Growth Designer, UX Strategist, Product Design Coach
Professional Experiences
2017 - 2020
2020 Design Simulators
UX & Design Studio
2016 - 2017
Witioo - failed startup
Founder & CDO
2015 - 2016
Luxury Retreats (now Airbnb)
UX Evangelist
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2013 - 2014
TC Media | Incubator
Digital Business Strategist
2007 - 2013 | 2015
inovestor
VP Innovation & Design
2000 - 2007
IDEOnova lab
Co-Founder
Product Lab Director
HS Innovation Studio
2021 - 2023
Sébastien Paris
"A good idea is only an opportunity. The quality of its execution only reveals its potential. Only its adoption reveal its true value."
An ever curious and every day student of Design & Technology, I bridge business, engineering and human centric design to conceive efficient strategies, desirable products, optimized systems and delightful experiences for human and business impact.
I specialize in working across functional teams, evangelizing innovation and mobilizing all actors towards a desired outcome.
Accomplishments
Established UX | HCD Practice & Services
Coached Product Designers
Lead Product Strategy & DesignOps Methodology
First hired to coach product Designers in their professional growth, the mandate quickly evolved into establishing the UX Research / UX Design practice to optimize DesignOps and level up strategic and design quality.
As a fervent AI and innovation advocate, I was entrusted with a newly formed Product Lab in order to infuse product excellence and level up clients' Digital Transformation strategy and mandates.
Established UX Practice & Design Studio
Conceived cross-products Design System
Lead Design of Online to Store Experiences
I was hired to lead the human-centric strategy for 2020, which had grown into the World leader in Interior Design 3D simulators, CAD and BIM through a series of acquisitions.
Establishing the UX Practice and implementing a Design System for their product portfolio, my Design Studio was pivotal in consolidating strategic clients, from IKEA to THD, leading their strategy, from sales to delivery.
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Behavioural Psychology & Social Study
Conceived IoT empowering Social Peace
Evangelized Innovation to solve Social Problems
Eager to use my human-centric and behavioural science knowledge for the common good, I embarked into a journey to solve a social paradigm in public safety: the commonality in context in which criminals act.
From designing a stealth IoT device to anonymized geolocation Networks, everything had to be invented.
Ultimately, Witioo failed to attract VC funding due to its idealistic Social Enterprise business model.
Established UX Practice & Design Studio
Lead Mobile App Design
Conceived Innovative Travel Products
In view of the M&A of LR with Airbnb, I was assigned to harmonize LR operations with the Agile and UX First Airbnb methodology. To minimize the disruption of current operations, we chose to launch a strategic project in parallel: a mobile App that would reDesign the end-to-end Guest & host experience.
The result was a complete success, innovating new capabilities and experiences later integrated into Airbnb.
Pivoted Traditional Media Properties to Digital Models
Conceived & Designed Innovative Digital Products
Coached Digital Transformation & Agile
First hired to reDesign Montreal Parking's Mobile Payment App for other major Canadian cities, I was quickly identified to join the newly formed TC Incubator as Digital Business Creative.
With TC's portfolio of some of the most popular printed media properties in Canada, I lead several initiatives to pivot those to Digital business models and conceived innovative cross-property offering.
Established Human Centric Design Practice
Design Direction of FinTech Products
Innovation Management Framework
Following the acquisition of Ideonova by Inovestor, I was assigned as VP Executive to lead the innovation and R&D of Fintech products and Online payment.
In this role, I also lead the online booking and payment engine of ViaRail, the design of TSX derivatives brokerage stations, and the innovation of the first Data-driven RobotInvestor in Canada, a decade before AI was a trend.
Co-coded first fully web-based CMS
Consulted on Digital Transformation
Conceived Travel Product (Booking Engine)
IDEOnova was a small R&D firm we launched to experiment with emerging Web technologies and research new way of streamlining Web design and publishing operations. The result was the first multilingual, fully web-based, Content Management System and File Sharing, branded ContentBox.
These systems allowed our partners to empower their Digital Transformation though their existing workforce, without the need to hire teams of Web developers, rare human resources at the time.
