UI/UX Designer · Toronto, Canada
Deborah
Soyelu-Aro
I've always been the person who looks at something and sees what it could be. Now that's just my job.
images/hero/hero-threshold-card.jpg
Threshold: Settlement Service Design
Research · Service Design · Prototype
About Me
Building experiences people can trust
I started in graphic design, the kind of person who couldn't scroll past a bad flyer without wanting to redesign it. What began as redesigning posters and invites for friends and family grew into freelance work and eventually professional design experience, where I got to apply that instinct at a bigger scale. I genuinely believed good design builds trust, and that when something feels untrustworthy or clunky, it's usually because of bad design underneath it. But the more I designed, the more I found myself asking a bigger question: how do you design not just a beautiful moment, but a whole experience someone can trust from start to finish? That question is what led me to formally pursue UX.
That question is what I've spent the last year building on, through UX coursework at Humber Polytechnic and hands-on experience turning research into real design decisions. Now I'm looking for full-time work that's actually solving a real problem. Right now, that's my internship, designing for a day program that supports neurodivergent young adults. I believe in what they're building, and I want to be the kind of designer who makes someone's day a little easier, one small fix at a time.
End-to-end design projects completed
User interviews & usability tests conducted
Semester of UX Design at Humber Polytechnic, coursework complete
Years in graphic design & digital content
Selected Work
Case Studies
Threshold: A Multi-Touchpoint Settlement System
A pre-arrival brochure, airport kiosk, and mobile platform designed to close the orchestration gap newcomers face when navigating interdependent tasks like SIN, banking, and phone setup in their first weeks in Canada.
User Research · Service Design · Information Architecture · High Fidelity Design · Prototype
Read case study
Orro: Independent Living Companion
An interdisciplinary UX and Industrial Design project exploring an AI companion robot and caregiver app for proactive elder care.
User Research · Concept Development · Wireframing · High Fidelity Design · Prototype
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Zyra: Design System
A fashion and beauty design system focused on visual foundations, reusable components, accessibility, and scalable website UI.
Colour & Typography · UI Components · Accessibility · Website UI · Figma
Read case studyHow I Work
My Design Process
Discover
Conviction isn't proof. I've learned you can be completely sure people will love something and still be wrong, so before I trust my instincts, I go ask: interviews, competitive research, conversations with people who know the problem better than I do.
Define
Raw research is just noise until it becomes a pattern. I turn interviews into personas and journey maps built to actually get referenced later, not filed away and forgotten.
Design
I still sketch first, just digitally now, fast, rough, and disposable. I'd rather bin ten bad ideas at that stage than fall for one too early.
Test & Iterate
I put it in front of real users before I let myself fall in love with it. The feedback stings sometimes, but it's a lot cheaper than shipping the wrong thing.
Experience & Education
Work & Education
Work Experience
Jun 2026 to Aug 2026
UX Design Intern
The MindShift Academy · South Etobicoke, Toronto
Co-led a full website redesign, from competitive analysis and information architecture through wireframing and direct implementation on Hostinger, reporting to co-founders and key stakeholders.
Sept 2025 to May 2026
UI/UX Designer, Academic Projects
Humber Polytechnic · Toronto, Canada
Designing user flows, wireframes, and prototypes for mobile and web applications using Figma. Conducting user interviews, surveys, and usability tests to identify user needs and pain points. Building design systems and component libraries for consistency and scalability.
Apr 2023 to Nov 2023
Digital Designer
Faithfingers Education · Lagos, Nigeria
Created engaging, visually cohesive digital content for social platforms. Applied visual design principles to enhance brand consistency and user engagement. Developed audience behaviour understanding that now informs my UX and communication work.
Education
Expected Nov 2026
College Graduate Certificate in User Experience Design
Humber Polytechnic · Toronto, Canada
Focus: UX research, interaction design, Figma prototyping, design systems, information architecture, and usability testing.
Skills & Tools
What I Bring
Design Tools
UX Methods
Soft Skills
Certifications
Research Ethics Board (REB) Certification · 2026
Let's Connect
Ready to work together?
I'm looking for full-time UX roles and contract work where I get to solve problems that actually matter. Let's talk.