With Me

01—Guiding Principles

Great design is a team sport

I believe great teams elevate one another. There might be healthy competition now and then, but what really matters is camaraderie: people in the trenches together, celebrating the wins, sharing the learnings (that applies to our peers in product and engineering too), and raising the standard. A rising tide lifts all boats. I care a lot about building strong, trusting cross-functional partnerships.

I care about design that works—for the user and for the business—and I believe in iteration over perfection. The best teams I’ve worked on were never afraid to ship early, as long as the fundamentals were sound and there was room to improve. Launching, learning, and refining in response to real use is how great design happens and how it stays aligned with broader strategy.

Great work doesn’t always shout

You can measure impact and outcomes, sure. But not everything that matters is obvious right away. Some of the work I’m proudest of didn’t feel significant in the moment. It was only after time passed—after we saw it stick or scale—that I understood its full value.

Great work often comes from great people. When there’s trust, clarity, and shared direction, better decisions get made and the work benefits from that.

Value mindsets, not methods

It’s okay not to know something. Just be honest about it, and stay open to discovery. I try to cultivate a builder’s mindset on my teams. Learn. Add. Elevate. If something feels incomplete, ask: What else could this be? Not in a hand-wavey way, but with intention.

I encourage comfort with ambiguity and complexity. I want people to be adaptable but also to challenge what comes in. Push back when needed, question assumptions, and keep the team pointed towards solving the right problems.

Good tension is a skill

Design will always have trade-offs: speed vs craft, innovation vs reliability. You can’t win all of them, every time.

Sometimes adequate is good enough, especially when weighed against the opportunity cost of getting something out the door. I often ask myself: What would it take to push this to the bar I want? What’s the next step down? And how else could I spend that time?

One phrase I often repeat is cutting your cloth accordingly. Context matters. There’s never just one right approach, and good designers adjust based on what’s in front of them. It’s not about lowering standards. It’s about applying judgement, knowing when to push, and when to move.

02—Feedback & Communication

Say what you mean, and mean it kindly

I’d say my style is friendly, honest, and open. I lead with curiosity and assume good intent, and I expect the same in return. I believe in clarity.

When I’m giving feedback, I try to be direct, but not harsh. I’ll let people explore their ideas—even if I sense they’re heading in the wrong direction—because making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn. If needed, I’ll step in and help course-correct.

When someone joins the team, I ask them to fill out a short questionnaire: what worked well in their last role, what didn’t, and what success looks like to them. It helps me understand how I can support their growth and create the conditions for them to thrive.

I prefer traceable communication; writing, structured documentation, the odd voice note or video when needed. Not because I’m tracking people, but because I believe good ideas deserve a record.

03—Decision Making

Make the call, own the outcome

A good decision, to me, can be something as simple as leaving something better than you found it.

If goals are clear, I expect the team to take ownership of their day-to-day decisions. Small decisions should be made quickly, with good judgement, even if we’re working with incomplete information. If things drift a little, that’s fine. It’s all part of the process.

When giving feedback, I try to be transparent about whether something’s a suggestion or a directive. If it’s unclear, I regroup with the team, weigh trade-offs, and use data where it helps but I also trust gut instinct. Not everything needs to be justified by numbers.

In high-stakes moments, I play a few roles:

• Driving decisions around user experience, branding, and touchpoints
• Helping shape strategy and ensuring design drives impact
• Protecting team culture and fostering inclusion

I’ve learned to change my mind when new information emerges. Our first idea is rarely the best one and paths can change even if we’ve walked them before.

As for heuristics, I tend to ask; Does this move the needle? What happens if we’re wrong? Have we challenged this enough to move forward without regret?

04—Working Style

Find your rhythm, protect your focus

I’ve never been a morning person, no matter how hard I’ve tried. I tend to hit my stride around noon and stay in the zone well into the evening. That’s when I do my best thinking.

I used to thrive in reactive environments, but as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve had to be more deliberate. I block time in my calendar for deep work and prep, especially when I’m supporting multiple people across different projects. Repetition and routine help. So does respecting people’s time, including my own.

When I need to reset, I’ll go for a walk around the block, make a cup of tea (you’ll rarely see me without one), or jot down thoughts in a fresh doc to shift gears. Even a short YouTube clip or a scroll through the football scores can help clear my head.

What energises me most is seeing people succeed, especially when I’ve given them the freedom to make their own decisions and they absolutely run with it. What drains me? Red tape, bureaucracy, people unwilling to meet halfway. When that happens, I try to focus on the fastest path to clarity. Escalation isn’t failure, it’s often just a necessary alignment step.

05—Team Rituals

A little structure, a lot of care

When someone joins the team, I like to kick things off with a Pecha-Kucha session. It’s a 20-slide presentation where each slide auto-advances every 20 seconds. It’s short, funny, and gives the person space to share whatever they like—hobbies, travels, obsessions. The name comes from the Japanese phrase "chit-chat." We’re not looking for everyone to connect on everything, just one thing. That’s usually enough to start building trust.

I’ve also carried over a ritual from a previous leader: Design Fridays. Sometimes it’s a fun design exercise, sometimes just a quick wrap-up to acknowledge good work and share what we’re looking forward to. Either way, it’s a nice way to close the week.

I’m also known to bring a bit of dry humour and British sarcasm to the mix. I like to keep things light, learn what my team’s into, and find ways to connect beyond the work. I’m a bit of a chameleon that way, if you tell me you’re obsessed with something, don’t be surprised if I show up next week and start talking to you about it.

06—Strengths & Growth Areas

Showing up, sleeves rolled up

I’m always learning. I try new tools, study the craft, explore new frameworks, and expand my design language. I used to struggle with time management and that’s still a work in progress. I’ve improved by blocking time and treating it as a resource, not a default.

People come to me because they know I’ll show up. I’m dependable, open, and willing to roll up my sleeves. I’ll try new things, I’ll be honest when I don’t know something, and I’ll do the work alongside you. One of my strengths is jumping into a project that’s close—but not quite there—and finding the thing that makes it sing. A way to differentiate it. A spark that makes someone say, "That's it."

Lets get to work.