HNY Portfolio

— THE ASK

Overhaul DEFRA’s 20-year-old import reporting platform into a scalable system.

The eHMI platform is an internal system used to manage & record plant & food imports into the UK.

— MY ROLE

Sole Designer

Billed at Band 7 rate

Define user journeys & UI design direction
Facilitated workshops with stakeholders & SMEs
Supported developers in delivery

— THE CHALLENGE

Nothing is standardised

Overly detailed 1:1 item & form relationship
For every new requirements, a new journeys

Users defaulted to manual paper forms
eHMI 2/10 NPS

— MY APPROACH

1. Breaking down a complex system

I worked with SMEs & architects & uncovered 100+ ways to report imported products.

I created a Service Map that...
exposed inefficiencies, allowing us to identify points of opportunities!

2. Understanding how different roles use eHMI

Collaborated with SMES to build user personas...
so I can identify the feature variation.

The complexity is artificial. The system underneath & users needs are simple!

One System. Shared Data Across All Flows

All journeys use the same backend, APIs, and data model. Pathways don’t change system behaviour.

All users provides the same data, just different certificate to upload!

Certificate determines where the item information should be stored!

Variations Are Just Conditions

Differences (origin, rules, type) are handled through logic, not separate journeys.

100+ complex user journeys were the result of 20 years of incremental additions. By understanding this, we can now move to standardised the experience.

— TO-BE JOURNEY

Shaping the future experience for reporting import products

After leading 10+ workshops attended by users, stakeholders & architects,
I designed a single, adaptable journey based on user context.

Single, standardised journey

Adaptable based on user role, product type, purpose, priority, and country rules.

Same starting point. Reduce user's cognitive load!

Users don't have to worry about filling in the wrong form as journey diverges dynamically.

Simpler experience. Fewer Error. Faster Submission

One journey instead of 100+ fragmented flows

“This is something I will actually use”
James Langley, Press Officer

"I’m happy to retire the tired fax form for eHMI"
Elizabeth Dines, Senior Policy Advisor

“Can you fix all our other softwares?”
Connor W., Senior Press Officer

My Impact

2/10 → 9/10 NPS

Simplified journey and modern UI significantly improved user satisfaction and confidence in submissions.

+20% Faster Development

Dev-ready design system reduced effort by eliminating the need to rebuild common components.

Becoming the standard for future DEFRA Projects

Design system and structure adopted across 5 DEFRA projects.

“Hilary - the most impressive design execution I have seen in 18 years I've been with the IBM. Design and development capability?! a pure breath of fresh air.” Michael Baralic, Lead .NET Developer

“You have to taken the cognitive load away from them by producing dev-ready UIs so they (developers) can focus on the coding” Howard Jackson, Senior Managing Consultant

“Your ability to breathe fresh life into applications that were last updated 20-25-years ago is commendable and truly aligns them with contemporary UI standards.” Zach Lines, IBM Developer

“I've found your design skills to be first-class, demonstrated by the designs you have produced and the unexpected coding skills you have!” Ian Myers, Senior Developer

“Give me more of what Hilary has made! beautiful screens.” Defra client (eHMI user)

“This is exactly what we wanted but never knew how to describe!” Defra client (eHMI user)

Transforming Control Room Design with AI-Led Simulations

NESO’s First MW Dispatch Capability

Automation Tools