Simranjit Singh Sandhu

Senior UX/UI Designer & Accessibility Expert with 11+ years of experience leading teams to build intuitive and inclusive products in Agile environments.

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About Me

My journey into user experience and accessibility began in an unlikely place: an ophthalmology hospital in Chandigarh, India. In 2009, my role as a UI Designer wasn't just about pixels on a screen; it was about sitting with patients, many with significant visual challenges, and understanding firsthand how they navigated the digital world. I tested products with them, listened to their feedback, and saw their frustrations and successes up close.

That experience was formative. It taught me the profound importance of empathy and ignited my passion for accessibility. It's where I learned a fundamental truth that has guided my entire career: when we design for those with the greatest need, we create better, more usable products for everyone.

This belief is the foundation of my work as a Senior UX/UI Designer. I thrive on transforming complex problems-from enterprise-level authentication systems to intricate B2B platforms-into intuitive, user-friendly, and inclusive solutions. My approach is built on collaboration and data, leading teams to foster a culture of empathy and using insights from user research to create designs that are not only beautiful but also effective.

With a proven track record in implementing WCAG guidelines, managing robust design systems, and training teams in Agile methodologies, I am dedicated to building products that truly serve their users. When I'm not designing, I'm actively advocating for accessibility in the tech community, sharing my knowledge as an instructor and mentor. For me, great design isn't just a profession; it's a mission to create a more equitable digital world.

Projects

Here are some of the projects I'm proud of.

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Renewing a B2B IAM Delegated Management Platform

I led the redesign of a legacy B2B IAM platform that could not scale to support complex client hierarchies. My solution replaced the flat, outdated system with a new, flexible hierarchy model, allowing for multi-level child organizations. The solution empowered enterprise administrators, solved critical scalability bottlenecks, and unlocked new markets for the business.

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Thumbnail image of project ECHO

Flexible Authentication

As Sr. UX Designer for Thales's SafeNet Trusted Access, I led the UX efforts for Flexible Authentication feature. This solution lets IAM (Identity and access management) administrators configure primary and fallback login methods, eliminating frustrating lockouts for users of secure authentication like FIDO and Certificate-Based Authentication (CBA).

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Thumbnail image of project ECHO

ECHO: Digital Twin Platform

While working on ECHO, I had the chance to work with a huge amount of data and turn it into a clear, interactive experience that empowers leaders to make critical decisions about city planning with confidence. This project showcases my ability to solve complex, high-stakes design challenges through a user-centered process.

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Speaking Engagements

Sharing knowledge with the community.

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May 2025

Shifting Left: How designers can drive accessibility before development starts

AccessU 2025 - Austin, TX, USA

At Knowbility's John Slatin AccessU 2025 conference, I was honored to co-present with Georgette Sullivan to share a story of organizational change. Our presentation, "Shifting Left," chronicled our journey from discovering a massive, hidden accessibility debt to building a proactive, design-led framework.

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Articles & Insights

Thumbnail for Article The future of UX

The Future of UX: AI Powered Prototyping

Sep 25, 2025 • 8 min read

Today's UX landscape is rapidly evolving, pushing designes to innovate and find more efficient ways to bring ideas to life.

 Thumbnail for Article Power of Journey Maps in UX

Power of Journey Maps in UX

Sep 1, 2022 • 5 min read

Journey mapping is one of the popular acticities for UX profressionals besides prototyping, storyboarding, heuristic reviews, and...

 Thumbnail for Article Is your product talking your customers language

Is your Product Talking your Customer's Language?

Jun 30, 2021 • 3 min read

Why do users uninstall my app? Why do users spend relatively lesser time on my website? Some days Google Analtyics...

 Thumbnail for Article Famig ambiguity

Framing ambiguity

Jun 30, 2019 • 2 min read

Our brain is not just seeing, it is acively constructing the visual scene by picking objects from the field of view on basis of...

 Thumbnail for Article Usability Testing is the only key towards improvement

Usability Testing is the Only Key Towards Improvement

May 15, 2019 • 3 min read

User testing always works, and even if you are conducting a usability test with the wrong user, still there are all chances that...

My Resume

Strategic Senior Product Designer with 11+ years of experience specializing in building secure, inclusive, and scalable enterprise platforms (B2B/B2C).

A recognized Accessibility Expert and co-presenter at AccessU, dedicated to "shifting left" by integrating WCAG 2.1/2.2 standards into the earliest stages of the design lifecycle.

Proven track record in leading multi-disciplinary teams through complex digital transformations in Identity & Access Management (IAM) and aviation technology.

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Core Expertise

  • Design Leadership: Staff-level Strategy, Design Systems (Figma), Mentorship, Agile/SAFe Methodologies.
  • Inclusive Design: WCAG 2.1/2.2 Compliance, Screen Reader Testing (NVDA/VoiceOver), Inclusive User Research.
  • Product Strategy: Generative UI, AI-Powered Prototyping, Heuristic Evaluation, A/B Testing, Data Analytics.
  • Technical: HTML/CSS, JavaScript, ARIA Authoring Practices, Rapid Prototyping.

