Ajai Freeman-Lampard
PRODUCT DESIGNER
Timeline
May 2025 - February 2026
Role
Lead Product Designer
Team
Tech Lead, 2 x FE Engineers
Timeline
May 2025 - February 2026
Focus
Platform modernisation, IA & scalable systems
Outcome
Turned an unstructured redesign brief into a clearer platform strategy, improving user journeys, reducing content friction and lifting conversion post-launch.
Reframing a Website Redesign into a Strategic Platform Project
impact
Day-1 retention increased by 48%
Carousel engagement increased by 5%
Article CTR increased by 7%
Reframing a Website Redesign into a Strategic Platform Project
impact
Day-1 retention increased by 48%
Carousel engagement increased by 5%
Article CTR increased by 7%
In late 2022, I led the post-launch redesign of FT Edit’s onboarding to address early drop-off and improve first-session engagement in a curated reading product.
What started as a CEO-led request to redesign the websites became a broader platform modernisation project. The visible experience needed improvement, but the deeper issue was structural: unclear site architecture, an overgrown CMS, inconsistent design patterns and inefficient content workflows across a growing portfolio of venues.
I helped turn that into a more defined product initiative by shaping discovery, reframing the problem, improving information architecture and content models, and stepping into product responsibilities during delivery. The result was a clearer, more scalable platform that improved both user journeys and content operations.
In late 2022, I led the post-launch redesign of FT Edit’s onboarding to address early drop-off and improve first-session engagement in a curated reading product.
The Problem
Despite strong editorial content, early engagement was poor:
~50% of users opened the app only once
53% never reached an article during their first session
56% didn't scroll to view all 8 articles
to add
The core issue wasn’t content, it was how value was communicated during first use.
To add core issue
The core issue wasn’t content, it was how value was communicated during first use.
discovery & alignment
THE PROBLEM
Working with research, I synthesised behavioural and qualitative insights to identify the highest-leverage opportunity. Clarity over curation.
Reframing the brief: The real problem was platform structure, not visual polish
Working with research, I synthesised behavioural and qualitative insights to identify the highest-leverage opportunity. Clarity over curation.
To align product, editorial and engineering:
I framed solutions by effort vs impact
Narrowed the problem to communication not content volume
Integrated feasibility early to avoid over-designed solutions
This allowed us to focus on changes that could be tested and shipped.
The original ask was to redesign the site, but a visual refresh alone would not solve the real constraints. The platform had grown incrementally without a clear IA strategy, content operations were inefficient, and the CMS was already limiting future delivery.
Inherited MVP built quickly by an agency
Multi-venue platform needed to support growth
Contentful limits were beginning to block new work
The experience felt rigid, corporate and difficult to extend.
CREATING STRUCTURE from ambiguity
I turned a vague request into a defined direction
The roadmap was initially loose, stakeholder expectations varied, and many teams were not used to working in a product-led way. I created a lightweight discovery programme to make the problem clearer and give the work a stronger foundation.
I used stakeholder input, behavioural analysis and IA research to understand whether the problem was visual, structural or both. The strongest signals pointed to weak entry-point clarity, friction in key journeys, and content structures that were making the experience harder to navigate and manage.
Ran discovery across content, behaviour, site architecture, copy and systems
Used surveys, audits, funnel analysis, card sorting and tree testing
Used GA and Clarity as directional evidence alongside qualitative findings
Documented decisions clearly so they could be shared across teams
Behavioural signals
Key entry pages such as the homepage and What’s On were common early exit points
Funnel analysis suggested friction between PDPs and onward booking journeys
Mobile drove most traffic, but desktop users engaged more deeply
Restructuring the foundations beneath the interface
A major part of the project was improving the foundations beneath the interface. I reviewed content models, identified what could be consolidated or deprecated, and helped shape a more maintainable structure for the new platform.
This mattered because content structure had become a delivery constraint. Improving it reopened room for future development, reduced manual effort and gave the team a safer path through migration and launch.
