Umberto Pandini | Lead UX & Product Designer

UX-led Product Design.

By integrating AI into my workflow—from research synthesis to interactive prototyping and documentation—I reduce product iteration cycles without sacrificing craft.

Selected Work

Starbucks EMEA

Food & Beverage / Mobile App

Optimizing Starbucks Mobile Across EMEA — Driving regional engagement while expanding and governing the mobile design system through data-informed experimentation.

Impact: Increase in user retention +25%

As a Lead Product Designer for Starbucks EMEA, my objective was to elevate the mobile app and Progressive Web App (PWA) ecosystems. While Starbucks is globally renowned for its premium in-store experience, the digital touchpoints required a visual and structural evolution to match that standard. A cornerstone of this ongoing engagement was the collaborative development of a comprehensive Design System. Working closely with engineering teams and brand stakeholders, I helped architect a unified component library bridging the native iOS/Android applications and the PWA. A key focus was the core Product Detail Page (PDP) and customization flows. By stripping away visual clutter, we introduced a refined typographic hierarchy, simplified iconography, and intuitive layout patterns for complex drink customizations. Through continuous experimentation—including iterative A/B testing and usability validations—we systematically evaluated new interaction patterns to reduce drop-offs and drive higher conversion across regional markets.

My First Voice

AI / Product Design

My First Voice AI Platform. Transforming unique vocal sounds into personalized, authentic speech to empower nonverbal children and reduce social isolation.

Role: Senior Product Designer

The Centre for Community Initiative recognized the profound social isolation faced by nonverbal children. Existing communication tools often fail to capture individuality or cultural nuance, relying on generic voices. With My First Voice, we utilized generative AI to transform each child’s unique sounds into personalized speech. By requiring only a short, 30-second sound sample, we removed the technical and physical barriers that typically prevent nonverbal children from obtaining custom synthetic voices. My First Voice has enabled 10 nonverbal children to express themselves for the first time, preserving their natural accents. Parents report reduced isolation and greater inclusion, with children participating more actively in family activities.

McLaren Car Configurator

Automotive / Omnichannel

Scaling McLaren's Omnichannel Configurator — Bringing luxury car customization to mobile and physical showrooms through bespoke design system architecture and user testing.

Impact: Increase in completion rate +30%

While McLaren is globally renowned for its high-performance supercars and bespoke customization options, its digital experience was lagging. The legacy car configurator was visually outdated, poorly optimized for mobile devices, and operated completely siloed from the in-store software, resulting in a fragmented customer journey. Working closely with McLaren stakeholders, we initiated a comprehensive research phase to identify key goals, limitations, and areas for improvement. We aligned the configurator with McLaren's recent global website redesign, embracing a minimalist, high-contrast aesthetic that mirrors their engineering precision. Following the redesign, configuration completion rates increased by 30%.

McLaren Racing App

Sports / Mobile App

Designing the Official McLaren Racing App — Creating a centralized digital hub for fans with real-time telemetry, exclusive content, and a premium digital experience.

Impact: Daily Active Users on Race Weekends +25%

The McLaren Racing fan experience was fragmented across multiple social media channels and web platforms. The team identified the need for a centralized, exclusive digital hub to bring fans closer to the track. The challenge was to design a mobile application that not only housed exclusive news, behind-the-scenes content, and the McLaren Plus community, but also provided real-time race telemetry. A key insight emerged: fans wanted a powerful "second-screen" experience during race weekends. They desired live timing, driver radio snippets, and behind-the-scenes glimpses that TV broadcasts missed. This robust design system was architected to handle complex live telemetry data seamlessly.

Upstix

Real Estate / PropTech

Optimizing the Upstix Conversion Funnel — Driving an increase in property valuation completions through rigorous user testing, tracking analytics, and UI refinement.

Impact: Increase in form completion +15%

Upstix’s AI-powered property valuation platform needed a streamlined conversion funnel to reduce drop-offs and improve cash offer clarity. Users were often confused between receiving a standard property evaluation and a genuine cash offer. We established a collaborative tracking plan with UX, data, and Upstix teams to monitor crucial metrics like form completions, drop-off rates, and error rates, ensuring any design enhancements were measurable and statistically valid. We bypassed standard wireframe testing and moved straight into high-fidelity UI design. The platform optimization contributed directly to a 15% increase in form completions.

About me

London-based Lead UX & Product Designer combining strategic leadership with hands-on craft. I leverage AI to accelerate user research, build scalable design systems, and partner closely with engineering to ship polished, high-impact products.

Experience

  • 2024 — Present: Starbucks - Lead UX & Product Designer
  • 2021 — 2024: McLaren - Senior UX Designer
  • 2020 — 2021: SHL - UX Researcher & Designer
  • 2016 — 2019: LoopMe - Head of Creative
  • 2015 — 2016: LoopMe - UX / UI Designer
  • 2011 — 2014: Vidiemme - UX / UI Designer