[01] Canadian Tire mobile app redesign
[02] lululemon Back in stock notifications
[03] MEC Save for Later feature
[01] Canadian Tire mobile app redesign
[02] Canadian Tire mobile app redesign
[03] Canadian Tire mobile app redesign
[04] Canadian Tire mobile app redesign
[05] Canadian Tire mobile app App Store rating
[01] lululemon Back in stock notifications
[02] lululemon Back in stock notifications
[03] lululemon Back in stock notifications
[01] MEC Save for Later feature
[02] MEC Save for Later feature
[01] BC Transit mobile website refresh homepage
[02] BC Transit mobile website refresh homepage
[03] BC Transit mobile website forward vision
I'm a product designer with over 15 years of shipping consumer-facing e-commerce, loyalty & mobile app experiences
Get in touch →Featured work
Canadian Tire
I transformed mobile commerce through process change
Project
Mobile app redesign
Timeline
2018–2019
Contribution
I led the end-to-end redesign of Canadian Tire's mobile commerce app—overseeing both iOS & Android, defining the features & look, leading workshops, building the prototypes & final iOS screens. I changed how the company approached product design development—I implemented a design sprint process, shifting the team from waterfall to iterative delivery.
Problem
The mobile app needed to be replaced—built on an aging web framework and lacking platform features including accessibility—the app had been designed for a single experience familiar to both iPhone & Android customers but pleased neither. Typically agencies were contracted to deliver an entire app design in 6 weeks, and the development team expected all mockups before work could begin. There was also no accommodation for usability testing or understanding the customers' needs.
Impact
Delivered complete app redesign while maintaining rigorous user research and testing standards. Raised app's App Store rating to 4.8 from 2-stars. Changed organizational capability—design sprints continue to be used internally.
lululemon
I reduced e-commerce friction & drove revenue
Project
Back-in-stock notifications
Timeline
2022–2023
Contribution
I designed the back-in-stock notification feature for lululemon's mobile app and website. Working with Product and UX research, I used the double-diamond process to take the competitive user testing insights and foundational research to better define the core problem and constraints before crafting site-wide solutions that were narrowed down to a prototype for further usability testing, refined and delivered to the developers.
Problem
Captured in foundational research, guests couldn't purchase popular products as they were often out-of-stock, creating a dead-end shopping experience. Customers regularly called customer support asking when popular products would be back-in-stock.
Impact
Partnered with Product to build tactical feature with broader retention strategy. Beat first year sales target months early, increased account engagement, and reactivated dormant accounts.
“I've been waiting all my life for this option from lulu thank f***in god”—cinnamoncacao, reddit post
Mountain Equipment Company
I defined a research-led mobile commerce strategy
Project
Mobile commerce UX strategy
Timeline
2023–2024
Contribution
I led a comprehensive research initiative to understand customer mobile behaviour and inform further mobile direction. I conducted usability tests and behavioural studies to identify the full end-to-end experience, pain points and a roadmap to correct them.
Problem
After migrating the e-commerce platform, MEC had a solid happy path experience but many modern features were missing, and future plans would mean we first needed to address mobile experience paper-cuts.
Impact
Delivered evidence-based strategy and feature recommendations that influenced mobile product roadmap. Provided leadership with customer insights to guide mobile commerce decisions. I began implementing the strategy and designed several new mobile features including save for later, back-in-stock notifications, and in-store availability.
BC Transit
I built a public transit digital experience strategy
Project
Website audit and strategy
Timeline
2023
Contribution
I designed a comprehensive design strategy to improve website experience and accessibility for the provincial transit system. The 6-week project included research, user interviews, identifying insights & pain-points, early low-fi wireframes and high-fidelity mockups, and a phased improvement roadmap. Presented recommendations to executive leadership and development partners.
Problem
Investment in the website had fallen behind leaving a site once cutting-edge now looking outdated and failing on basic accessibility. Internally they knew a redesign was needed but the two-year build meant accessibility and usability pain points wouldn't be addressed until then.
Impact
Delivered strategic roadmap as foundation for website redesign. Demonstrated ability to navigate public sector requirements while maintaining human-centred approach.
About
I'm a designer with 15+ years of experience—from solo designer at a startup to leading teams at scale—grounded in a formal graphic design education. I work end-to-end across the full design process, from discovery and strategy through to shipped product, and I adapt to new tools and constraints without losing sight of what actually makes something work.
Outside work my interests include coffee, LEGO, my 1972 MINI and getting in 10K steps a day. I'm fortunate enough to have lived and worked in London, Berlin, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Based in Vancouver, Canada
Say hi → hi@mike-barker.com
Connect → LinkedIn
Side projects
SwiftUI Prototyping
Created an educational resource teaching designers to build high-fidelity prototypes with Xcode, Swift and SwiftUI for better usability testing.
Dew—coffee finder app
Designed & coded a third-wave coffee discovery app to explore location-based UX patterns and mobile development frameworks (Objective-C)—and got me out of my flat visiting every coffee shop I could find.
IKEA store openings visualisation
An animated map plotting every IKEA store opening over time—a data-driven side experiment turned into a small visualisation project.