See How Many Clients You're Missing Each Month

Simply enter your business email & Topline AI Agent will show you.

Bio

Generated by
Topline AI
Anna Thomas is a seasoned experience designer with 10+ years of experience in creating exceptional customer experiences that consider and meet client goals, user needs, and technical capabilities. She has a strong background in design thinking, human-centered design, and service design. Anna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Stellenbosch University and has completed various design certifications, including a 5-Day Design Thinking Bootcamp and courses on Designing for Change and Service Design from IDEO U and The Interaction Design Foundation.

Credentials

  • 5 Day Design Thinking Bootcamp
    DesignThinkers Academy
    Sep, 2022
    - May, 2026
  • Designing for Change
    IDEO U
    Apr, 2022
    - May, 2026
  • Service Design: How to Design Integrated Service Experiences
    The Interaction Design Foundation
    Jun, 2021
    - May, 2026

Experience

  • Responsive Digital
    • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
    • Digital Strategy & CX Design Lead
      • Feb 2023 - Present
      • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

      As a principal Experience Designer within a digital product design team, my primary focus is on strategising, facilitating and designing exceptional customer experiences that considers and meets the client's business goals, user's needs, and technical capabilities. Strategic thinking and collaborative problem-solving using creative techniques are key aspects of my role, enabling my team to deliver innovative solutions that work for our clients.

  • Aisle B
    • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
    • Brand Strategist
      • Feb 2022 - Present
      • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

      As a creative thinker with a passion for helping brands discover their unique identity and competitive edge, I have had the privilege of working with a diverse range of clients to facilitate creative workshops that define who they are and how they stand out in the market. I have honed my skills in guiding clients through transformative workshops, where we delve deep into their core values, vision, and mission. Through strategic brainstorming sessions, I help companies, big and small, to uncover their distinct brand personality, articulate their brand story, and clarify their market positioning.

    • Ireland
    • Education
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Experience Design Lead
      • Dec 2021 - Feb 2023

      Stepping into the lead for Experience Design has been a natural progression for me that has really allowed me to grow in my leadership skills and take ownership of the end to end delivery of the project, and results. As we continue to design, deliver and activate major CX transformation projects, we are seeing a significant impact on the health of the brands we work with, with our clients feeling more empowered to own their new and innovative experiences, for both customers and employees.This role includes: Taking responsibility for the end-to-end facilitation and delivery of experience transformation projects. Leading a team of service design consultants in developing innovative human-centric concepts, journeys, blueprints, strategies & roadmaps. Facilitate co-creation workshops with stakeholders to identify and explore most impactful, implementable solutions. Manage the development and testing of prototypes.One of my highlights in this role was Brandlove Global winning CX Agency of the Year 2022 award (from ARCET GLOBAL, Customer Centricity World Series https://customercentricityworldseries.com/winners/ )

    • Senior Experience Designer
      • Feb 2021 - Nov 2021

      My transition to Brandlove as a Senior Experience Designer gave me the opportunity to co-lead a multi-dimensional CX Transformation project over a year that saw incredible results for a leading financial services provider in SA. My role included:- Manage and direct research streams to develop actionable insights from the results- Identify and prioritise the pain points that causing the most damage to the brand - Redesign the journeys in a collaborative way to have a significant positive impact on customers’ experiences, and align with the business’ strategic objectives- End to end project management, reporting and documentation- Align and manage stakeholders throughout the process

    • South Africa
    • IT Services and IT Consulting
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Customer Experience Designer
      • Sep 2019 - Feb 2021

      The change from Account Director to Customer Experience designer was one of my most exciting career transitions. In this new position, I am able to apply all the skills that I have developed in order to drive innovative customer experiences for brands that put users and employees at the centre and align closely with their business goals. While no two days are ever the same in this challenging and exciting field, some of my daily responsibilities include:• Defining the strategic direction and approach to each project • Conducting in-depth research to gain a thorough understanding of the problem• Preparing and facilitating design thinking workshops with clients• Creation and design human-centred customer journeys with a service mindset• Collate, document, design and present high quality artefacts from workshops• Oversee the end-to-end project management and client relationship of each engagement• Combining business goals with user's needs to solve real problems and deliver exceptional customer experiences In a relatively short time, I have garnered multi-disciplinary experience across various industries, having worked with, and developed solutions for financial services providers and luxury goods to retail and B2B. This has given me an in-depth understanding of not only the digital ecosystem, but also how every touch point (digital and physical) need to connect in order to create a great customer and employee experience.

