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Ben Fraser

benfraserdesign.co.uk benfraserdesign@gmail.com

I'm a UX/Interaction/Product designer based in Sheffield, UK, with over 15 years experience. I design, facilitate & code clean, intuitive, accessible products and services. With experience in government, start-ups and the charitable sector, I am a versatile designer, an accomplished team leader and a proficient front-end developer.

My aim is the creation of products and services that work seamlessly for all users. It is my way of distilling my creative drive towards helping people lead better lives.


Employment history

Aug 2025 - present

Lead Interaction Designer

Leading a team of 15 interaction designers across 15 different services in Probation Digital - freeing up probation staff to support people on probation, and better protect the public.

Feb 2024 - Aug 2025

Lead Interaction Designer (consultant)

  • Leading a team of interaction designers within the Public Sector UCD team.
  • Working as a consultant interaction designer at HMRC, taking a new design for a personal tax account through a successful Alpha assessment.

Feb 2023 - Feb 2024

Principal Designer (consultant)

  • Leading a team of UCD consultants.
  • Working as consultant interaction designer at Defra, leading the design of the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme - a vital Windsor Framework-related service allowing traders to easily move goods from GB to NI.

Jan 2022 - Jan 2023

Senior Product Designer

Leading Product Design for SaaS participatory democracy platform, sold to cities around the world.

DWP
Feb 2020 - Jan 2022

Senior/Lead Interaction Designer

April 2015 - Feb 2020

UX Lead / Senior Front-end Developer

  • Leading user-centred design for digital inclusion work, notably with Google and assisted digital with HMCTS.
  • Product management of e-learning platform Learn My Way: leading a cross-disciplinary team and leading the UX/UI design of a platform that has since been adopted by Google to deliver basic digital skills training.
  • Designing and implementing the organisation's design system.

WANdisco
Oct 2012 - Mar 2015

UI/UX Engineer

UX/UI design and front-end development for Big Data applications - sold to FTSE 100 companies.

WANdisco
Dec 2011 - Sep 2012

Web Developer / Graphic Designer

Design and build of the website for the company's £18 million IPO.

Freelance
May 2007 - April 2011

Web & Graphic Designer

Website design, branding and image manipulation.

Skills

Design

  1. UX/UI/IxD
    Expert
  2. Prototyping tools / Figma
    Expert
  3. GOV.UK Prototype Kit / Heroku
    Expert
  4. GDS Standards
    Expert
  5. Design leadership
    Expert
  6. Workshop facilitation
    Advanced
  7. Adobe Creative Suite
    Advanced
  8. Accessibility
    Advanced
  9. Content design
    Proficient

Dev

  1. HTML / CSS
    Expert
  2. JavaScript
    Proficient

Other

  1. French
    Fluent

Conferences and awards

  • Jan 2026, AI Digital Professions Conference
    'Beyond vibe coding' presentation
  • Nov 2024, Government Transformation Awards
    Shortlisted in the 'Citizen Experience' top 100
  • Nov 2021, virtual event
    Presentation at Think Digital Identity for Government
  • Nov 2017, London
    Leading a usability workshop at Mozilla Fest 2017
  • Nov 2016, London
    Presentation at Digital Evolution conference

Education

  • May 2021, GDS
    Government Digital Services (GDS) assessor training
  • April 2018, ILM
    Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management
  • 2009 - 2011, University of Sheffield
    Website Design / Advanced Web Scripting
  • 2007, Sheffield
    Teaching qualification: BTEC Level 4 Preparing To Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTTLS)
  • 1998 - 2001, University of Sheffield
    BA (Hons) Architectural Studies