Mindmax
Vision, brand and user experience for an AI-native, audio-first learning platform
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I’m a product designer, strategist and leader with a twenty-year track record helping organisations bring new products and services to market.
2018–present
For the last few years, I’ve run a small product strategy and design studio called Berst, where I wear two hats: Managing Director and Strategy Lead. We work with startup founders, leadership teams in larger organisations and the occasional investor to create new products.
Our approach blends design and entrepreneurship into something we’ve nicknamed Venture Design. It’s our way of quickly finding new market opportunities, shaping them into product bets, and occasionally backing them by taking equity in exchange for our work.
Outside of running the business, my role is to guide teams through the messy bits, create clarity and alignment, and keep the work tied to business impact.
Selected projects
TCS WisdomNext
Product vision, UX and go-to-market for an enterprise-grade AI platform
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Snorkl
Proposition, product and UX for a mission-first fintech
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NatWest Cushon
Research, strategy and product innovation for a fast-growing fintech
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Una Health
Three-year product vision to align teams and investors ahead of growth
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Virgin Atlantic
Vision, strategy and service design for a new omni-channel sales experience
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Öogo
Product vision and investor materials for an industry-defining platform
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Babylon Health
Research, service design and experience vision for the next big leap
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2007–2018
Before founding Berst, I was Director of Experience Design at Clearleft. I sat on the board and helped grow the company into one of the UK’s most influential design agencies. At its best, Clearleft felt like a pioneer. First in the Web Standards movement, then in UX, and later in the emerging world of design leadership.
Alongside client work, I co-curated some of Europe’s leading design events, including UX London and Leading Design, and generally had a blast with some smart people who cared deeply about design's role in the world.
Selected projects
8 month design-led digital transformation for one of Scandinavia’s largest banks, focused on improving the retail digital experience.
Product discovery, design and piloting of a new lifestyle service that helped users connect favourite content and products across the Channel 4 family of brands.
Research, strategy and design principles for the logged-in BBC experience across the organisation’s entire digital landscape.
Building confidence, capability and team foundations for the bank’s internal service design unit.
Design of a long-form storytelling platform for Wellcome’s eclectic collection of medical and historical artefacts.
Co-location with the Channel 4 News team to deliver research, UX and interaction design for the UK’s first fully responsive news website.
Brand and product experience for a long-form science and technology publication, later sold to Medium, and my first real taste of venture design.
Digital transformation work, including rationalisation and redesign to bring two major publishing brands together post-merger.
Why people hire me
- Spot and shape new opportunities Identify emerging bets before the rest of the market catches up, especially where new technology is involved
- Guide early-stage product discovery Lead teams through the messy, ambiguous phases between idea and launch
- Set product direction Shape a distinctive product vision and translate it into a credible roadmap
- Align leadership and teams Bring executives, product, design and engineering together around the same narrative and priorities
- Balance a product portfolio Help organisations decide where to innovate, where to evolve, and where to stop
- Match emerging technology with new market opportunities Focus new capabilities on underserved customers and unmet needs