Michael O’Riordan




Hi, I’m Mikey. 

I’m a designer, researcher, and storyteller who turns complex ideas into simple, meaningful experiences. I love working with curious people who challenge norms and use design to make things smarter, kinder, and more human, with a growing focus on teaching, creative education, and game development.

hello@michaeloriordan.net



Brand Design & Strategy
Everything Else
CV

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Education
Maynooth University
MSc. Design Innovation
2023–2025

Technological University of the Shannon
BA (Hons) Graphic & Digital Design
First Class Honours
2017–2018
Student of the Year

Technological University of the Shannon
BA Graphic Design
First Class Honours
2014–2017
Student of the Year

Art & Design Portfolio
Moate Business College
2013–2014


ExperienceMinerva University
Interim Design Director & Senior Manager, Brand Experience & Strategy
2023 - 2025

Maynooth University
Lecturing
2025

Entrepreneur First
Brand & Creative Consultant
2022 - 2023

Minerva Project
Designer
2019 - 2022

Freelance Consulting
2014 - Present




Skillset
Adobe Creative Cloud
Figma
Webflow
FigJam
HTML & CSS familiarity

Brand Identity & Strategy
Marketing & Communications Strategy
Digital Marketing
Enrollment Strategy & Marketing
Digital Content Creation
Video Direction & Editing
Motion Graphics 
Editorial Design
Print & Packaging Design
Web Design
Logo Design
Product Design
Service Design
UI & Visual Design
UX Research
Experience Design
Art & Creative Direction
Storytelling & Narrative Design
Visual Communication
Design System Building & Management
Typography

Design Thinking
Global Team Management
Workshop Facilitation
Mentorship & Teaching




AchievementsMinerva University ranked #1 Most Innovative University in the World for four consecutive years (2022-2025) by WURI.

Minerva University placed in WURI’s Top 20 globally for University Brand & Reputation in 2025.

Featured in 100 Archive: 
“In With the New”

Student of the Year in 2017 & 2018

Featured twice in Design Research Society’s “Best of Emerging Irish Design” (2018) for the project Rec’d and Ryan Hoey’s ZINEGIRLZ









MedWrite AI
Healthcare & Medtech
2025

Improving the experiences of caregivers after a discharge from the accident & emergency department in Ireland.

Background MedWrite AI is an Irish-owned medtech startup that uses artificial intelligence to automate and streamline clinical documentation and administrative workflows for hospitals and healthcare professionals.


ChallengeRuth MacIver, Head of Patient Advocacy at MedWrite, talked about the difficulty that caregivers face during the A&E process. She talked to us about how difficult it can be as a caregiver to listen to and understand diagnoses or medical advice from health care professionals. MedWrite AI was attempting to build a product that could ease the resource burden on those professionals through the use of transcribers and automating certain administrative processes.

Ruth asked us to examine how the caregivers experience may be improved through the use of AI.


Solution I designed the wireframes of an app that would allow caregivers to collate medical documents and history, track symptoms and medication schedules post discharge, humanize medical jargon, and house an AI companion that would assist in communicating and tracking details of a visit to the accident and emergency departments here in Ireland.

Most importantly, I advocated for the use of behaviour design methods to allow for the fact that most people are not AI First in their approach to caregiving. I did this through the use of colloquialism and empathy in the language that the AI would use to respond to the caregiver.

The most useful caregiving AI support app in the world will have low adoption and engagement if it has to be used by people who don’t already think of AI as potentially supportive. Building out the userbase for this would take significant thought-leadership, advocacy, and behaviour design.




Problem StatementUser is experiencing difficulty understanding and communicating details and advice during and after A&E experience, which causes stress, guilt, shame, and anxiety.


Research

ProcessI began with seeking out caregivers for semi-structured interviews. I interviewed a retired nurse with a disability who is now primary caregiver for an elderly, tech-illirate family member, a 32 year old woman who is interested in starting a family, and a social care worker. Their experiences gave me enough insightful qualitative data to start building out wireframes that addressed their pain points.


User Details
(Interviewee 1)
  • Carer with nursing background
  • Retired and lives with disability
  • 70+ years old
  • Lives rurally
  • Lives with care recipient

 User Context
(Interviewee 1)
  • The interviewee cares for their elderly brother-in-law with complex health conditions.
  • They use their medical knowledge to assess whether A&E visits are necessary.
  • The conversation focused on decision-making, challenges with the healthcare system, and post-discharge care burdens.



