Europe · Est. 2016

Work

UX by Vanessa

Khosi Vanessa Mpungose · UX & product design

Contents

Work

Grouped by the kind of problem rather than the year. Property marketing, luxury e-commerce, public-sector service concepts and identity systems — different surfaces, the same method underneath.

01 — UX / UI

9 West on 57th

A Manhattan office tower launching a new amenities floor, for tenants who shortlist buildings on a phone months before they book a viewing.

Research, information architecture, wireframes and full interface design. The amenities floor stopped being a line item in a specification list and became the argument the whole site makes.

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Desktop layout for the 9 West on 57th website showing the amenities section
Fig. 2 — Desktop, amenities section

02 — E-commerce & identity

Zelli Handbags

Bespoke leather handbags. I won the identity through a design contest, then carried it into the storefront.

Winning the brand work first meant I entered user research already holding the positioning and a clear picture of the buyer. Journey mapping across two personas fed straight into catalogue architecture — the collection was restructured around occasion rather than product code, which is how people actually shop leather goods.

Scope · Identity, UX research, journey mapping, catalogue architecture, storefront UI.

User journey map for a Zelli Handbags buyer persona
Zelli Handbags online catalogue layout

Figs. 3–4 — Journey map and catalogue architecture

03 — Co-founder

Vasinova

Co-founded and taken from pitch to execution. Every design decision was mine to make and mine to defend.

Positioning, identity, product interface and the deck that made the case for it. The clearest demonstration of range on this site: strategy, brand and interface designed as one system rather than three deliverables handed between people.

Vasinova brand and product interface design
Fig. 5 — Vasinova

04 — E-commerce

Reboute

A homeware store built during lockdown around one question: what makes a home bearable when you can’t leave it?

Product curation was part of the design work rather than a client input, and so was the self-published book that accompanied it. UX and UI, user testing, book design and information design.

Reboute homeware store website design
Reboute book and print design spread

Figs. 6–7 — Storefront and accompanying book

05 — Service design

Biometrics for public housing

A concept for verifying housing applicants without turning the process into an ordeal for the people least able to absorb one.

The design question was never the scanner. It was queueing, consent, error states, and what happens when the match fails — a high-stakes, low-trust environment where the interface has to carry dignity as well as data.

06 — Transport

Ticketing app — design thinking study

Buying a ticket is never the hard part.

Knowing which ticket, for which zone, valid for how long, while a train is arriving — that is the design problem. A structured pass at fare selection and journey confidence: problem framing, user flows and wireframes.

07 — Concept

Nomadic

Can design ease a growing housing problem?

A self-directed concept exploring flexible living, and how you would present it to people whose housing situation is already precarious. Identity, UX/UI and website concept.

08 — Brand systems

Identity, packaging & print

Logo and identity work spanning hospitality, retail and services — including Milkshake Society and Alani packaging — alongside pitch decks, proposals and annual reports for corporate clients.

Zelli logotype exploration and typeface tests
Logomark design for an institutional client
SCP logo design
Fiutus logo design variations

Figs. 8–11 — Selected marks

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