    • Group Account Director
      • Feb 2019 - Feb 2021

      My year as Senior Key Account Manager at Responsive Digital equipped me with the necessary experience to step into my new role as Group Account Director for the same company. In this position, I was challenged on a daily basis, enabling me to grow and develop various skills, including organisational, interpersonal, presentation and project management skills, in a very short amount of time. My main responsibilities include:• Maintaining and nurturing client relationships with key accounts
• Developing new business from existing clients for 3 divisions
• Representing the clients’ best interests and driving collaboration across all divisions to achieve the best possible outcome• Feeding insights back to the company to guide innovation, research and development
• Identifying and developing new market opportunities
• Designing and delivering high-quality research to address client needs
• Defining proposal structures and ensuring that these meet client needs in the most effective way
• Defining the framework, from proposal to milestones to invoicing• Driving the definition of value-based pricing models and testing these on key clients
• Assisting the Traffic Manager with problem-solving, where required
• Following project communication between the Traffic Manager and Project Manager
• Delivering final presentations/reports/deliverables for projects to clients, and leading face-to-face presentations
• Managing client expectations
• Mentoring Account Managers and driving team motivation and morale

    • Senior Account Manager
      • Mar 2017 - Jan 2019

      Having honed my client service skills at aisle B and during my time as a freelancer, the role of Key Account Manager was a natural fit for me. My responsibilities included:• Building and maintaining strong relationships with clients• Managing expectations and communication between clients and the design team• Establishing and enforcing deadlines• Generating and following leads to acquire new business

  • self employed
    • Cape Town Area, South Africa
    • Freelance Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Artist
      • May 2015 - Jan 2020
      • Cape Town Area, South Africa

      After becoming a mum, I decided to trade in my full-time position for more flexible work as a freelancer, which gave me opportunity to balance my passion for design with the demands of raising a young family. As a freelancer, I worked across a range of accounts, with tasks ranging from the conceptualisation and design of packaging, corporate stationery, programmes, publications, training material, illustration and fine art. During this time, I also managed all aspect of the projects, including client relationships and delivery.

  • aisle | B | design studio
    • Cape Town Area, South Africa
    • Creative Director & Partner
      • Apr 2010 - Apr 2015
      • Cape Town Area, South Africa

      aisle B was birthed out of a collective vision to redefine the way we approached design. As a founding partner in the business, I thoroughly enjoyed building it from scratch and getting stuck in wherever it was needed. Besides the many administrative tasks, which included studio trafficking, accounts, liaising with and managing suppliers, maintaining client relationships and managing staff, the most stimulating and challenging aspects of my job involved making strategic business decisions, interacting with clients at an executive level and assisting in crafting and implementing innovating solutions that would address marketing and communication challenges.As the Creative Director (and Senior Designer), I was responsible for the conceptualisation and implementation of design that would meet marketing objectives and align with carefully considered strategies within predetermined deadlines. In this role, I also gained a thorough knowledge of articulating information, verbal and written communication, and design thinking.

  • The No Nonsense Group
    • Durban and London
    • Mid - Snr Graphic Designer
      • Mar 2006 - Feb 2009
      • Durban and London

      During my time at TNNG I transitioned from mid to senior graphic designer. I was responsible for the conceptualisation and implementation of design solutions that would meet marketing strategies, from concept to completion, within set deadlines. In addition to making strategic decisions, my duties included:• Heading up key projects• Supervising a junior designer and providing guidance on concepts, comps, layouts and final art.• Performing various executive tasks• Interacting with clientsThe role required a thorough understanding of printing procedures, photography, illustration and verbal and written communication, as well as specialised knowledge of the methods and techniques around graphic design and layout.

  • Gotcha Surfwear
    • Durban Area, South Africa
    • Junior Graphic Designer
      • Jan 2005 - Feb 2006
      • Durban Area, South Africa

      During my time at Gotcha, their sell-through rates went up by more than 80%, which was a major achievement for the team. As a junior graphic designer in the ladies' wear apparel department, my responsibilities included:• Branding across multiple product categories• The creation and recreation of a ‘signature’ hand-writing for the brand• Staying up to date with industry trends and developments• Researching and analysing high-street trends and translating these into mood boards• Working closely with the fashion designer to compile ranges and present these to buyers

Education

  • 2001 - 2004
    University of Stellenbosch
    Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Applied Graphics
  • 2019 - 2019
    BrandLove Academy
    Journey Architect Program, CX Design
  • 2013 - 2013
    Thinking Partner
    Executive Coaching, Business Administration and Leadership
  • 1997 - 2000
    Lowveld High School
    Matric
  • 2022 - 2022
    DesignThinkers Academy
    Certificate

Suggested Services

This profile is unclaimed. These are suggested service rates with 0% commision upon successful connection

Industry Focus. “IT Services and IT Consulting”

Looking to Create a Custom Project?

Need a custom project? We'll create a solution designed specifically for your project.

Get Started

References

Social Profiles

Community

You need to have a working account to view this content. Click here to join now

Similar Profiles