About Brenda

With 10 years of experience in UX research and design, and a foundational 5 years in graphic design, I care deeply about both the experience and the look of a product. I lead projects end-to-end — from discovery through to high-fidelity UI — carrying research insights forward at every phase.

Portrait of Brenda Little

What I Bring

Human thinking

I lead with empathy and think a problem through before I design. AI is a great partner, but it needs a human in the room to catch when it’s wrong, generic, or focused on the wrong thing.

Research that shapes decisions

Interviews, field studies, personas, co-design sessions, journey maps and service design blueprints. For BORN Ontario, my team and I interviewed 56 pregnant individuals and care providers, from obstetricians to midwives, to validate our understanding of their needs within prenatal screening.

Visual design, from mockup to launch

My graphic design roots run deep. I believe beauty and function belong together—I truly care about every detail, from type to accessibility to button padding, and see it through to launch so the finished product matches the vision.

Facilitation and leadership

I lead work sessions with clinicians, experts and executives, from four sessions with care providers in rural Ontario to a visioning session with medical directors from five GTA pain clinics. Pre-pandemic, it was whiteboards and snacks. Now it's Zoom and AI note-takers, which are more efficient (but have fewer snacks:)

Mentoring

I mentor the designers and interns who join our team, with regular feedback, help with workloads, and advocacy so their strengths get noticed. I’ve also mentored George Brown College students (2024 and 2025) through career chats and portfolio reviews.

So... How Am I Using AI?

AI isn’t a choice. It’s no longer about if we’re using it, and much more interesting to talk about how. Every day reveals new ideas and ways of leveraging its superhuman capabilities. Here are some of the ways I’ve been using it lately.

Sinai Health: Dementia Navigator

(in progress)

As the research lead, I've been using Gemini to:

  • Set up a synthesis matrix so the whole team can add interview notes in one place, ultimately feeding into a service design blueprint
  • Research regional programs for people living with dementia and their caregivers
  • Cross-check interview notes to validate and refine our human-made drafts of the project personas

Care In Common Lab

(Launched November 2026)

  • Miro Prototypes and Figma Make for the first wireframes and UI
  • The result prompted new ideas, but the design was generic. This pushed me to ensure my visual design work could never be mistaken for AI, resulting in stronger, more unique work
  • Figma Make to build a high-fidelity scroll-animation prototype in a fraction of the time, which won the client’s buy-in

careincommonlab.com

RFP Budget Builder

(weekend hackathon)

  • Putting together budgets in response to RFPs was a real pain point for our team, so I decided to join a hackathon and spend a weekend vibe-coding in Lovable to create an internal tool to help.
  • Our new RFP Estimator Tool reads an uploaded RFP and drafts a budget based on our pricing formulas, broken into editable line items so the team can test different scenarios.

eState Planner

(in progress)

  • Our client wanted several faux UI vignettes for their marketing site that their budget didn't have room for.
  • I found Stageshow, a skill for agents built for this purpose, and proposed the approach to lower time and cost. Our developer is trialing it now.

This Portfolio Site

(in progress)

  • I built this site in Figma Sites with Claude helping.
  • Claude wrote custom code, checked every page at real screen sizes, and kept a running list of what was left to fix. The design, writing and decisions are mine.
Brenda speaking as Valedictorian to her graduating class
Brenda performing with the National Ballet of Canada
Brenda reviewing research on a bulletin board
Brenda at the office

Life Beyond Design...

Before becoming a designer, I was a soloist with the National Ballet of Canada. My years on the stage taught me, among many things, how to overcome obstacles, stay focused under stress, manage conflict, and contribute to a shared vision with adaptability and discipline.

When it was time for a new chapter, design was a natural next step. I felt empowered learning new skills and absolutely loved the challenges design brought, and graduated with honours as valedictorian for the Schools of Design and Business.

When it was time for a new chapter, design was a natural next step. I absolutely loved emersing myself in the world and graduated as Valedictorian from my graphic design program!

Off the clock, I’m usually with my boys, in the garden, or on a yoga mat. My husband is a professional artist, so our home is full of art, and I still go to the ballet whenever I can.

I have always been driven to create, perfect my craft, and strive for excellence — from my childhood, to the international ballet stage, and now to the design studio. I will never stop learning or striving for more and better.

I’d love to hear from you!

