I am a Design Leader, with a strong foundation in Human-Computer Interaction and a passion for research-driven digital products and services. My expertise spans product and service design, user research, and cross-sector innovation.
With a global career that includes work in the UAE and the UK, I’ve designed and launched digital solutions across diverse industries, from e-gaming and fintech to maritime shipping and government.
I work at the convergence of design, research, business, and technology, bringing a user-centred approach to bring clarity to complex challenges and delivering value-driven outcomes.
Recently I helped the UK’s Tax Authority (HMRC) launch two services to tackle taxation in the digital economy, both of which received all-green ratings in the GDS assessments for Public Beta and Live Services:
Portlog, 2018
User experience, product design
I designed an innovative port intelligence tool to support ship charterers and optimise operations in the maritime shipping sector.
HMRC: Aligning a Design Team, 2024
Team leadership
A design team faced a number of disruptions affecting their quality of delivery. I lead a design team to streamline processes, set clear roles, and improve collaboration, resulting in increased work throughput efficiency, faster delivery, and a more positive, transparent team culture.
NHS App: GP appointment bookings, 2019
User experience, product design
User Research had shown there were problems with the GP appointment bookings journey. I developed a prototype to test improvements made to the journey.
HMRC: Customer Support Design for the Pillar 2 service, 2024
Service design, strategy, operating model
The Pillar 2 Top-up Taxes service needed a customer support model. I designed one to reduce number of support calls, and standardised the model to deliver an org-wide best-practice approach to customer support, allowing to focus on each unique customer support need for each service rather than reinventing the wheel, and resulting in more consistent customer support at scale.
Vocalink (part of Mastercard) client portal, 2019
User experience, product design
Updates to ATM services available for all debit / credit cards in the UK are time consuming and prone to error. I designed a proof of concept for a Vocalink customer Portal to support Link Services to test their business assumptions.
NHS: IT Operations Centre, 2021
Organisational design, service design, user research
NHS’s Live systems and services infrastructure were managed and monitored through a silo-ed IT Operations Centre, resulting in inefficient incident support. I helped developing a centralised ITOC, resulting in enhanced clarity, a comprehensive plan, actionable insights, stronger collaboration, and unified teams ensuring a focused, transparent, and connected service development process.
Be Part of Research, 2020
Service design, user research
Health and Social Care Research don’t reach recruitment targets. I led a Discovery to understand how the service can help recruitment and retention of participation in Health Research, by identifying gaps in the end to end customer journey and producing insights for improvements.
LCC: Leeds door to door community transport hub, 2021
Service design, user research
There is underused transport capacity in Leeds. I blueprinted a new proposal for a transport service for Leeds City Council (LCC) to address this and other problems affecting community transportation in Leeds.
HMRC: OECD international tax reporting digital services ecosystem, 2024
Service design
I created a strategic visualisation to highlight customer overlaps across digital services. This sparked a larger initiative to map the entire service ecosystem which I am leading, aiming for more consistent and scalable design and development among services of the same family.
How I can help
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Leadership / Change coaching
Career strategy / growth
Executive coaching
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Discovery workshops
Design sprints
Co-creation / Ideation workshops
User journeys
Storyboards
Experience maps
Low and high-fidelity prototypes
Design systems
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Usability testing
User interviews
Focus groups
Surveys
Diary studies
Contextual enquiries
User research workshops
Personas & scenarios
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Product / Service workshops
Service blueprints
Stakeholder maps
Ecosystem maps
Journey maps
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Digital strategy workshops
Scope / prioritisation workshops
Landscape analysis
Purpose, vision, mission definition
Risk assessment
Operating model
Business model
Value proposition
Competitor analysis
Business case
Career highlights
🚀 Designed a range of services for large multinationals, SMEs, and agent companies, addressing taxation challenges in the digital economy for the UK’s Tax Authority (HMRC). One of services alone is expected to generate an estimated annual tax revenue of GBP2BN yearly for the UK and USD 150BN worldwide.
🚀 Improved NHS’s online COVID-19 test ordering journeys for vulnerable groups, ensuring better accessibility and user experience.
🚀 Supported user experience enhancements for the UK’s National Health Service’s App (NHS App) post-launch, an app critical during COVID-19. It reached 108,000 registered users in its first year and grew to over 10 million users by July 2021.
🚀 Designed an innovative port intelligence tool to support ship charterers and optimise operations in the maritime shipping sector.
🚀 Played a key role in launching the M&S and Ace Hardware e-commerce websites in the MENA region.
🚀 Contributed to the design of Visa Europe’s digital wallet, which later became part of Visa Checkout.
🚀 Designed a variety of online games for Gamesys Corporation (now Bally’s Interactive).
Recent review
“Silvina is a team player who will offer to help people if she can and will even offer to support me on calls with the stakeholders, and was instrumental on pulling a fantastic Customer Support Model together.“
— Delivery Service Manager, HMRC, 2024
