From E-Learning to UX: How One Professional is Transforming Legal Tech

"As an E-Learning Specialist for 11 years, learning never stops for me."
— Sharmaene Sarmiento

Sharmaene Sarmiento works at B&M Global Services Manila (Baker McKenzie). She creates learning materials for a massive global law firm.

She could have settled for the status quo. Instead, she recognized that even legal professionals need better User Experience.

She joined the On-Off Group Certified UX Associate Program, and here is her full story.

The Opportunity

"Getting up to date with the technology trend is very essential to my role. One day an opportunity with the On-Off Group for the Program presented itself like it is already casted under my name. A blessing from the Universe I must say."
— Sharmaene Sarmiento

Sharmaene credits her managers at Baker McKenzie for being supportive enough to provide her the opportunity to expand her expertise. That kind of organizational backing makes all the difference when professionals want to grow.

Why UX Matters in Legal

As an E-Learning Designer, Sharmaene has designed some of their internal web pages and wanted to expand her exposure. But more importantly, she understood a fundamental truth about her work environment:

"Creating efficient and user-friendly interface is a key for me to understand more working in a Global Law Firm where everything is kind of static. Everything needs to be considered as like a 'one stop shop' type of layout for lawyers and learners to save more time navigating a page."
— Sharmaene Sarmiento

When your users are lawyers billing by the hour, every second counts. A confusing navigation isn't just an annoyance—it's lost productivity across an entire global organization.

Understanding the Audience

One of the core principles of UX is deeply understanding your users. Sharmaene grasped this immediately:

"It is also important for me to learn more about my audiences and their needs to effectively implement the best possible User Interface as I aim to have a sleeker, easy to understand navigation design as not everyone in the firm is tech savvy."
— Sharmaene Sarmiento

This insight—that not everyone in a law firm is tech savvy—is exactly the kind of empathy that leads to better design decisions. It's easy to assume that because someone is a highly educated professional, they'll naturally understand complex interfaces. Good UX practitioners know better.

From Static Pages to Solutions

Sharmaene's journey illustrates a pattern we see repeatedly: professionals who have deep domain knowledge in their field become exponentially more valuable when they add UX skills to their toolkit.

She's not just learning UX theory. She's applying it to real challenges in an industry—legal services—that desperately needs more human-centered thinking.

Thank You, Sharmaene

Thank you, Sharmaene, for trusting us with your journey. Your commitment to continuous learning after 11 years in your field is an inspiration. We can't wait to see the impact you'll make at Baker McKenzie and beyond.