© 2026 Brenda LittleMade with ❤️ in Canada

About Brenda

With 10 years of experience in UX research and design, and a foundational 5 years in graphic design, I care deeply about both the experience and the look of a product. I lead projects end-to-end — from discovery through to high-fidelity UI — carrying research insights forward at every phase.

What I Bring

Human thinking

I lead with empathy and think a problem through before I design. AI is a great partner, but it needs a human in the room to catch when it’s wrong, generic, or focused on the wrong thing.

Research that shapes decisions

Interviews, field studies, personas, co-design sessions, journey maps and service design blueprints. For BORN Ontario, my team and I interviewed 56 pregnant individuals and care providers, from obstetricians to midwives, to validate our understanding of their needs within prenatal screening.

Visual design, from mockup to launch

My graphic design roots run deep. I believe beauty and function belong together—I truly care about every detail, from type to accessibility to button padding, and see it through to launch so the finished product matches the vision.

Facilitation and leadership

I lead work sessions with clinicians, experts and executives, from four sessions with care providers in rural Ontario to a visioning session with medical directors from five GTA pain clinics. Pre-pandemic, it was whiteboards and snacks. Now it's Zoom and AI note-takers, which are more efficient (but have fewer snacks:)

Mentoring

I mentor the designers and interns who join our team, with regular feedback, help with workloads, and advocacy so their strengths get noticed. I’ve also mentored George Brown College students (2024 and 2025) through career chats and portfolio reviews.

So... How Am I Using AI?

AI isn’t a choice. It’s no longer about if we’re using it, and much more interesting to talk about how. Every day reveals new ideas and ways of leveraging its superhuman capabilities. Here are some of the ways I’ve been using it lately.

Sinai Health: Dementia Navigator

(in progress)

As the research lead, I've been using Gemini to:

  • Set up a synthesis matrix so the whole team can add interview notes in one place, ultimately feeding into a service design blueprint
  • Research regional programs for people living with dementia and their caregivers
  • Cross-check interview notes to validate and refine our human-made drafts of the project personas

Care In Common Lab

(Launched November 2026)

  • Miro Prototypes and Figma Make for the first wireframes and UI
  • The result prompted new ideas, but the design was generic. This pushed me to ensure my visual design work could never be mistaken for AI, resulting in stronger, more unique work
  • Figma Make to build a high-fidelity scroll-animation prototype in a fraction of the time, which won the client’s buy-in

careincommonlab.com

RFP Budget Builder

(weekend hackathon)

  • Putting together budgets in response to RFPs was a real pain point for our team, so I decided to join a hackathon and spend a weekend vibe-coding in Lovable to create an internal tool to help.
  • Our new RFP Estimator Tool reads an uploaded RFP and drafts a budget based on our pricing formulas, broken into editable line items so the team can test different scenarios.

eState Planner

(in progress)

  • Our client wanted several faux UI vignettes for their marketing site that their budget didn't have room for.
  • I found Stageshow, a skill for agents built for this purpose, and proposed the approach to lower time and cost. Our developer is trialing it now.

This Portfolio Site

(in progress)

  • I built this site in Figma Sites with Claude helping.
  • Claude wrote custom code, checked every page at real screen sizes, and kept a running list of what was left to fix. The design, writing and decisions are mine.
Brenda performing with the National Ballet of Canada
Brenda speaking as Valedictorian to her graduating class
Brenda reviewing research on a bulletin board
Brenda reviewing mobile wireframes on a whiteboard with a colleague
Brenda at the office

Life Beyond Design...

Before becoming a designer, I was a soloist with the National Ballet of Canada. My years on the stage taught me, among many things, how to overcome obstacles, stay focused under stress, manage conflict, and contribute to a shared vision with adaptability and discipline.

When it was time for a new chapter, design was a natural next step. I felt empowered learning new skills and absolutely loved the challenges design brought, and graduated with honours as valedictorian for the Schools of Design and Business.

Off the clock, I’m usually with my boys, in the garden, or on a yoga mat. My husband is a professional artist, so our home is full of art, and I still go to the ballet whenever I can.

I have always been driven to create, perfect my craft, and strive for excellence — from my childhood, to the international ballet stage, and now to the design studio. I will never stop learning or striving for more and better.