Audited content models and fields
Helped rationalise CMS structure
Improved the relationship between content, templates and reusable patterns
Helped unlock a safer path for migration and release
Redesigning for clarity and scale
Once the foundations were stronger, the design work became more intentional. I focused on clearer hierarchy, reusable patterns and a more coherent experience across venues.
The aim was not novelty. It was to make the platform easier to navigate, more flexible for content teams, and more consistent as the business continued to grow.
Improved information architecture and clearer user journeys
Created more consistent, reusable design patterns
Helped define copy, typography and component behaviour
Made the experience feel less corporate and more flexible across venues
strategy to delivery
Once the foundations were stronger, the design work became more intentional. I focused on clearer hierarchy, reusable patterns and a more coherent experience across venues.
The aim was not novelty. It was to make the platform easier to navigate, more flexible for content teams, and more consistent as the business continued to grow.
Improved information architecture and clearer user journeys
Created more consistent, reusable design patterns
Helped define copy, typography and component behaviour
Made the experience feel less corporate and more flexible across venues
outcomes
The launch went smoothly, which mattered given the scale of change across the front end, CMS and content operations. Early performance signals were positive, but the bigger outcome was a platform with clearer structure, smoother content management and stronger foundations for future rollout.
Results
Average conversion increased from 2.0% to 2.6%
Users reaching the first homepage content modules increased from 69.7% to 85.5%
Operational impact
More maintainable content structure
Stronger design system foundations
Safer path for future changes and releases
Better cross-functional alignment around product decisions
design direction
I explored multiple concepts across onboarding and homepage points, this intentionally reduced the solution space to a set of testable changes
I explored multiple concepts across onboarding and homepage points, this intentionally reduced the solution space to a set of testable changes
Key ideas & decisions:
Embedding onboarding within the carousel rather than gating access
Separated instructional cues from editorial content
Introduced lightweight signals to set expectations
Evolved existing components to minimise engineering risk
Rather than treating onboarding as a one-off walkthrough, I reframed it as a behavioural system that was embedded in the apps reading experience
Rather than treating onboarding as a one-off walkthrough, I reframed it as a behavioural system that was embedded in the apps reading experience
This approach balanced two competing needs:
Helping new users quickly understand why the app exists
Avoiding friction that blocked users from reaching articles
a key decision
Internal stakeholders wanted to retain the value-proposition splash screen. However, behavioural data showed a 12% drop-off at this step.
Rather than removing the content entirely, I proposed embedding the value statements directly into onboarding. This preserved editorial intent, while reducing friction and enabling faster exploration.
Replaced splash, as 12%of users drop-off, with embedded value cues inside the onboarding flow.
The brief was to redesign the site. The real task was to make the platform workable again.
Replaced splash, as 12%of users drop-off, with embedded value cues inside the onboarding flow.
I helped shift the project from a visual refresh to a more strategic redesign of structure, systems and delivery.
One of the most important design decisions was deciding that the interface was not the main problem.
The strongest outcome was not just higher conversion, but a platform the team could actually keep building on.
before
after
final design
With the structural changes agreed, I led a cross-functional review of the onboarding copy and content to ensure the experience felt intentional rather than repetitive.
We reduced duplicated messaging, tightened narrative flow and aligned editorial tone with behavioural intent. The result was an experience that clarified value without over explaining it
measuring success
To support effecient decision-making, I mapped user-flow scenarios across key user types, aligning product, data and engineering on:
What success looked like
What could realistically be measured
What changes justified testing
Onboarding should be treated as a behavioural system, where editorial intent, user psychology and commercial metrics need to be aligned from the outset.
This project confirmed that I am strongest when the problem is bigger than the interface. I enjoy turning vague briefs into structured product work, especially where user journeys, content systems and delivery constraints are closely linked.
It also pushed me further beyond UI into product thinking, systems design and cross-functional leadership. If I continued the work, I would focus on iterative optimisation and deeper measurement to build on the new foundations over time.
Onboarding should be treated as a behavioural system, where editorial intent, user psychology and commercial metrics need to be aligned from the outset.
What this project changed for me
This work reinforced the importance of:
Establishing shared risk tolerance early
Translating both business & user insights and requests into a clear design brief
Treating onboarding as a system, not a screen