About me & my approach

About me…

Ultimately, I’m passionate about solving real-world problems that enhance people’s lives. I’m focused on creating user-centred, intuitive solutions with a design approach that is driven by a deep understanding of users - what they do, why they do it, and the obstacles they face.

With a Bachelor’s of Industrial Design and over 27 years of design experience, I have a unique blend of problem solving expertise in Industrial, Graphic, Packaging, UI, UX, Product, and Service Design.

For over 15 years I have led the design of product experiences for multiple projects and have held Team Leader, Scrum Master and Project Management responsibilities. I enjoy supporting and mentoring designers and developers with design tools, methodologies and best practices that empower them to deliver impactful products and services.

Recognised for working hard and thinking differently, I’ve collaborated within agile cross-functional teams to deliver user-centric, innovative, award-winning and patentable designs that deliver impactful outcomes to both users and the business strategy. Notably, I contributed to 12 registered patents, 45 patents pending, and 175 design registrations at ResMed and Honeywell.

I'm analytically minded and have worked in regulated industries like health, energy and industrial automation where I have tackled complex challenges, resulting in improvements in compliance, safety, and efficiency, while adding value through increased user satisfaction and performance.

My curiosity in the intersections of Art, Science, and Technology keeps me engaged with emerging technologies like AI, robotics, and AR/VR.

I’ve recently completed an MIT xPro course in Designing & Building AI Products and Services, where I explored if AI can help the hearing impaired with real-time translation of sign-language into audible speech using Computer Vision, CNNs (Convolutional Neural Networks) and LLMs (Large Language Models).

I enjoy learning and have also completed the following courses to help create more inclusive and innovative solutions.

  • Certificate III in Web Design,

  • IxDF courses in Service Design, Data Visualisation, Agile UX and Accessibility

  • Coursera course in Interaction Design

  • Hiser training in User Centred Design

  • Design Led Innovation (DLI)

  • 6 sigma lean - Green Belt

I also have experience with

  • Engaging Suppliers and external organisations to utilize their capabilities and deliver value faster

  • Creating 3D CAD Models in ProE Creo, generating photo-realistic visualisations in Keyshot or V-Ray and 3D printing prototypes for testing with users, manufacturing and key stakeholders to get critical feedback prior to tooling.

  • Exploration of AR/VR prototypes using Panovision and Unity to create 360 walkthroughs of industrial plants

…and my approach

As a “full-stack” designer, I’m involved from program inception to final delivery and have a well honed end-to-end “People Centred Design” process that I have developed over the years.

At APA I developed a Double Diamond 2.0 framework that incorporates the Cynefin model and Technology experimentation to accelerate time to market. This included a “Dream Sprint” methodology and over 25 Miro templates to support various stages of the Design Thinking process.

My design playbook includes…

  1. Conducting Contextual Inquiry and Observational Research with users to help build Day-in-the-Life Journey Maps and identify key moments of pain or delight using Affinity Mapping.

  2. Reframing pain points into How Might We statements (HMWs) and Experience Outcomes (Jobs to be Done) to help focus on areas of opportunity that will strategically make a difference.

  3. Running Alignment Workshops with internal and external stakeholders to agree on the intersection of business and user needs that we should strategically focus on

  4. Running Co-design Workshops with users to better understand what they value and Ideation Workshops with cross-functional teams to understand the art of what is possible.

  5. Using Pair & Pugh Analysis to objectively select best conceptual ideas that align with outcomes & requirements.

  6. Sketching, Problem Solving and Rapid Prototyping UI Designs in Figma (or Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, InVision, After Effects, Principle or even PowerPoint)

  7. User testing to quickly gain insights, get feedback and iterate on the design and exploration of using research tools like User Testing, Maze, Askable and Dovetail that incorporate AI to accelerate the analysis and synthesis of results.

  8. Video editing to create highlight reels from the research or stakeholder showcase demos of the latest design using DaVinci Resolve, Clipchamp or iMovie.

  9. Creation of Atomic Design Systems in Figma and the generation of UI Specifications to create reusable, consistent and well tested components that accelerate getting from concept designs to production code.

  10. Creation of high fidelity prototypes using Figma and Axure for user acceptance testing and final sign off

  11. Working within an Agile, collaborative environment on up to 3 scrum teams to convert designs from concept to market. Creation of Jira and Miro boards and facilitation of Backlog grooming, Sprint planning, Daily stand-ups, Sprint Demos and Team Retros to keep projects on track, identify risks and prove value or fail early.