by Mat Janson Blanchet

About

Mat Janson Blanchet
I believe in making things,
not moving fast
and not breaking things.
Mat takes his time to ensure not to redo his work.
Mat has the ability to get shit done.

Hello World

Hello! I’m a User Experience and Interaction Designer currently based in Montréal (CA).

More words about me

I’m a seasoned User Experience and Interaction Designer, with a formal education in Media Art and Interactive Art, with nearly two decades of experience. I’m passionate about creating user-centric digital experiences that prioritize accessibility and privacy.

My unique skill set allows me to bridge the gap between stakeholders, ensuring early collaboration for successful project outcomes. I thrive on translating client needs into practical, user-focused design solutions.

I am a pragmatic Designer: I prioritize designs and solutions that actually answer users' needs instead of vanity metrics.

Some Noteworthy Achievements

  • Lead weekly workshops and brainstorm sessions with people from different domains to instil design thinking and care about user experience
  • Lead multiple workshops and meetings between clients and external production providers
  • Helped upgrade design system documentation and wrote UX best practice document
  • Directed graphic designer and developer, created and documented CMS for tactile screen installation
  • Developed user interfaces that were awarded prizes (FWA)

Service Offer

  • Usability and accessibility (A11Y) assessment of digital products and experiences
  • Users and stakeholders interviews and workshops
  • Analysis and improvement of interdisciplinary workflows (DesignOps)
  • Production and documentation of artefacts (sketches, wireframes, storyboards, and prototypes)
  • Strategy, design, and production of interactive experiences
  • Interaction design (experimental, functional, creative, artistic)
  • Technical project management and support to external vendors during production

Clients Served

Many clients—local and global, ranging from ad agencies to game dev shops, from tech startups to research labs—were satisfied with projects I lead for them. Here are a few:

  • Arts and Entertainment: Cirque du Soleil, MGM Grand, Red Bull, Loto Québec, Ludia, Tribute Games, Topological Media Lab
  • Communications: Charter/Spectrum, Telus
  • Fashion and Apparel: adidas Originals, adidas Performance, Swarovski, Garnier, Callaway Apparel, Aldo Shoes, Browns Shoes
  • Food: Muskoka Roastery Coffee, VKI, Viva Panettone, Boutique Point G
  • Finances and Insurance: Desjardins, Belair Direct
  • Institutions: Government of Canada, Marine Science Magnet High School
  • Health: Merck
  • Retail and Ecommerce: Kijiji, Le Panier Bleu
  • Transport: VIA Rail
  • Tech and Advertising: Dell, Sid Lee, We+Are Interactive, Kenzan, Megapode, Float4, iCongo

Abilities and Knowledge

Skills

Analysis

  • Organized and detail-oriented
  • At ease conducting usability and accessibility reviews
  • Able to translate user needs and business goals into functional requirements and designs
  • Quick learner: up to speed quickly with processes and tools

Design/DesignOps

  • Accessibility advocate: solid understanding of web and accessibility standards to base design decisions, and advocate for better understanding amongst teammates
  • Strong systemic mindset: thinks in terms of systems and their impact on the user experience
  • Able to bring concepts to life using sketches, wireframes, storyboards, and prototypes
  • Able to create and maintain design systems and best design practices documentation

Communication and Teamwork

  • Good communicator (EN/FR): at ease communicating concepts and designs in written and spoken form to designers and non-designer stakeholders/teammates
  • Comfortable leading meetings and workshops
  • Eager to collaborate with stakeholders from many domains, and include everyone in design process
  • Able to managing vendor relationships to support research, design, and production processes

Known Tools

Since I favour long-term projects, I may not have used the latest and most trendy tool. However, as a Designer whose job is to understand my clients’ tools and needs, I am more than able to learn quickly any tool or software for a job.

  • Design: Figma, Axure, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
  • A/V editing: Premiere, Audacity, Audition, Live, etc.
  • Issue and project management: Jira, GitHub, etc.
  • Data analysis: Excel, Google Analytics, Optimal Sort, etc.
  • Office and documentation: Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Notion, Markdown, etc.
  • Development: VS Code, Yarn, NPM, GitHub, Netlify, etc.