Work Experience

January 2023 - Present

Senior User Experience Designer

Thales Canada, Ottawa, ON
  • Strategic Impact: Led the end-to-end UX redesign of a legacy B2B IAM platform, replacing rigid architectures with a scalable multi-level hierarchy system, directly enabling entry into previously inaccessible enterprise market segments.
  • Accessibility Excellence: Audited and optimized the SafeNet MobilePASS+ authenticator, ensuring 100% compliance for screen-reader users and streamlining biometric enrollment for millions of daily users.
  • Process Innovation: Pioneered "Vibe Designing" workflows using Generative UI and AI tools to accelerate prototyping cycles by 40% while maintaining rigorous design system standards.
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Architected complex information models for parent-child organization relationships, translating high-level security requirements into intuitive nested data structures.

May 2021 - September 2022

Senior User Experience Designer

CAE Inc., Montreal, QC
  • Team Leadership: Managed a design team of 5, overseeing the UX strategy for 15+ products within a highly regulated aviation ecosystem.
  • Accessibility Transformation: Led organization-wide audits resulting in a 70% improvement in accessibility scores. Reduced A11y defects by 70% through developer pair-programming and inclusive design training.
  • Operational Efficiency: Accelerated product release cycles by several months by training 8 teams on Lean UX and Agile methodologies.
  • Impact: Saved the "ECHO" digital twin project approximately 5 months of development time through proactive UX research and accessibility-first design patterns.

July 2021 - April 2022

UX/UI Designer

VanillaSoft Inc., Gatineau, QC
  • Led UX initiatives across three multidisciplinary teams, delivering user-centric features for a sales engagement platform serving over 35,000 users.
  • Planned and implemented WCAG guidelines for existing features, improving the platform's accessibility score by 75% as measured by axe DevTools.
  • Developed functional front-end prototypes using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, accelerating the development hand-off process by 15%.

November 2018 - June 2019

UX/UI Designer

TASKtify, Ottawa, ON

Created wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes for new and existing product features, resulting in a 35% increase in the user satisfaction index.

March 2014 - June 2018

UX/UI Designer

Grewal Eye Institute, Chandigarh, India
  • Architected and developed high-fidelity functional prototypes for a diverse healthcare ecosystem, including EMR systems, inventory management, and patient education consoles, ensuring seamless cross-platform responsiveness.
  • Engineered front-end solutions using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and AJAX to bridge the gap between complex clinical requirements and intuitive user interfaces.
  • Optimized clinical workflows across major product workstreams, including Pharmacy Billing and Patient Feedback systems, reducing friction for both medical staff and patients.

Skills

Figma (Expert) FigJam Adobe Creative Suite User Research A/B Testing Data Interpretation Pendo Analytics User Testing Accessibility (WCAG 2.1) Design System Wireframing Advance Prototyping Agile SAFe Lean UX Scrum User-Centered Design HTML CSS JavaScript Vibe Coding Vibe Designing Generative UI Human Centered AI Prompt Engineering

Testimonials

What colleagues and collaborators say about working with me.

I've worked with Simran on many projects. He has very high standards and a great approach with people. He knows his craft very well and produces not only great pre-project research, but designs that perform. Simran is a real team player and just a great person to have on your team. I look forward to when we will be able to work together again!

Jason Langdale Chiasson

Head of Digital Marketing and Growth, CAE Inc.

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I had the privilege to work on a notorious & complex company project with Simran. From the moment he joined, Simran brought his unique perspective and experience to the table, unifying team and vision around a common goal and collaborative practice. He is a creative & inclusive team player, a realistic problem-solver and a careful observer. I believe his adaptive creative skills will be a great asset to any project he puts his hands on.

Emilie Luneau

Product Owner, Marketing and Growth, CAE Inc.

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Sim has this SPECIAL mix between creativity, technological know how, and most importantly empathy from the end user's perspectives. It was a pleasure working with Sim. I could always brainstorm with him to generate amazing product UI designs with UX workflows that caters to the end users. If you are looking for an efficient, creative, and human centric UI/UX designer with potential of being a leader in the UI/UX space. I highly recommend Sim.

Tam Hua

Product Manager, VanillaSoft

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I had a great pleasure to work with Simran. Together we tackled many challenges and solved countless user problems. He is an exceptionally talented individual. He takes a thoughtful approach to UX, always maintaining a future focus on what could be vs. what is. What really stands out is how Simran truly values the role of the user in product. He's also an absolute please to work with - an excellent team player, always demonstrating a willingness to support others!

Maria Kololenko

Product Manager, VanillaSoft

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Simrajit was wonderful to work with during my time at VanillaSoft. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Sim on several new product initiatives. He was an out-of-the-box thinker with a very strong grasp of users' abilities and needs. His designs were elegant and he took the time to ensure Product Management and the development team understood the reason for the designs he proposed. When I left for another opportunity, I wanted to take Sim with me! Simrajit would be an asset to any company and he earns my highest recommendation.

Cheryl Hill

Product Manager, VanillaSoft

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Simran is a very professional and result oriented worker with great new ideas! He's especially respectful of others and someone you can count on. During our time working together we also had the chance to share some of our interests, especially for photography and drones! If you're looking to hire him as a UI/UX Designer, don't hesitate, he's the man!

Liked very much our time working as a team at VanillaSoft.

Alexandre Sauvé

Full-stack Developer, VanillaSoft

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I had great time working with Simran. Not only he is a good design strategist, self-motivated and independent, but also a reliable and trustworthy team member.

At Grewal Eye Institute, Simran led the design effort breathing life into super easy to work with interactive web application. I found him highly approachable, great problem solver, always with business goals in mind. Thank you Simran.

Parminder Singh

Motion / Graphic Designer, Grewal Eye Institute P. Ltd.

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Get In Touch

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