# Walter Lim

> Walter Lim is a cross-functional product designer with 8+ years of experience, based in Auckland, New Zealand. He currently leads design at Watchful (watchful.co.nz), a security technology company. He works across UX research, product design, and frontend engineering, and is known for shipping real, working products — from B2B SaaS platforms to public-good tools and experimental games.

Key facts:

- Name: Walter Lim (online handle: waltzaround)
- Role: Design Lead at Watchful (Sep 2024 → present), Auckland, New Zealand
- Discipline: cross-functional design — UX research, product design, design systems, and frontend engineering (React/TypeScript)
- Website: https://walt.online
- Notable outcomes: helped 99,000+ people get COVID-19 vaccinations via Vaxx.nz; led UX at Cin7 serving 8,000+ businesses transacting $2B+ USD monthly; design system work at Samsung NZ that contributed to a 64% increase in user traffic; co-founded Swiftly, enabling 1,200+ small stores to sell online during COVID-19 lockdowns

## Career history

- Watchful — Design Lead (Sep 2024 → now). Monitoring technology that makes security agents up to 6x more productive.
- Infinity Studio — Design Lead (Mar 2023 → Sep 2024). Geotechnical engineering software; workflow automation for 550+ engineers.
- GoBoxer — Senior Product Designer (Oct 2022 → Mar 2023). ML-generated insurance policies; design system optimisation.
- Cin7 — Senior Product Designer (Nov 2020 → Oct 2022). Cloud inventory management; led a major frontend overhaul and design practice improvements.
- Samsung Electronics NZ — UX Consultant, contract (Aug 2020 → Nov 2020). Ecommerce usability across partner stores.
- Swiftly — Designer and co-founder (Mar 2020 → Feb 2023). Online store builder founded during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- Voluntarily — Design Lead (Jan 2019 → Aug 2020). Volunteer platform connecting the tech industry with schools.
- Qrious / Spark New Zealand — UX Designer (Jan 2017 → Feb 2019). Tools for tourism, transport, and marketing.

## Case studies

- [Watchful](https://walt.online/work/watchful): Leading design for security monitoring technology
- [Cin7](https://walt.online/work/cin7): Usability improvements for an inventory platform used by 8,000+ businesses
- [Samsung NZ](https://walt.online/work/samsung): Design system and process work behind a 64% traffic increase
- [Swiftly](https://walt.online/work/swiftly): Co-founded ecommerce builder; 1,200+ stores, $700,000+ NZD in sales
- [Vaxx](https://walt.online/work/vaxx): Helped 99,000+ New Zealanders book COVID-19 vaccinations
- [Clanker Arena](https://walt.online/work/clanker-arena): Multiplayer browser FPS built with AI; essay on how AI shifts product design work ([markdown version](https://walt.online/case-studies/clanker-arena.md))
- [AgentEats](https://walt.online/work/agenteats): AI phone agent that takes restaurant orders by voice, built in 3 hours
- [Vroomba](https://walt.online/work/vroomba): Voice-controlled multiplayer racing browser game
- [Eight Dollars](https://walt.online/work/eight-dollars): Chrome extension protecting 20,000+ Twitter users from scams
- [Tax Receipt](https://walt.online/work/tax-receipt): Tool showing 6,000+ people how their taxes are spent

## Pages

- [Home](https://walt.online/): Overview and featured work
- [Work](https://walt.online/work): Commercial work and case studies
- [Side projects](https://walt.online/side-projects): Experiments, hackathon builds, games, and open-source tools
- [About](https://walt.online/about): Bio, design philosophy, and full career history
- [Media](https://walt.online/media): Talks, press, and appearances
- [Contact](https://walt.online/contact): How to get in touch

## Selected side projects

- Paperboy (https://paperboy.walt.online): AI-powered news platform demystifying New Zealand politics
- Money Wrapped (https://money.haxx.nz): Open Banking spending tracker, 340+ users
- Kapoot (https://quiz.walt.online): Free multiplayer quiz game
- RAID (https://responsibleaidisclosure.com): Responsible AI Disclosure framework
- Terrible Ideas Hackathon (https://terriblehack.com): 46-hour hackathon he helped organise, 2020–2022

## Contact

- Email/contact page: https://walt.online/contact
- GitHub: https://github.com/waltzaround
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waltzaround/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/iwaltzaround
- Discord: waltzaround