Thematic Analysis Insights Burden of post-discharge responsibilities
  • Lack of clear instructions from A&E
  • Dependence on physical documents for prescriptions and referrals
  • Challenges accessing medication outside pharmacy hours

 Caregiver struggles & emotional toll associated with caregiving
  • Constant monitoring, similar to caring for a child
  • Decision fatigue regarding symptom severity
  • Lack of acknowledgment as an essential part of the healthcare process

 Challenges in transitioning from hospital to home
  • No real-time support or follow-up from A&E
  • Delayed communication with GP
  • Lack of structured monitoring post-discharge

 Medication management issues
  • Hospital prescriptions are not integrated with pharmacy systems
  • No emergency medication provided if pharmacies are closed

 Systemic healthcare limitations
  • Fragmented communication between hospitals, GPs, and pharmacies
  • Paper-based discharge letters lack detailed information
  • No automated follow-up system for ongoing care



Users Jobs-To-Be-Done Functional Goals
  • Ensure their brother-in-law receives timely and appropriate care
  • Manage post-discharge treatment effectively
  • Reduce unnecessary A&E visits while making informed medical decisions

 Emotional Goals
  • Feel reassured that they are making the right decisions
  • Reduce stress and anxiety related to caregiving responsibilities
  • Gain confidence in the healthcare system’s ability to support them

 Social Goals
  • Be recognized as a vital part of their brother-in-law’s care team
  • Have an easier way to communicate with medical professionals
  • Feel supported by a system that values family caregivers



User Pains & Gains Pains
  • Unclear discharge processes and lack of real-time updates
  • Time-consuming administrative tasks (manual prescription pickup, GP visits)
  • High emotional burden due to decision-making pressure
  • Fragmented healthcare communication, leading to gaps in care
  • Limited after-hours support for medication access and medical inquiries

 Gains (Desired Outcomes)
  • A streamlined post-discharge process with automated updates
  • Reduced administrative burden with digital prescriptions and follow-ups
  • Tools that provide real-time symptom tracking and assessment guidance
  • A sense of support and recognition as a caregiver within the healthcare system
  • Faster, more reliable communication between hospitals, GPs, and pharmacies

Design

Wireframes
 The strength of the initial research meant that creating wireframes that aimed to solve the pains faced by the users was relatively straightforward.



Prototype

Access Figma Prototype With the wireframes in place, I aimed to create a sandbox prototype of the application. The point of this was to mimic how the app may be used in real life settings, with multiple avenues for achieving jobs-to-be-done. This meant that I could set a list of several tasks during the user testing phase and all of them could be tested in one short sitting for the user.



User Testing & FindingsWith the sandbox built out I set up a tasksheet with five tasks that someone using the app may face in a situation where they have to visit a hospital with their care recipient. 

After the tasks were, I used a method called the €101 test to ask users how they would invest money in improving the app for their own benefit.

Finally, I developed a HEART framework of KPIs to examine how the app would fair in the real settings.


Tasks
  1. Use the symptom checker
  2. Interpret the triage advice
  3. Find emergency help
  4. Understand discharge instructions
  5. Track recovery post-discharge



User Test Results 
Participant 1
 70 Years Old

Success: 3.5/5
Average Task Time: 45s
Satisfaction: 4.4/10

“I didn’t know the jargon-buster was the triage advice.” Participant 2
 32 Years Old

Success: 3/5
Average Task Time: 35s
Satisfaction: 5/10

“Sure, why wouldn’t I just call an ambulance?” Participant 3
 25 Years Old

Success: 3/5
Average Task Time: 40s
Satisfaction: 4/10

“I don’t think I’d feel comfortable trying to understand the notes without a second opinion”

€101 Investment Breakdown Participants were given an imaginary €101 to spend on developing systems for the app. More participant may have separated the data and interestingly; nothing was spent on the Hospital Locator.
Participant 1
Symptom Checker - €20
Hospital Locator - €0
Jargon Buster - €0
Health Monitoring - €20
Document Locker - €40
A&E Companion - €10
Pharmacy Locator - €20 Participant 2
Symptom Checker - €20
Hospital Locator - €0
Jargon Buster - €10
Health Monitoring - €30
Document Locker - €10
A&E Companion - €30
Pharmacy Locator - €0
Participant 3
Symptom Checker - €30
Hospital Locator - €0
Jargon Buster - €30
Health Monitoring - €10
Document Locker - €0
A&E Companion - €10
Pharmacy Locator - €20



HEART Framework
HappinessGoals
Ensure caregivers feel supported, confident, and less anxious during medical decision-making.

Signals
Positive feedback, satisfaction ratings, reduced complaints.

Metrics
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score), NPS (Net Promoter Score), qualitative feedback from surveys.

EngagementGoals
Caregivers actively use the tool for monitoring and communication.

Signals
Frequency of logins, symptom tracking usage, message exchanges with GPs.

Metrics
Daily/weekly active users, number of interactions logged per caregiver.


AdoptionGoals
New caregivers start using the tool after discharge.

Signals
First-time setup completions, onboarding progression.

Metrics
Percentage of new discharges who register and use the tool within 3 days.

RetentionGoals
Caregivers continue using the tool throughout recovery.

Signals
Repeat usage over weeks, especially after additional medical events.

Metrics
Retention rates at 7, 14, 30 days post-discharge.


Task SuccessGoals
Caregivers complete key tasks like submitting updates or accessing prescriptions.

Signals
Fewer errors, completed symptom logs, successful medication pickups.

Metrics
Task completion rate, time-on-task, error rate, % of digital prescriptions accessed.