Amberlight — Consultancy Director
As one of two executive directors at Amberlight, I helped grow it into a well-respected UX consultancy over five years. I created the formats, the deliverables, the workshop structures, and the research frameworks we used — none of it was inherited, it all had to be figured out and built. We worked broadly within a double diamond approach, moving from research and discovery through to prototyping and delivery, and that framework shaped how I've thought about design work ever since. We grew to a team of 18 and delivered projects mostly in the UK but also across Europe, the US, and India.
Our clients included Google, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, Channel 4, O2, T-Mobile, Samsung, Mars, and AOL. I looked after all of our pitch work and proposals, and alongside the commercial work I directed a non-client academic research programme, which was something I was always quite proud of.
Lighthouse Experience — Product and Design Consultancy
My second agency was a leaner operation, and continues today as a personal consulting vehicle. Whilst being primarily a consulting umbrella, over the years I often brought in practitioners to help with delivery. Prototyping was really at the heart of what we did — web, mobile, large screen interactive experiences — hundreds of them over the years. The focus is on pragmatism and getting stakeholder buy-in to well-researched concepts.
For many years we were primary research/design partner for Camelot, the National Lottery operator. We went deep on entertainment systems, working a lot with the key UK operators and in fact I was involved with the BBC for the original iPlayer designs. Other clients included Channel 4, ITV, Sony, Credit Suisse, and Hive Healthcare.
Workshops and Offsites
Through both agencies I was heavy on stakeholder workshops and offsites — I ran C-suite sessions for United Technologies, Credit Suisse, and the BBC, offsites for Microsoft, Mars and O2. Getting senior people in a room, getting them aligned, and leaving with something concrete became a real part of what I did.
ASOS — Head of UX & UI | Area Head of Product
ASOS is the UK's leading fashion e-commerce destination. Over six years at ASOS I had two roles. I was Head of Product for the Growth/Browse aspect of the product on iOS, Android and Web. Additionally I was head of UX/UI Design for the entire product - search through checkout and account management.
Over that time I led 4 product managers and also built and led a team of 24 designers and researchers, organised around a three-dimensional matrix: skill set (research vs design), product vertical (search & browse, convert & buy, customer support & retention), and surface (web, iOS, Android). We also focused on internal tooling, and accessibility ran through the whole structure as a cross-cutting specialism.
I defined, by supporting the practitioners, most team operations — crystallising the team's best UX research and design approaches. I recruited every member of the fantastic team, and defined the recruitment strategies. I worked with the team to design the physical office environment we all worked in, specified the design and research software stack, and managed the company-wide design system initiative.
I fostered strong prototyping habits and a culture of consensus-building workshops. The organisation design was as important as the product design. Success in one leads to success in the other.
Jumia — Product Director, Porto
I relocated to Porto to lead product and design for the largest pan-African e-commerce platform, a Rocket Internet company operating across 13 African countries. Key markets were Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt. I managed teams of product managers and designers spread across Porto, Cairo, and Nairobi, and travelled regularly between the offices.
As Product Director I owned the B2C e-commerce app, on Android, iOS and Web. I oversaw the agile product engineering and design teams working across quite different cultural contexts. In my time at Jumia we:
- delivered a new checkout
- built and integrated a new promotion engine
- started a culture of prototyping and customer research
In addition to the B2C eCom product, I also managed the entire design team across B2C but also Finance, Food Delivery and Merchant Systems.
Many Types of Research
Quant, qual, ethnography, eye tracking, accessibility audits — I have taken the research methods I learned at Manchester University and UCL and developed them for commercial settings. These were sometimes scientifically rigorous, and sometimes pragmatic and casual. Whatever was best for the context.
Thousands of Research Sessions
I don't do many any more but over the years I've personally run thousands of design research sessions, both in-person and online, moderated and unmoderated. I've always preferred to be in the room rather than reading someone else's summary — it's where the unexpected things tend to surface.
In my agency days I conducted international ethnography sessions for Sony, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Mars, and BlackBerry. That meant visiting people at their dining room tables, watching them use products over the holiday period, sitting in their offices for days at a time. We also ran eye tracking studies, focus groups, and launched extensive Customer Insight programmes across the US and Europe.
Accessibility
Based on prior agency experience, at ASOS I established the programme to run one-to-one sessions with people with different disabilities and access needs, testing prototypes and live builds with the people who relied on the app most.
Increasing commercial focus
Across the industry, the journey from product thinking to commercial product realities is well trodden! I had a headstart by running agency finance early on. In recent times, it has been my role to keep product people's focus on the commercial imperatives behind their work.
