About me

I currently hold the position of Senior UX Architect/Designer at Somo. Having previously worked as Lead UX at Future Publishing (TechRadar, CreativeBloq, T3, ComputerArts .NET among others) and Creative Director of a south coast digital agency Zeta (71 in Drum 100) and Lead Designer at BT Vision (BT On Demand TV Service).

I took the decision 3 Years ago to gain significant experience in UX by taking a step sideways into a slightly different role. This has allowed me to expand my skill set into live user testing, focus grouping, Interviewing, AB and MVTesting. I was tasked with bringing Future Publishing up-to-date in terms of UX Design. In just 18 months I had gone from a one man department to leading a team of 6 UX designers and running regular user testing sessions. Feeding back to board level stakeholders and implementing UX strategies and even setting up dedicated lab space in out offices in Bath.

The reason for this departure from Creative Director was taken to truly give myself real-world user centred design experience. I find that so many agencies talk about UCD and wish to practice methods involving the end user but not many truly get the opportunity.

I see usability as the core use of the product, picking up errors and learning how to make products work better for users. User experience however I see as the layer of delight we can add to products to surprise and pleasure people to make them fall in love with our brands. Making an emotional connection whilst making things easy and intuitive is what I strive for in everything I do.

Digital design can be a complicated discipline that requires data analysis and dedication, coupled with an eye-for-every-detail for it to convert the right results. By knowing the user and clearly defining measurable stakeholder and user objectives, we can not only keep focus on the product goal but also enjoy commercial success.

My experience as a creative director and UX lead means I have a good understanding of not only how research can merge into the design and visualisation of a project, but also how business' are run from the board level and how commercial goals have to be considered in all creative work.

Although I have only been at Somo for 3 months the work I am doing is more akin to a Creative Director than a UX architect. It has made me realise how much I miss that role. I am happy to stay at a company like Somo but the opportunity at Walker is too good to ignore. I loved working on the South Coast and have known about your agency for a long time. I know the work you do is excellent and when I saw the chance to join I had to give it a shot.