About | Ali Baquer - UX Portfolio

Hi there, I'm Ali. 😊

I'm a digital product designer who likes helping teams create beautiful experiences. 

Before pivoting to design, I researched aquatic toxicology, examining the impact of e-waste runoff on fish and aquatic ecosystems. I then shifted my focus to people and technology, emphasizing user advocacy and navigating complexity.

Outside of work, I'm a big fan of travel, basketball and board games, such as Wingspan and Betrayal at House on the Hill!

If you’re seeking a skilled and thoughtful product designer with experience in both B2B and B2C across retail, finance, and travel industries, let's get in touch.

Get in touch

Work experience

UX Design Lead

Manulife | Toronto, ON

Nov 2024 - Present

Led design team on Staples Print’s site redesign — collaborating with a cross-functional team of designers, developers, & PMs.
Produced detail-oriented design deliverables including wire-frames, prototypes, user flows, yielding quick design turnaround.
Helped refine Staples Canada’s DSTILL design system by streamlining the approval process, as well as contributing & documenting new components & augmentations.

Spearheaded multiple projects for an ongoing website redesign, emphasizing enhancements in IA & user journeys.
Led redesign of Staples Print’s PCP, increasing revenue by 26%.
Conducted research to inform designs, including jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) user research, card sorting, tree testing, & usability testing.

Lead Product Designer

Staples Canada | Richmond Hill, ON

Mar 2024 - Oct 2024

Led design team on Staples Print’s site redesign — collaborating with a cross-functional team of designers, developers, & PMs.
Produced detail-oriented design deliverables including wire-frames, prototypes, user flows, yielding quick design turnaround.
Helped refine Staples Canada’s DSTILL design system by streamlining the approval process, as well as contributing & documenting new components & augmentations.

Spearheaded multiple projects for an ongoing website redesign, emphasizing enhancements in IA & user journeys.
Led redesign of Staples Print’s PCP, increasing revenue by 26%.
Conducted research to inform designs, including jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) user research, card sorting, tree testing, & usability testing.

Senior Product Designer

Staples Canada | Richmond Hill, ON

May 2023 - Feb 2024

Researched the impact of mining and electronic waste on freshwater ecosystems by following various experimental protocols mandated by the Ministry of Environment.
Analyzed and modelled complex data using programs such as r, SPSS, and Excel.

UX Researcher

The Cooperators | Burlington, ON

Sep 2022 - Apr 2023

Conducted qualitative and quantitative research to delve into customer needs, assess concepts, and enhance user experience.
Leveraged various generative & evaluative research methods to conduct studies, write test plans, & present UX insights.

UX Designer

Sherpa | Toronto, ON

Jul 2019 - Aug 2022

Founding UX designer at seed-stage startup, championing UX and UXR processes and translating user insights to new products & features, as well as helping grow the design team to over 10 designers, actively advocating for users and human-centered design throughout the product development process
Led end-to-end UX design for various B2B SaaS & B2B2C solutions, resulting in adoption by 100+ global partners.
Established company’s design system foundations, improving consistency, efficiency, & enhancing cross-team collaboration.

About me