Some wins and areas that I have focused on
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Wishlisting and saved-items redesign that contributed to a 2.3x higher LTV for users who engaged with the feature versus those who didn't
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An iOS/ Android / Web navigation redesign that pushed 10% more customers into CVR-enhancing in-app search and filtering journeys, demonstrated through statistically significant AB testing
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Tracking the unit economics of transactions in terms of unit costs, partner fees, payment processing margins, and customer acquisition cost per booking
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Monitoring the margin contribution of checkout add-ons and upsells, not just their take-up rate
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11% increase in CVR by introducing social proof into PLPs and PDPs
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Improving the bottom line on transactions by reducing return rate by 10% via clothes fitting tools and visualiser. Saving an estimated £8-12m annually in reverse logistics costs
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Working with data science to build a returns propensity model — high-return SKUs flagged for enhanced imagery, sizing guidance, and review prominence
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Encouraging clearer thinking on discount strategies and the negative impact on customer and business outcomes
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Checkout redesign that dramatically improved CVR by 0.5pp in 13 countries
Tooling to track these have included Adobe Analytics, MixPanel, GA4, Metabase, AB Tasty, many custom platforms, and a good amount of SQL wrangling.
Giftory — CPO, Day One
I created the launch roadmap, specifying the product stack, and sketched the very first flows that went live (in a very MVP form!) four months later. Fast forward three years and Giftory was enjoying $30m Business Value p/a. This 0-1 product development required wearing many hats - strategic product thinking but also very hands-on creation of specifications, analytics and SQL, primary customer research, design sketches.
It was a zero-to-one engagement — not "early stage", but genuinely from nothing. We had Slack but not even a name yet. The product had both ecommerce and booking components and required integration with multiple universes of experiences: hotels, restaurants, cinema tickets, gift cards, cooking classes, and thousands of one-off partnerships.
As one of a launch C-suite of five, I was CPO from day one. That meant product strategy, design, front-end work, partner integrations, API architecture for booking systems — whatever was needed next. Alongside the CTO and Product Owner, we recruited internationally and set up the remote agile process that would keep Giftory moving. Alongside Marketing, we focused heavily on acquisition channels and Giftory's standing in the web ecosystem of organic search and paid channels.
As ever my push was for prototypes over documentation and as much customer research as possible. We also brought AI tooling into the business, starting that journey.
Remote International Team
The team was distributed across the US, UK, France, UAE, and the Philippines — an American product for the American market, with remote talent. We defined the work for developers in Manila and Dubai, and I liaised with dozens of US providers — hotels, restaurants, activity operators — many of whom we integrated via API.
Meanwhile, After Hours...
In addition to 25 years in digital product, there has been much that doesn't fit neatly into the 9-to-5 story. I've been delivering stage shows for a chart-topping band, producing a touring holographic orchestra, and building immersive interactive installations.
It's a different world from eCommerce KPIs and design systems, but the two have always fed each other.
Public Service Broadcasting
I create visuals and set design for Public Service Broadcasting. We've had 5 chart-bothering studio albums and two live albums. Our sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall are big on visuals and immersion. Next stop sold-out Alexandra Palace in September '26!
We played Glastonbury three amazing times. We created two BBC Proms. Toured US in 2025 and touring Asia and Oceania in 2026.
I design the stage show and visuals for every tour. The concepts follow the albums quite closely — The Race for Space, Berlin, the last flight of Amelia Earhart — and I work with archive footage, motion graphics, lighting, stage props, and full stage builds to bring them to life. At one time, I looked after all fabrication: the woodwork, the soldering and everything else in between. More recently it's leading concepts and ideas - my soldering skills never really were up to scratch! But maybe it's not too late.
AR and VR Concepts
I have also developed AR and VR concepts for the band, exploring how the immersive live experience might extend beyond the venue itself.
Supernova Spectaculars
This is a holographic show with a 20-piece live orchestra that we created from scratch. I am one of four producers. I created all of the visuals — some myself, some specced out and commissioned from other designers — and designed all of the staging and setup.
We launched in 2025 and are pushing it forward now. I have also been running paid social campaigns... it's a small team!
The Magic Wall
This is where it all started. The hobby that got out of hand. Initially some picture frames I put up on my web agency wall, it got more client attention than the projects we were discussing! It was time to give it a run out.
The Magic Wall was a portable projection mapping installation — essentially a show in a box. I designed it, built it, and wrote all the software myself. It became a regular fixture at festivals across the US and UK, at our own events, and at White Mink, a London/Brighton/Bristol ElectroSwing night with the inimitable Nick Hollywood and Chris Tofu (MBE!).
The software started life in Flash (!) and I later rebuilt it in Open Frameworks, and then finally simply using Resolume.
Playful art for art's sake
It's been a joy to create some pleasingly barmy and low-budget frivolities. This has often been in collaboration with artists, dancers and choreographers. Ask me about:
- An internet enabled goat
- A light trumpet
- Portable neon signs
- Light up party furniture
- The "Internet of Tings"
- A Dangermouse game written in 90s Basic
25 Years in Digital Product
I have run agencies and in-house teams delivering digital products in iOS, Android and web. I was involved in the first design of BBC iPlayer, worked on PlayStation titles including SingStar, and led the award-winning design team at ASOS. Through Lighthouse Experience I also consulted for Google, ITV, Channel 4, and Sony across all manner of platforms and products.
I have recruited and managed product and engineering teams in UAE, Portugal, Egypt and Nairobi.
Show Stopping Visuals
I have produced shows at festivals in the UK, Europe and US. Glastonbury, Bestival, Wilderness, Burning Man. Corporate clients include Living Wage Foundation, Information Is Beautiful, The Rosies awards show (Portland Oregon).
