Ricardo Ramirez

Ricardo Ramirez is a Service Designer, UX Consultant, and UX educator with more than 10 years of experience helping organizations create products, services, and experiences centered on people’s needs. His professional background spans service design, UX research, human-centered design, strategic design, digital transformation, and innovation, with experience working across private, nonprofit, and government organizations.

Ricardo’s career in UX began through a self-taught path. Before transitioning into UX, he worked as a software developer and gradually moved into UX design and leadership. His journey has given him a technical foundation that complements his design and research expertise, allowing him to understand both the human and technical considerations involved in creating digital products and services.

His work focuses on looking beyond individual interfaces to understand the broader systems and services in which experiences take place. Through Service Design and Human-Centered Design, Ricardo helps organizations identify customer needs, understand pain points, and design end-to-end experiences that balance user expectations with business objectives and technical constraints.

Ricardo has experience leading multidisciplinary teams through the design and development process, from research and discovery through implementation. His consulting and advisory work has included supporting organizations through digital transformation and innovation initiatives, helping teams incorporate user perspectives into product and service decisions while maintaining alignment with organizational goals.

His professional background also includes leadership in service design. York University’s School of Continuing Studies identifies Ricardo as the Manager of Service Design at the Canadian Standards Association, where he works with stakeholders to uncover and address customer needs, embed the voice of the customer throughout the design process, and develop the strategy for digital product experiences.

Ricardo is also involved in UX education. He has taught at York University’s School of Continuing Studies, including courses in Applied UX Design and User Experience Visual Design, Prototyping and Wireframing. His teaching reflects his belief in practical, user-centered design and his interest in helping professionals develop the skills needed to build better digital experiences.

His educational background includes computer science, as well as postgraduate studies focused on entrepreneurship and leading organizations and change. He is also NN/g and Scrum.org PSU I certified and has been accredited as a Service Design Practitioner by the Service Design Network.

Ricardo has shared his experience and perspective on building a career in UX, including the importance of networking, mentorship, continuous learning, and developing the ability to communicate the value of design to stakeholders. As a guest on Userlytics’ UX Spotlight podcast, he discussed his transition from software development into UX, his experience leading UX work, and the lessons he has learned throughout his career.