Industrial Design
Architectural Design
Urbanism
While studying Environmental Design, I joined a small creative Architectural firm with which we modeled the first building in 3D CAD in Canada (thanks to Softimage) and made a documentary on Ernest Cormier, in collaboration with Phillis Lambert and the Canadian Center of Architecture.
Education
1987 - 1989
Université du Québec à Montréal
Design de l'Environement
Teachings / Methodologies
IDEO Creative Studio
Design Thinking Workshop
AJ&Smart Innovation Studio
Design Sprint Facilitation
Complexity Labs
System Design Thinking
expertise
Strategy | UX research | UX Design |
Human Centric Design | system design |
quantitative & qualitative research |
digital transformation | innovation |
softskills
empathic | problem solver | curious |
intuitive | teamwork | ingenious | versatile
Specialties
Strategy to overcome business challenges and reach desired outcomes
Entrepreneurial, from startups founder to multinational executive, I have a certain complicity with business stakeholders. As great Designing is, the measurable business outcome is what gives it its true value.
Simplify complexity
Driven by a 1st principle approach and System Design Thinking, I have a keen eye to unveil simplicity in the most complex systems. Smart Design makes solutions simpler to produce and, more importantly, delightful to use.
Pragmatic innovation: differentiating trends from hype
As an ex-coder and a technologist, I follow closely all the latest innovation, in business models as in technologies, to help identify the proper strategy for each unique product and businesses. Pragmatism is essential for CapEx and time-to-market.
DesignOps
With proven methodologies, I specialized over the years in helping operation's fluidity. From discovery, research, Design, Production and Go-to-market, engaging all actors in Human Centric Design process creates business and human value.
toolsagnostic
Miro | FigJam | Whiteboards | Post-its
Figma | Balsamiq | XD | Framer
PowerPoint | Keynote | Canva
Adobe Suite | Generative AI
ChatGPT | Dall-e | Gemini | Grok
interests
Ergonomics | UX | Behavioural Psychology
sociology | urbanism | economic | geopolitics
LLMs | AGI | Generative Design |
electrification | mobility
Professional Goals
Contribute to professional growth (including mine)
As a Digital Design lead, I experienced first hand what makes a team achieve greatness, or failure. In my current career chapter, I find more gratification in the success and growth of the team I work with and Designers I coach than my own.
Co-create sustainable products and systems
Sustainability and evolution from feedback loop needs to be built into the Design process. I am most proud today to still be using, like 100,000's of others, the Apps and systems I have conceived a decade ago. Good design is lasting design...
Freedom to perform
As an high performer, challenges given to me become my purpose. As such, I'm fully dedicated in solving problems and helping my team mates succeed. Freedom to manage my time and location responsibly is essential to feed my creative flow.
Have a lasting impact & legacy (aka Make a difference)
As SImon Sinek famously said: "work with people that already believe what you believe". I'm seeking to work with human-centric, purpose driven organizations that share my values of empathy, generosity and personal as professional growth.
languages
JS | HTML | CSS | Pyton
english | français | español | italiano
Hobbies
Design is more than a career, it's my approach to life.
Being curious, experimenting, learning, envisioning, embracing uncertainties, trusting the process... even in doubt!
When I'm not working or having fun in the digital realm, I farm flowers on my ancestral farm that I co-designed with artisans in their craft. The wonder at the beauty of flower fields and designing compositions at each new blooms and share it with people brings me joy and inner peace. And reminds me that nature is the ultimate designer.
Lately, I bought a patrimonial Church and an old school that I'm restoring with ancestral materials and techniques. As in any of my projects, personal or professional, I surround myself with more talented craftsmen to co-create beauty.
Growing up on 3 continents, discovering new cultures and different ways to look at life is my ultimate source of inspiration and creativity. So I travel the world as much as I can and visited and lived in some 26 countries so far.
Want to learn more?
My non-portfolio
behance.net/SebParis
My Design process
seb.process.PDF
My skills acquistions mapping
seb.skills.PDF
My empathy map
seb empathy map.PDF