What I built at Locomotive besides the work

When I arrived at Locomotive in June 2020, there was no dedicated UX role. The studio was known for its visual craft and creative direction, but user experience strategy had not yet found a formal home in the process.

The work expanded in several directions at once. On projects touching sensitive audiences, like the domestic violence platforms, I led deep user research with clients to understand the real context of use before any design decision was made. On complex organizational projects, I introduced ecosystem mapping and service diagrams as a way to visually communicate our understanding of a client's structure and support the strategy before a single screen was designed. Both of these were new additions to how Locomotive worked.

Wireframes became another key contribution. Early in a project, they allowed me to explore and argue for concepts alongside the art director, organize content in a way that supported the creative direction, and evaluate feasibility with the development team before things were built. Over time, the UX designer became the person on the project who tracked the evolution of the site from strategy to launch, ensuring the experience and the intent stayed aligned throughout.

That role did not exist at Locomotive before. As it proved its value, the agency began hiring additional UX designers and investing in building the expertise across the team. What started as a single position became a discipline.

Shortly after joining Locomotive, I organized a lunch and learn to introduce Figma to the team. At the time, everyone worked in Sketch. The goal was not to push a preference, but to show what a browser-based, collaborative design tool could change about how a studio of our size works together.

The team was receptive, and the transition began gradually. Within a year, Figma had become the primary design tool across the studio.

The transition introduced a fresh set of responsibilities. It required us to refine our file organization, establish clear naming conventions, and enhance our collaborative practices, ultimately elevating the quality of our work.

It started in 2020, during the pandemic. With the whole team working remotely, I wanted to find a way to bring everyone together, even from a distance. I put together a presentation that looked back at the year: the projects, the milestones, the moments that had kept us going through a difficult stretch. It was a way of saying, collectively, that the year had mattered.

What started as a one-off became a ritual. Every December, just before the year-end party, I host the annual recap for the Locomotive team. The format has grown into a one-hour presentation covering the full year: key projects and milestones, awards and recognitions, highlights from the team trip, and at the very end, the reveal of the next year's destination. Each edition has its own concept and visual direction, designed from scratch to reflect the tone of that year.

For a team of 25, it is not a big production. But it is a meaningful one. The goal has always been the same: to close the year on a high note, to make people feel proud of what they accomplished, and to give everyone something to look forward to. Five editions in, it has become one of the things that holds the team together.

I was part of Locomotive's Club Social, a committee of six responsible for studio life outside client projects. We planned seasonal activities, team lunches, celebrations, and the annual retreat together. The annual trip was the highlight.

Each year, the team traveled for a week to a chosen destination. During my time, we visited Playacar, Samaná, Jamaica, and Panama. This trip fostered closeness, making a team of 25 feel cohesive. Being on the committee involved logistics and coordination, shaping the culture in ways no design system could.

Alongside Jean-François Chainé and Lucas Bigot, I contribute to Locomotive's social media presence. Instagram is the primary channel, with content then distributed across LinkedIn, Twitter, and others. The work is not just posting. It is deciding what to show, how to frame it, and what story each project deserves to tell in public.

That means writing copy, selecting visuals, thinking about timing, and finding the angle that makes a launch post feel like something worth stopping for. During the annual team retreat, I also contribute content from the field: stories, moments, and glimpses of the team that show the human side of the studio.

In 2024 and 2025, I was involved in the concept and direction of Locomotive's Awwwards Agency of the Year thank-you videos. Working with Marie-Christine Dion on art direction and a video editor for production, we shaped three short films that represented the studio to an international design audience. It was one of the more unusual creative challenges I have taken on, and one of the ones I am most proud of.

Part of contributing to Locomotive's culture is representing it outside the studio walls. Over the years, I have had the chance to attend some of the events that matter most to our industry, each one a reminder of the broader community we are part of.

These moments are not just professional development. They are part of staying curious, staying connected, and bringing something back to the team every time.