Joe Pendlebury-Evans

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JOE PENDLEBURY-EVANS

I\'m a Lead UX Strategist, obsessed with ecommerce.It started when I was 20. A UK family holiday to Florida. I walked into a SuperTarget. An entire aisle dedicated to chewing gum. Heaven!But, what stuck with me wasn\'t the variety. It was the store\'s \'racetrack\' layout. A forced loop that guides customers from entrance to checkout past most merchandise, exposing them to more products while deterring theft. Target introduced this in 1975 to create predictable traffic flow and consistent experiences across every store. No signage needed. Just clever design that guided behaviour.I didn\'t know \'experience design\' was a thing until I got home and started digging. The penny dropped. I\'ve never stopped seeing the world that way. Whether it\'s my local chippy using the decoy effect to price their \'Regular\' portion closer to a \'Small\' than a \'Large\'(yet, I still fall for it!) – I see patterns most people miss.For over 20 years, that obsession has saved and generated millions across retail, insurtech, healthcare, and air travel.Ten years into my career, I told Next\'s exec team,\"No.\" They wanted to hide navigation behind a burger menu. It was trendy, and everyone was doing it. But I had concerns about discoverability. A/B testing proved it would kill conversion. Exposing category links increased click-through by 70%. That decision prevented a projected £135m loss over a 10-month period.I specialise in discovery-led, research-driven design – strategic problem framing, user research, and product collaboration that turns friction into measurable growth.Recent impact- By Miles: 8% checkout conversion lift, 20% reduction in onboarding abandonment. Created AI-assisted research methodology that became team standard- Next: 37% suits engagement increase, reduced returns from 51% to 36%- Funky Pigeon: 5% checkout lift, 15% AOV increase.I\'m happiest in the messy middle, just as long as there\'s Bath & Body Works hand sanitiser within arm\'s reach. Reframing problems, asking awkward questions, getting to the crux of the why. I believe AI can enhance creativity when used thoughtfully. Still, there\'s no substitute for a fat-nibbed Sharpie and dot grid paper.Empathy comes first. As a parent of three neurodivergent children, I think about inclusion as an everyday responsibility, not a buzzword.Outside work?\'80s baby, serial Christmas planner, Yacht Rock addict, Derby County devotee, and bad dad of three.If you\'re after design that\'s practical, human, and never vanilla, let\'s talk dirty UX over a brandy and Babycham. Or an eggnog latte. That works, too.