Philip Strain

Lead product manager for accessibility and design systems at Miro.

Hiring manager for Insights roles (Data Science and User Research) in Design Platform. Strategy lead for accessibility and inclusive design.

Manage a team of user researchers and data scientists located across London and Stockholm, focusing on the podcast user experience on iOS and Android.

Founded and lead the accessibility guild at Spotify - a cross-functional network of designers, engineers, researchers and product managers collaborating to ensure Spotify is accessible to all.

2017-2019: Platform & Partner Experience tribe Implemented a methodology to scale user research across a tribe responsible for Spotify products outside of mobile including: • Car: Tesla, Android Auto/CarPlay, BMW, Bluetooth • Wearables: Apple Watch, Garmin, WearOS • Speakers: Google Home, Alexa, Sonos • Third-party integrations: Facebook Messenger, Tinder, Google Maps, Google Clock • Other: Web, Desktop, Tablet, TV, XBox, Playstation 2016: GLUE (Global Language for a Unified Experience)

Contributed to the European Accessibility Act by informing a study on the current practices regarding accessibility statements, reporting mechanisms and mobile monitoring methodologies and invited to European Commission headquarters in Brussels to participate in Accessibility of Web and Mobile Apps workshop.

As a senior iOS accessibility engineer embedded in engineering teams across Apple, my role was to conduct heuristic evaluations against iOS, OS X and web products, produce proof-of-concept prototypes, develop accessibility guidelines and promote accessibility within Apple.

Led user research on Adsense and a range of Google Publisher products.

Embedded in Google’s Accessibility Engineering team, I utilised user experience research skills across a range of methodologies including surveys, focus groups, usability studies and workshops to inform strategic direction and provide tactical insights for key Google products such as Chrome and Android. Developed interactive Web and iOS prototypes to communicate approaches.

Founder and director of Ecliptic Labs Ltd, a mobile r&d consultancy. My role involved: + leading and overseeing all phases of UX + hiring and managing a team of designers and developers + implementing R&D processes including prototyping, detailed design, usability testing, and implementation. + Projects ranged from exploring multimodality to facilitate non-visual input for a sports analytics company, to creating mobile prototypes (eg eHarmony) to publishing fully featured apps (eg Mailchimp)

Conducted UX research studies for Google Docs team in NYC to inform accessibility strategy and improve the usability of Docs features.

U.K. lead for the HaptiMap project, a European Project that aimed to improve navigation and way-finding among the disabled community by researching mobile solutions. My role in the project was to lead research into how the older population perceive and use mobile devices.

Advised and assisted Computer Science undergraduate students to develop their skills in various programming languages, applications and thesis work.

Designed and conducted user studies with both sighted and visually impaired participants. Analysed and interpreted data resulting from user studies for purposes of technical reports and research publications. Developed internal resources such as guidelines and style guides. Created accessible mockups and prototypes to demonstrate techniques and concepts. Presented study findings to management and design teams, leading to many enhancements in the accessibility of Google products

First employee to work full time on accessibility and UX at Google. Designed and conducted user studies with sighted and visually impaired participants that led to tangible improvements to Google.com and Google search results page.

“UX Engineer” for the team’s error management system, FEKAT. Proposed and developed an automated system to reduce a daily task from 30 mins per day to 0. Developed software using Perl, JavaScript and HTML in a UNIX environment. Produced and executed test plans for the main software system, the Reliant Telecommunications Platform. Produced user documentation, liaised with management and delivered presentations.