Ailsa BLAIR (THEY/THEM/THEIRS)

product design & research leader

Let's create something outstanding together

PRODUCT DESIGNER
USER RESEARCHER
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My goals are simple.
 
To create truly impactful user experiences.
 
And to build products that enhance the lives of users everywhere
 

Craft.

design toolkit

Trusted by design teams at

What people say.

Just a few of the kind words from colleagues across a 12-year career. And I swear I only had to pay for half of them ;)

Ailsa is the quintessential team player, relentless in their pursuit of solving tough design problems while bringing joy and reason to those around them.

At Wave, I had the pleasure of watching Ailsa excel in a hybrid role: half designer, half researcher. They led design on the payments team, and launched a revenue-impacting feature of Instant Payouts. At the same time, they built the team's foundation of research methodology and process. Ailsa was always vocal (in a good way) in design reviews, they always put their hand up when new projects were available, they balanced a hectic schedule, and were constantly hungry to be learning more about our users.

They've also got that edgy Brit swag, and their presence always lightens any room. It was my pleasure to work with Ailsa, watch them grow, and eventually tackle bigger problems.
Gabe Tomescu
Senior Product Design Manager, Wave
Ailsa and I first started working together when I needed help building user testing into our process at FreshBooks. Ailsa accelerated the effort and helped make continuous improvements that made it a core component of design at FreshBooks. As Ailsa sought to become a UX designer, I was wowed by Ailsa's curiosity to learn, humility to recover from failure, empathy toward others, and dedication to excellence. Ailsa would be an inspiring addition to any UX team.
Jeremy Bailey
Creative Director, FreshBooks
Ailsa is a pleasure to have on a team. They brought the rigour of user testing to our organization. From in person feedback, generative and ethnographic research to online testing they lead it all.

They ensured that all of our designs were validated to set our product up for success. Ailsa lead the design of our cloud platform and worked side by side with the developers to bring it to fruition.

They are a very proactive person who identifies areas we can improve and takes the lead to fix things. I always know I can count on Ailsa. I would recommend them without hesitation.
Kim Phelan
VP of Product, TouchBistro
It was a pleasure working with Ailsa in our time together at FreshBooks. Ailsa was instrumental in streamlining our research recruitment program while displaying a real passion for growing her skillset in UX design and research. An overall empathetic, conscientious and trustworthy colleague, there's no doubt Ailsa will make a huge impact on any team she's a part of.
Kiley Mehan
Senior Product Designer, FreshBooks
Ailsa was instrumental in getting a user research program off the ground at FreshBooks. In managing this program, Ailsa demonstrated strong attention to detail and was keen on refining the process to best suit business needs.

Ailsa's hard work helped us obtain actionable insight from our customers in the most efficient manner.
Lindsay Rothman
Product Manager, FreshBooks
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