Belén Pena's curriculum vitae

I have been a designer and researcher in the software industry since 2007. In 2017 I started my PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at the School of Design of Northumbria University. My research explored how we can design fairer and more inclusive financial technologies, in collaboration with people who have experienced mental illness and financial difficulty. I was awarded a doctorate (without corrections) in September 2021.

I am also an active contributor to the Free and Open Source Software community, and one of the founding members of Open Source Design, a volunteer group that advocates the importance of human-centred and participatory design approaches to Free and Open Source Software projects.

I have extensive experience in:

• Planning, executing and analysing qualitative research studies.
• Common quantitative research approaches in the software industry, such as surveys and analysis of system use data.
• Engaging marginalised groups and people deemed “vulnerable” in research activities, as demonstrated by my academic, peer reviewed publications
• Software requirements gathering, participatory design workshops and expert design evaluations.
• Design for websites, web applications, native applications and operating systems, for desktop, tablet and mobile, and across numerous verticals (retail and investment banking, telecommunications, education, government, enterprise applications, software development tools, open source software, etc.).
• Producing software design specifications and prototypes with both design (e.g. Figma, Sketch) and web development tools (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Git).
• Implementation work and collaboration with software engineering teams within agile and open source environments.
• Training and public speaking at design and development conferences.

More about me on the web:

I am currently a post-doctoral researcher with the Autistic Adults Online project, based at Queen Mary University London. We are exploring how to design more inclusive social media platforms, and how to improve the digital communication experience of autistic adults. In this project, I am responsible for all participatory design activities, which include a set of 12 co-design workshops.

I have been consulting on design and research since leaving my last full-time position at Intel in October 2016. I have done consulting work for the following companies and projects:

Digital Catapult

I supported the Digital Catapult on their research efforts with embedded computing engineers as part of the CHERI-Morello project, an open source collaboration between Arm, Cambridge University and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Red Associates

I was part of the team undertaking the biggest international, ethnographic study on living with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) carried out to date. I contributed field research in Spain.

GNU Taler

This free software project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of a digital currency that preserves and respects citizens’ privacy, while protecting society from money laundering and tax evasion. I supported their design efforts from July to October 2021. Since Taler is a free software project, all design work was done in the open, with all design deliverables available in this Git repository: https://git.taler.net/large-media.git/

Deontic Data

From December 2020 to December 2021, I supported this UK startup in research and design activities for a data rights management service.

AuthKeys

During April and May 2020 I helped this Italian startup to redesign their product website and signup process.

UK Department for Education

During August and September 2017 I led a research initiative on organisational change. We planned, scheduled, executed and analysed more than 30 interviews to uncover collaboration issues between agile and user-centred digital projects, policy teams and management departments.

WeDigitalGarden

During July and August 2017 I worked as a field researcher in an international ethnographic study for a retail software business. I carried out and documented field research sessions in the Barcelona area, which involved shadowing sales representatives as they worked in stores, followed by semi-structured interviews.

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

From February to April 2017 I supported the digital transformation efforts underway at MHRA. As a senior user experience designer, I was responsible for ensuring that all actions were undertaken following user-centred design principles, as per the guidelines established by the Government Digital Service (GDS).

During my time in the Yocto Project, I was tasked with introducing human-centred design processes, methods and activities to what had been until then an engineering-centric project.

The position involved:

• Defining and implementing a suitable design process compatible with open source philosophy and practices.
• Planning and executing a continuous user research programme, under heavy resource constraints and mostly with remote participants.
• Designing and building a set of web applications to ease the steep learning curve, improve user perception and increase adoption of Yocto Project tools.
• Supporting project management, front-end development, quality assurance, technical documentation, marketing and community engagement efforts.

When I first joined Intel, I worked on the interaction design for the mobile and tablet versions of the Meego and Tizen operating systems.

The position involved:

• Designing operating system components such as navigation, home screen, multitasking interaction, status indicators and notifications system.
• Designing the user interface toolkit for native applications (equivalent to the Material design system in Android).
• Designing core applications such as contacts, dialler, e-mail and gallery.
• Planning, moderating and analysing usability studies.

I was a senior designer in LBi’s user experience team. At LBi I led the redesign of the truphone website, and worked on BriLsh Telecom’s e-commerce and self-service pladorms.

The position involved:

• Information architecture, interaction design, wireframing, prototyping and production of design specifications.
• Liaising with clients and stakeholders, facilitating design workshops and presenting design solutions.
• Preparing and presenting user experience sales pitches.
• Supporting user research activities
• Collaborating with branding, visual design and development teams.
• Supervising and mentoring junior user experience team members.

Lab49 is an agile development house specialised in investment banking. In close collaboration with a graphic designer, I worked on a concept for a new risk management application commissioned by UBS.

The position involved:

• Requirements gathering via stakeholder interviews and design reviews.
• Wireframing and prototyping.
• Usability testing with both paper and interactive prototypes. Some of the test sessions were carried out in the trading floor, where our users worked.

I joined iQ Content as a trainee interaction designer, and moved my way up until becoming responsible for delivering client work.

At iQ Content I designed mainly websites and web applications. In my almost 3 years there, I worked for, between others, Vodafone Ireland, Eircom, Permanent TSB, University College Dublin and SAP.

I am native Spanish speaker, although after 20 years abroad in Ireland and the UK I suspect English may now be my first language. My Portuguese was fluent, but currently a bit rusty.