About

I’m Shira.

UX designer, creative director, and the kind of person who can’t walk into a space without thinking about how to make it better.

I’ve been designing professionally for almost 20 years, but the thing that’s always set me apart isn’t the design itself. It’s that I treat every project like it’s my own business. I’m not waiting for the next task.

Why I do this

I care about the people I work with.
When your business grows, I feel that.
When something isn’t working, I take it personally.
Design is the tool, your success is the goal.

How UX Thinking Shapes my work

My designs aren’t just guessing what works. When you use UX thinking – the goal is to test with real users. Yes even for marketing! There’s a real formula for what does and does not work!

Research First

Before I open Figma, I look at what’s actually working in your category. Research competitor patterns, trust signals, and try to find out where people hesitate. This is the same research approach I used at B&H Photo Video, informed by Baymard Institute’s applied UX research.

Map the Visitors Path

A landing page takes the user on a journey through your product, and helps them make a decision whether they want to use/purchase it. When I build a page I structure it based off what the visitor needs to know, before touching the real details.

Designing for Success

Very often the focus can be – “does it look good”. But you can have pretty that just doesn’t DO. THE. JOB. I’ve seen some awesomely designed campaigns for products where I’ve just looked at it and gone… huh? Once page I designed for a big company was for a new invention they made that was SUPER cool – but I can’t tell you how many hours it took me to figure out WHAT DOES IT DO??

When I build a page for you – I focus on making sure that the customer really knows what you are offering them. Pretty is important but its still secondary!

Once they know. Then you can be sure if its something they want – you’ll have a much better success rate, than if they purchase something they thought it is – and were disappointed.

Testing the Assumption

We always have ideas and ideas are amazing. But the only way to truly know if its working is to test it. That means to show people your product, and see their feedback, and then actually change things based off that. Unlike a flyer – a website is a living document that you can constantly tweak until it does the job it needs to do!

What it’s like to work with me

Starting the Project

I start every project with a deep dive. I want to understand you, your goals, and your business before I touch anything. I work best with clients who are responsive and invested in the outcome, this is a collaboration, not a handoff.

Mapping & Timeline

Once I understand what you need, I map it all out. Every project gets broken into tasks with a clear to-do list and timeline so nothing gets lost and you always know where we are.

The Blueprint

Before anything looks pretty, we build the blueprint. Wireframes first, jumping straight to design is a shortcut that costs you later. We agree on structure and content before we talk about colors and fonts.

Time to Design

Then once the foundation is approved, the design begins. By that point we both know exactly what we’re building and why.

Experience

12 years at B&H Photo Video as Lead UX Designer and Creative Operations Manager — designing for brands including Google, Canon, Intel, LG and HP. Before that, creative lead at Bellecour and Prestige Fancy in Montreal. UX designer for Mavriq, a live iOS and Android app. And since 2023, founder of SBHdezigns. Everything on this site is the work.