I’d love to hear from you! Get in touch at

© 2026 Brenda Little | Made with ❤️ in Canada

About Brenda

With 10 years of experience in UX research and design, and a foundational 5 years in graphic design, I care deeply about both the experience and the look of a product. I lead projects end-to-end — from discovery through to high-fidelity UI — carrying research insights forward at every phase.

Portrait of Brenda Little

What I Bring

Human thinking

I lead with empathy and think a problem through before I design. AI is a great partner, but it needs a human in the room to catch when it’s wrong, generic, or focused on the wrong thing.

Research that shapes decisions

Interviews, field studies, personas, co-design sessions, journey maps and service design blueprints. For BORN Ontario, my team and I interviewed 56 pregnant individuals and care providers, from obstetricians to midwives, to validate our understanding of their needs within prenatal screening.

Visual design, from mockup to launch

My graphic design roots run deep. I believe beauty and function belong together—I truly care about every detail, from type to accessibility to button padding, and see it through to launch so the finished product matches the vision.

Facilitation and leadership

I lead work sessions with clinicians, experts and executives, from four sessions with care providers in rural Ontario to a visioning session with medical directors from five GTA pain clinics. Pre-pandemic, it was whiteboards and snacks. Now it's Zoom and AI note-takers, which are more efficient (but have fewer snacks:)

Mentoring

I mentor the designers and interns who join our team, with regular feedback, help with workloads, and advocacy so their strengths get noticed. I’ve also mentored George Brown College students (2024 and 2025) through career chats and portfolio reviews.

So... How Am I Using AI?

AI isn’t a choice. It’s no longer about if we’re using it, and much more interesting to talk about how. Every day reveals new ideas and ways of leveraging its superhuman capabilities. Here are some of the ways I’ve been using it lately.

Sinai Health: Dementia Navigator

(in progress)

As the research lead, I've been using Gemini to:

  • Set up a synthesis matrix so the whole team can add interview notes in one place, ultimately feeding into a service design blueprint
  • Research regional programs for people living with dementia and their caregivers
  • Cross-check interview notes to validate and refine our human-made drafts of the project personas

Care In Common Lab

(Launched November 2026)

  • Miro Prototypes and Figma Make for the first wireframes and UI
  • The result prompted new ideas, but the design was generic. This pushed me to ensure my visual design work could never be mistaken for AI, resulting in stronger, more unique work
  • Figma Make to build a high-fidelity scroll-animation prototype in a fraction of the time, which won the client’s buy-in

careincommonlab.com

RFP Budget Builder

(weekend hackathon)

  • Putting together budgets in response to RFPs was a real pain point for our team, so I decided to join a hackathon and spend a weekend vibe-coding in Lovable to create an internal tool to help.
  • Our new RFP Estimator Tool reads an uploaded RFP and drafts a budget based on our pricing formulas, broken into editable line items so the team can test different scenarios.

eState Planner

(in progress)

  • Our client wanted several faux UI vignettes for their marketing site that their budget didn't have room for.
  • I found Stageshow, a skill for agents built for this purpose, and proposed the approach to lower time and cost. Our developer is trialing it now.

This Portfolio Site

(in progress)

  • I built this site in Figma Sites with Claude helping.
  • Claude wrote custom code, checked every page at real screen sizes, and kept a running list of what was left to fix. The design, writing and decisions are mine.
Brenda performing with the National Ballet of Canada
Brenda speaking as Valedictorian to her graduating class
Brenda reviewing research on a bulletin board
Brenda reviewing mobile wireframes on a whiteboard with a colleague
Brenda at the office

Life Beyond Design...

Before becoming a designer, I was a soloist with the National Ballet of Canada. My years on the stage taught me, among many things, how to overcome obstacles, stay focused under stress, manage conflict, and contribute to a shared vision with adaptability and discipline.

When it was time for a new chapter, design was a natural next step. I felt empowered learning new skills and absolutely loved the challenges design brought, and graduated with honours as valedictorian for the Schools of Design and Business.

Off the clock, I might be watching a movie with my boys, daydreaming in my garden, or on a yoga mat. My husband is a professional artist, so our home is full of art, and I still go to the ballet whenever I can.

I have always been driven to create, perfect my craft, and strive for excellence — from my childhood, to the international ballet stage, and now to the design studio. I will never stop learning or striving for more and better.

I’d love to hear from you! Get in touch at

© 2026 Brenda Little | Made with ❤️ in Canada