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Completed work · Ashley Kays

The work behind
the experiments.

Projects across product design, marketing, education and AI. See what I delivered, the problem it addressed and a lesson you can apply to your own work.

Explore the experiment collectionView Ashley’s full portfolio →

01 / UX & storytelling

Disney Vacation Ownership

Creative Director · UX / UI

Connected the emotion of a vacation brand with practical planning screens, landing pages and journeys across vacation collections.

Disney Vacation Ownership planning interface displayed on a laptop
Original portfolio work

What I delivered

  • Experience planning and customer journeys
  • Landing pages, visual design and content architecture

Delivered experience and design work.

The lesson

Inspiration brings people in. Clear navigation helps them act.

Pair an aspirational promise with practical information and a clear next step. Ask a first-time visitor to explain the offer and find the action before adding more content.

02 / Education & growth

CodeTeachers

Founder · Marketing · Curriculum · Product

Built an education business by connecting curriculum, learner experience, community and marketing, from initial interest through completion.

CodeTeachers learning platform from Ashley’s original work collection
Learning platform

What I delivered

  • Learning pathways, curriculum and 50+ learning products
  • Community, events, onboarding and an education platform

Recorded platform results: 300% growth, 25,000+ learners and a 25% improvement in completion. These are business-level results, not results attributed to the newer ad collection.

The lesson

The product experience is part of the growth strategy.

Follow one audience from discovery to enrollment, activation and continued use. Find where people stop making progress, then improve the message or experience at that point.

03 / B2B growth & conversion

HCIM

Lead consultant · GTM · Funnel strategy · Sales operations

Connected website interest with a clearer demo path, practical sales tools and coordinated follow-through for a healthcare automation business.

HCIM LinkedIn creative connecting claims automation with more capacity for complex work
Client campaign creative

What I delivered

  • CTA architecture, a revenue-leakage review and an ROI calculator
  • Signal-aware outbound and a campaign approval portal
  • Four RSA sets, three LinkedIn ads, twelve posts and a twelve-week content strategy

The recorded engagement story reports 4 booked demos and 2 closed deals within 11 days. Those results belong to the engagement; the separate $6,000 media plan is a proposed test.

The lesson

A useful next step connects the marketing promise to the sales conversation.

Start with a specific buyer problem. Offer a relevant diagnostic, define a qualified inquiry and assign follow-up ownership. Measure the progression to useful sales conversations.

04 / Brand & campaign strategy

Fave

Brand storytelling · Search copy · Creative · Shopping journey

Connected a joyful consumer brand with search intent, product understanding and a clearer path to choosing a flavor and retailer.

Fave Strawberry Lemonade product creative with a packet, glass and package
Client campaign creative

What I delivered

  • Brand and product creative, plus four complete responsive search ad sets
  • Four persona profiles, 28 keyword ideas and 26 scoped negatives
  • Creative, landing-page and measurement strategy

Completed creative and campaign strategy. Personas and keyword ideas are research hypotheses; budgets and modeled outcomes are planning assumptions.

The lesson

Make the product understandable, then make the next action easy.

Show what a product is, how it is used and where to buy it. Match the search to the relevant product page, and measure retailer interest separately from confirmed purchases.

05 / Teaching & team enablement

Custom curriculum & technical training

Curriculum development · Program instruction · Technical training

Created custom curriculum and taught technical programs that help learners turn complex concepts into practical skills.

Curriculum & instruction

UnderstandPracticeApply

From the completed work

What I delivered

  • Thinkful: custom UX Design and Data Engineering curriculum
  • CodeTeachers: custom coding, design and maker curriculum
  • Flatiron School: instructed the Product Design Program
  • Grow Financial: delivered Front End Engineering training

Completed curriculum development and program instruction, with the role for each organization shown above.

The lesson

Start with what someone needs to do, then design the practice that gets them there.

Define a practical capability, demonstrate it briefly, and let learners create something. Use clear assessment criteria and revision. Measure independent application, not attendance alone.

06 / AI & product building

Waymaker AI

Founder · Product strategy · Design · Engineering · GTM

Built a connected AI platform that helps people move from an idea to a product, a plan and the next useful action.

Waymaker Chief of Staff workspace with a success plan, weekly review and priorities
Product workspace screenshot

What I delivered

  • Roadmap, user experience, engineering and go-to-market direction
  • Cameron with tool use, multi-turn memory and voice
  • Builder DNA and an idea-to-live-URL pipeline

The portfolio documents 4+ production AI products delivered in 12 months.

The lesson

AI is more useful when it connects decisions with work in progress.

Identify a recurring user decision, connect the context and give the person a useful action. Test the whole workflow, including review and recovery, rather than judging only a generated answer.

07 / Lifecycle & onboarding

AstraLynk lifecycle

Lead consultant · Lifecycle strategy · Email · UX · Research

Mapped the actor journey from invitation through activation, then connected email strategy with improvements to registration and onboarding.

Lifecycle journey

InvitationRegistrationActivation

From the completed work

What I delivered

  • Twelve-email program across four creative directions
  • Three interactive onboarding alternatives
  • Market research and a roadmap for behavior-triggered messaging

Delivered lifecycle strategy and interactive onboarding alternatives.

The lesson

An email problem can actually be an onboarding problem.

Look at the steps after the click. Examine registration completion and activation before deciding that the subject line or send frequency is the main issue.

08 / Research & product systems

NCR banking experiences

Creative Director · UX / UI · Design systems

Designed banking and self-service experiences, reusable interface patterns and delivery practices informed by usability research.

National Bank of Canada ATM and withdrawal interface designs from Ashley’s NCR work
Banking interface design

What I delivered

  • ATM, mobile banking and retail interface design
  • Reusable patterns, iconography and an animation library
  • Usability testing, observation and product delivery practices

Delivered product design and research work. The image shows National Bank of Canada interface designs from Ashley’s NCR work.

The lesson

Observe where people hesitate before deciding what to build next.

Watch someone attempt a real task. Record confusion and workarounds, improve the interaction and test again. Reuse successful patterns across related screens.

Put the lesson to work

What could this unlock
for your next project?

Choose one audience, one problem and one useful next step. Bring your idea to a working session, or use the free planner to shape a first test.

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