Jaco Pelser

I am a product and experience leader who thrives throughout every touchpoint of the product-development lifecycle. I am motivated by turning messy, real-world needs into clear problem statements and practical paths to value. I bring curiosity for how people actually work and live, a bias for evidence over assumption, and a steady focus on solutions that scale without waste.

In every space I work, I establish simple ways to learn fast – research, synthesis, prototypes, and measurable outcomes – so we confirm the problem before we commit to the build. From there I bridge business and engineering. With foundations in business analysis and process engineering, layered with UX and service design, I translate intent into delivery plans that teams can execute.

I use working-backwards artifacts and lightweight experiments to prove value early, align stakeholders, and guide investment. The result is a clear throughline from validated need to reliable, real-world impact. I have operated with lean methods, built rapid prototypes, and used collaborative approaches to prove value early and prevent costly detours.

I have run inclusive communication and tight feedback loops to align intent, confirm outcomes, and keep a living improvement backlog. I have integrated people, process, and technology so discovery becomes definition, then development, then delivery, with momentum and measurable ROI. I have done this across teams and contexts – imagine what this approach can unlock for you.

LEAD EXPERIENCE DESIGNER - Blue Sky

(2021-07)

Led the UX function, set design vision, and embedded user-centred practice in product development. Bridged strategy and delivery, grew UX capability, and shipped solutions that balanced customer needs, commercial goals, and technical feasibility.

• Partnered and collaborated with various stakeholders to align UX strategy with business and product goals.
• Directed the design of end-to-end experiences across digital products and platforms.
• Implemented service design methods to integrate business processes, technology requirements, and customer insights.
• Mentored and guided designers to grow skills in research, interaction design, and prototyping.
• Oversaw usability testing, accessibility compliance, and continuous improvement of live products.
• Advocated for customer-centric decision-making across the organisation and influenced product roadmaps with evidence-based insights.
• Discovery initiative: framed the problem, validated demand with research and service blueprints, shaped the MVP; produced working-backwards artifacts and prototypes to secure funding and alignment.
• Hyperscale uplift: set patterns, performance budgets, and design-to-dev workflows; added a component library to speed delivery and cut defects.
• ASSUPOL customer portal: delivered an end-to-end Angular portal from IA and flows to production UI, integrating authentication, policy servicing, and claims; improved task completion and NPS.
• Established an enterprise, token-based design system with accessible components, usage guidelines, governance, and CI checks for consistency at scale.

HEAD: UX - Dotcom

(2020-10 - 2021-06)

I lead UX and service design engagements for top brand clients across banking, financial services, FMCG, and more. I shape problem framing, direct research and design, and translate outcomes into delivery plans that teams can execute. I also grow capability inside Blue Sky through team leadership and practice development.

• Lead discovery, research, and synthesis to define clear problem statements and validated opportunities.
• Translate insights into experience strategies, service blueprints, and prioritised roadmaps with measurable outcomes.
• Direct design delivery across journeys, flows, prototypes, and systems, ensuring usability, accessibility, and consistency.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and business teams to align scope, manage dependencies, and guide delivery through to UAT.
• Manage, mentor, and grow a team of designers, build the UX skills matrix, and play an active role in the UX Academy.
• Facilitate stakeholder workshops, maintain decision alignment, and embed continuous feedback loops to sustain improvement.
• Standard Bank (Salesforce design system): Transition the enterprise to Figma, replace fragmented systems with a unified design system, and align scalable components to Salesforce capabilities for consistent, efficient delivery and enterprise-wide adoption.
• Distell / Heineken (data storytelling & dashboards): Redesign reporting from the ground up, produce contextual role-based dashboards, enable drag-and-drop customisation and brand-agnostic reuse, train internal teams to extend dashboards, and improve procurement, sales planning, and demand/supply decisions.
• BCX (digital enablement and transformation): Lead a six-person Blue Sky team to replace fractured, manual, waterfall practices with a scalable, automated, lean product cycle. Run workflow assessments, design-thinking and service-design workshops, and define a repeatable delivery playbook with stages, templates, and outcome gates. Reduce average delivery timelines from ~18 months toward a 9-12 month target while removing duplication across business units.

LEAD UX/UI DESIGNER/DEVELOPER - Hello Group / South African Team

(2017-06 - 2018-08)

Facilitate Product vision by researching, conceiving, ideating (wireframing, sketching), prototyping, and mocking up intuitive user experiences to optimize digital products for a wide range of devices and interfaces.

• Identifying design problems and devise elegant solutions by working with different product teams, to understand detailed requirements and design complete user experiences that meet product needs and vision
• Take a user-centered design approach and rapidly test and iterate designs.
• Collaborating with other team members and stakeholders to enable, through extensive experience in using UX design best practices, the design of solutions, and a deep understanding of mobile-first and responsive design
• Take smart risks and champion new ideas, as well as champion the UX approach in other departments of the company
• Research new technologies/tools/languages/frameworks
• Upskill the team, share knowledge and experience with them to build and promote UX chapter, and support growth through on-the-job mentoring of Junior UX Designers.
• Grow, expand, and apply expertise in UX software such as Figma, InVision, UXPin, Balsamiq, Framer.js, Adobe XD, and Sketch
• Apply a solid grasp of user-centered design and testing methodologies, subsystems, and usability and accessibility concerns
• Clearly and effectively communicate design processes, ideas, and solutions to teams and clients
• Focus on collaborating and communicating closely with teams and other stakeholders via a distributed model to regularly deliver design solutions
• Improve outcomes through continues feedback and constructive criticism
• Work as a member of the User Experience Team to document the UI specification and wireframes for enterprise applications.
• Elicit system requirements using interviews, document analysis, requirements workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, task and workflow analysis.
• Promote usability best practices and conduct usability tests and research.
• Represent the User Experience Team in client meetings regarding new business initiatives and/or changes.
• Design the interface, interaction flow and key UX decisions for cross-device and cross-platform

BSc - Information Design - University of Pretoria (1998 - 2001)

BSc - Information Technology - University of Pretoria (1998 - 2001)

Short course - Business and System Analysis - University of Pretoria (2012 - 2012)