A human-centred designer with over 14 years’ experience

Much of what makes a good Designer can be used in management, by showing empathy to and collaborating with your team, and taking their individual needs into account via the likes of 1-2-1s, visibility over career progression and performance reviews. Transparency is a key value for me, and I believe in encouraging my team to come to me with their ideas for processes, product features and general thoughts and feelings about their careers and the company. I try to allow the autonomy they deserve, whilst also being available for feedback and guidance when they need it. My teams also frequently enjoy high eNPS scores.

Curiosity is the driving force of innovation, and I take that into all of my interactions with colleagues. I’m a hands-on design leader. I believe in the power of autonomy but also the necessity of direction. If a team or individual designers is unsure of a direction, I can lend a hand either from a business, product or design lens. I’ve got 13 years of individual contribution under my belt, so have been happy to roll my sleeves up and advocate or teach prototyping skills, UI precision or training teams on how to set lasting design principles.

Play is the foundation of a good design culture and there is no end to the prototype. The design process I work towards facilitates autonomy, value and collaboration. My design teams always work ahead of time and aim to return key deliverables to the business quickly. The key ingredient is pen-to-paper. Paper prototypes bring everyone on the journey quickly.

I believe in research. Understanding the user needs will make businesses grow. Without it, you’re focussing on metrics alone, which means you might build a nice product but if no-one cares about it, you won’t solve problems and so won’t make money. Research is the backbone to any strong design team, and has always been my first focus whenever I’ve joined a business, be it at Holland & Barrett or Health Tech startups like My Online Therapy.

I’ve worked with the C-suite and senior leaders within businesses with tens of millions of customers to set strategic direction guided by user insight. I believe in the power of Desirability (the third circle in IDEO’s Three Lenses of Innovation) to guide strategy. I believe it’s an often overlooked but crucial ingredient for innovation.