Martin Belam CV

I’m a senior user experience professional with over a decade of experience designing and delivering digital products for major brands like the Guardian, BBC, Sony and Vodafone.

The Guardian

London, UK. February 2009 - present

As Lead UX & Information Architect at the Guardian I have built a brand new UX team helping introduce user-centred design to the business. Key projects I’ve worked on include the Guardian’s Facebook app, and a redesign and re-architecture of the Guardian’s sign in and registration system. I have also worked on projects to build data-driven pages on topics like music and books, to improve the production of ebooks, to support hyper-local blogging, and a redesign of Guardian Jobs. Back office systems I have designed include moderation interfaces for community staff, and the content management system for a new live blogging platform. Over the course of three years I have worked on redesigns of several major sections of the site, including Travel, Fashion and Comment is Free, and on incorporating content from live blogs directly into index and resource pages. I run the Guardian Beta programme and Developer Blog, offering the business an opportunity to get early user feedback on developing software and projects, and have organised “UX drop-ins” at the Guardian as part of our open policy.

Key skills and deliverables:

  • Sketches and wireframes for user flows and page layouts
  • Prototypes in HTML or iOS Storyboard
  • Designing and running product development workshops
  • Business logic definition for underlying systems
  • Presentations for internal and external use


Independent consultant

Crete, Greece. 2006 - 2008

For three years I worked as an independent consultant based on the Greek island of Crete, working either remotely or on site for short contracts. Clients included the BBC, the Guardian, the Science Museum, NESTA, Lakeland, Chinwag, Moo.com and the agency Rattle. Work included producing wireframes and user journeys, writing research and positioning papers, and doing competitive analysis on areas such as ad-serving and podcasts.



Sony NetServices

Salzburg, Austria. 2006 - 2007

As Usability Consultant I worked designing interfaces and back office systems for the Sony Connect music store, and for Sony NetServices StreamMan service for Vodafone mobile apps and desktop clients across multiple European territories.



BBC

London, UK. 2000 - 2005

As a Senior Development Producer in the BBC’s New Media department I worked as Product Manager on projects including the technical delivery of the BBC Online homepage, personalised email services, and online polling and voting. I worked on the internationalisation of the BBC website. For several years I worked on the BBC’s search and directory services, doing SEO for BBC content and search log analysis to gain greater understanding of user needs.



Writing

I’ve written for the Guardian, journalism.co.uk, the Media Briefing and the Press Gazette. I’ve kept a blog about product design, user experience and digital media at currybet.net since 2002. Between 2008 and 2012 I was a contributing editor and writer for FUMSI magazine, a monthly publication for information professionals.



Books

I’ve edited ebooks for the Guardian about Facebook and Doctor Who, and published Kindle compilations about London IA and Hacks/Hackers London events. I’ve contributed to “UX Storytellers” edited by Jan Jursa, Stephen Köver and Jutta Grünewald, and to “Search Analytics for Your Site” by Lou Rosenfeld.



Speaking

I am a regular speaker at international conferences including IA Summits in the US and Europe, the Usability Professionals’ Association, and have keynoted the Polish IA Summit. I’ve also spoken at UK events including news:rewired, FutureEverything, the Edinburgh International Science Festival and the Arts Marketing Association’s Press & PR day.



Other interests

I am the co-organiser of London IA, a network of designers, information architects and writers. We organise monthly meetings featuring talks of interest to the design community. I am on the social media advisory board of the Imperial War Museum.



Education

I have a BA(Hons) in History from Leeds University, 4 'A'-Levels and 14 GCSEs (or equivalent).



Contact details

Email: martin.belam@currybet.net
Phone: 07801 828718
Twitter: @currybet
LinkedIn: Martin Belam
Facebook: facebook.com/currybet

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