HNY Portfolio

— THE ASK

Overhaul DEFRA’s 20-year-old import reporting platform into a scalable, modern 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

Breaking down a complex system

What this shows
Possible reporting journeys, 500+ mis-matched UI & 100+ ways to report imported products.

Why we did it
To break down complexity & understand how workflows were structured for different scenarios.

The complexity is artificial & the system underneath is simple!

Only One System, Not Many

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

Shared Data Across All Flows

Every journey captures the same core data. Different forms, same information.

Variations Are Just Conditions

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

By understanding true system structure & needs of different roles,

we move towards a standardised experience that adapts dynamically.

— TO-BE JOURNEY

Single, standardised journey

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

Same starting point, ensuring consistency

Journey diverges dynamically and based on context, showing only what is relevant.

Simpler experience. Fewer Error. Faster Submission

One journey instead of 100+ fragmented flows

My Impact

2 → 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.

Scaled Across 5+ DEFRA Projects

Design system adopted across all 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 OBP's MW Dispatch

Automation Tools