Dale McRae

Weishaupt Design Group Inc.

At Weishaupt Design Group (WDG), I lead the digital marketing efforts for a portfolio of luxury brands, including MAN OF PARTS, 5oz., and Avenue Road, with a strong focus on user experience (UX) and UX research as strategic pillars. My role is centered on creating exceptional digital experiences that align with the sophistication and craftsmanship of our high-end offerings.

Digital Marketing Manager

Populis

Populis provides innovative customer experience strategies and AI driven design solutions to organizations across sectors including government, healthcare, finance and retail. Our mission is to help clients communicate on a more human level through digital products that are innovative and evidence based.

Responsibilities:
Develop new business opportunities for Populis through strategic partnerships with traditional marketing agencies. Curate and deliver new business pitches relevant to current market opportunities.

Outcomes:
50% reduction in patient calls through a redesign of post-op instructions for a private healthcare clinic.
12% increase in client retention rates for a traditional marketing agency after leveraging the Populis approach to design.

Founder & Principle Designer

Ascendis

Ascendis Consulting, headquartered in Montreal, offers comprehensive consulting services tailored to the unique needs of businesses across various industries. Specializing in strategy, operations, and technology, Ascendis partners with clients to drive sustainable growth, streamline processes, and maximize efficiency.

Responsibilities:
Work with clients to understand business needs and develop corresponding approaches to address needs and challenges.
Lead and foster client relationships during the delivery of research, strategy and UX design artifacts.

Outcomes:
Implementation of strategic, lean research methodologies providing business impact within the first 4 weeks.

Lead, User Experience and Service Design

Neo Financial

Neo Financial offers Canadians a suite of digital banking products, services and access to loyalty programs through an extensive network of merchants and strategic partnerships with key Canadian brands.

Responsibilities:
Scaled and operationalized the Product Design and UX Research disciplines by creating a vision-based internal design strategy, internal growth KPIs and artifacts to communicate processes that supported product roadmaps.
Communicated the business impact that UX Research creates in order to show the value for the business and customers.

Outcomes:
Increased head-count for the UX Research discipline by 50%.
Developed a UX Research growth strategy within the first 30 days, achieved 50% of the objectives within 4 months.

Manager, UX Research

Bond Brand Loyalty

Bond is a Canadian owned and operated marketing agency and a leader in developing customer loyalty programs for clients in both the Canadian and U.S. markets.

Responsibilities:
Introduced User Experience internally as a new in-house discipline by establishing collaborative relationships with strategy and new business teams.
Developed client engagement strategies in order to highlight User Experience as core agency offering.

Outcomes:
Introduced and developed User Experience as a key market offering proving ROI within the first three months.
Developed an integrated User Experience operating model including design templates and design operations.

UX Design Director

Shopify

Shopify is a multinational e-commerce company that offers end-to-end business solutions to merchants. Systems include point-of-sale hardware and back-end administration software that facilitate growth for Shopify’s merchant network.

Responsibilities:
Led and conducted field research in order to observe and understand merchant operational models and processes.
Analyzed qualitative data to look for commonalities across multiple businesses in order to find opportunities for digital automation.
Collaborated consistently with product marketing and data science in order develop the UX research roadmap.

Outcomes:
Leveraged merchant objectives to develop a strategic vision and roadmap in order to inform investment planning.
Facilitated the first prioritization workshop for the Customers team.

UX Research

Canada Post / Postes Canada

Canada Post is a crown corporation serving as the primary postal operator on a national level, providing the majority of shipping and mailing services to Canadians.

Responsibilities:
Established the UX Research practice by communicating the business value of UX Research to executives and senior leadership.
Integrated the UX Research discipline into product delivery processes by (i) developing research operations, and (ii) mentoring junior Product Designers and UX Researchers.

Outcomes:
18 point increase over industry standard in SUS (System Usability Scale) for consumer facing site (industry standard is 68)
50% increase in generative research studies throughout 2018.

Jackman Reinvents

Jackman Reinvents is a management consultancy, with a focus on brand reinvention and digital activation.

Responsibilities:
Collaborated with strategists, designers and consultants to launch digital activations.
Moderated design research sessions with clients and in-house creative teams.
Initiated and led field research and usability studies.

Outcomes:
Provided clients with visibility into customer processes and working environments through strategic research.
Tested and revised complex enterprise systems through discovery and evaluative research sessions.
Provided design governance model frameworks to clients.

Senior Customer Experience Design, Digital

NYC Department of Technology and Innovation

The Department of Technology and Innovation (OTI) provides the delivery of information technology and infrastructure projects to enhance services for businesses and residents of New York, which includes public safety, human services and economic development.

Responsibilities:
Facilitated design research workshops for technology and infrastructure projects.
Developed strategic relationships with public service agencies in order communicate OTI's services.
Facilitated a monthly human-centred design workshop for New York's public service employees.

Outcomes:
Provided foundational research and design leadership for the Queensbridge Connected initiative (funded by NYCHA).
Facilitated the assessment and redesign of the OTI's service delivery which supported to the development of NYC Critical Application Portfolio.

Assistant Director, User Experience Design

VarageSale

VarageSale is a virtual garage sale app that lets users buy and sell items in their communities. It currently has users across the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Responsibilities:
Designed essential areas of the mobile and desktop applications including on-boarding and monetization (subscriptions, C2C payments).
Developed component libraries.

Outcomes
Launched and scaled the first in-house UX Research discipline.
Facilitated collaborative working models between design, engineering and QA.

Product Designer

I’m a designer, leader, and problem solver with 14+ years of experience in UX, visual design, and research. From scaling UX teams to embracing generative AI, I’ve transformed challenges into opportunities, crafting solutions that connect technology with human needs.

My journey spans teaching government agencies how to connect with communities to shaping visually-driven e-commerce experiences. I thrive on reimagining what’s possible and helping teams deliver exceptional work. Let’s build the future of design together.

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