potential blah blah blah. I can help with this.

  • Workshopping

    Have a problem you need to solve? The issue doesn't need to be digital. I help organisations solve problems that help them guide the strategy for their business.