Stephen James
Foster (he/him)
As a Digital Engagement Architect (UX Architect), I craft intuitive and engaging digital products that make tech accessible to everyone. I uncover hidden insights through user research to create designs that resonate deeply.
I’m a creative-meets-meticulous designer, always seeking innovative solutions while prioritising usability and accessibility. Every detail gets my attention, ensuring seamless user experiences. I like looking at the bigger picture to align experiences and business goals.
Collaboration is my forte. I work closely with cross-functional teams to bring ideas to life, aligning designs with user needs, technical feasibility and business goals.
My passion for UX extends beyond work. I’m a tech enthusiast, always exploring new products and services. I experiment with design approaches, stay up to date with UX, UI and MarTech trends as well as mentor aspiring UX and UI designers.
I’m excited to continue growing as a UX and Digital specialist, creating exceptional digital experiences that positively impact people’s lives.
100+
Projects Completed
My career has spanned the evolution of digital experiences, from creating online financial tools and data visualisations to cutting-edge interactive installations across Europe. More recently, I’ve focused on guiding a financial service company through digital transformation projects and platform journeys, helping them leverage technology to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
840
Cups of Coffee a Year
I am motivated and passionate about making great experiences, and collaborating with others with similar passions in digital design. Meetings, workshops and mentoring drive productivity, as well as the number of coffees consumed.
26+
Years of Experience
I’ve honed my skills in crafting impactful digital experiences that drive user engagement and business growth. From spearheading the design of a financial services public website that reduced customer support calls by 25% to leading the UX improvements for a major Adviser platform, I’ve learned not just from successes but also from challenges. I’m driven by a passion for creating visually engaging and intuitive digital experiences.
Capabilities
My capabilities are always evolving but I have daily tools and abilities:
Tools
- Sketch Book and Pencil
- Figma
- Miro/Mural
- Adobe Creative Cloud (Full)
- Axure / Sketch / XD
- Office360 / Google sheets
- Visual Studio Code
- Chrome/Edge Inspect
- Screen-readers (JAWS, NVDA)
- Jira / Confluence
- Git / BitBucket
- Microsoft Teams
- Adobe Analytics / GA
- AI (Gemini/GPT4)
Design
- Dyslexic Thinker
- User-Centric-Design
- UX Design
- UI Design
- Design Systems
- Digital Brand / Patterns
- Interactions
- Personas and Segments
- Task flows
- Architecture
- Sitemaps
- Innovation
- Accessibility-first
- Responsive-first
- User-first
Technical
- API’s and Integrations
- HTML / ARIA
- Advanced CSS3
- JavaScript (Vanilla/jQuery – prototyping)
- Adobe AEM deployment
- Architecture diagrams
- Process flows
- Digital formats (media)
- Digital optimisation
- WCAG W3C 2.1/2.2 – Accessibility
- Customer Duty (FCA)
UX research
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
- Bried and conduct interviews
- Surveys
- Focus groups / Workshops
- Usability testing (A/B)
- Sorting the data results to present finding and possible actions (Synthesis)
- Accessibility user testing
- Journey/Barrier Mapping
- Competitor research
Digital Assets
- Creative
- Web design
(web formats and optimisation) - Animation and motion
- Interactive elements
- 2D or 3D
- Video and Audio
- Motion
Leadership
- Presentations and visualisations
- Workshops
- Mentoring
- Management
- Communication
- Agile/Waterfall methods
Adobe cloud solutions knowledge
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)
- AEM 6.4 OnPrem
- AEM 6.5 OnPrem/Cloud Strategy
- Adobe Managed Services (AMS)
- Security / User Groups
- Authoring environment dev (Corel-UI)
- AI integration
- Templates / Fragments
- Component design and requirements
- Custom workflow design
- Headless – Content as a Service (CaaS)
- Configuration and setup
- Features and integrations (getting value from large feature set)
- SPA integration design/architecture
- Reporting and auditing design
- DAM strategy (structure, tags, insights, workflows)
Adobe Analytics
- WebSDK implementation (contractor supported)
- Adobe Launch config
- Workspaces / Users / App
- Data-layer and event tracking
- AEM content insights
Adobe Target
- A/B testing
- AEM fragment integration
- Personalisation
- SPA/Mobile/Web
To help shape the digital engagement at Aegon UK, I created the business case and helped form the foundations of their new marketing technology so Aegon UK could then use the new tools and features to greatly enhance their customers’ experience, personalise and better understand the user’s experience. These foundations were not just for their new public website but to set new standards for future needs and to allow headless content to be distributed and managed across their digital estate in Web, SPA and Mobile.
