Design strategy leader working across product, brand and organisational systems. I set the strategy, lead the design, and build the frameworks that turn strategy into execution.
My approach to product design connects the entire customer experience through systems thinking and design systems, aligning UI, UX, onboarding, education, customer success, support and marketing.
My focus is the evolving role of design leadership within AI-native organisations, where the challenge is no longer simply designing interfaces, but shaping how intelligent products behave, communicate and earn trust. As software evolves from tools into collaborators, design leadership must extend beyond the screen to influence the entire customer and organisational experience.
Based in London, I work across UX strategy, product design strategy, design systems and systems transformation, helping organisations align vision, capability and execution to build scalable digital products and platforms.
Recent work
Design system strategy for Sage SaaS
Design system strategy to guide implementation of the brand identity designed by Wolff-Olins, led a team designing foundations, pattern library and key experiences - SaaS purchase, registration, onboarding, support. Set guidelines for Zeroheight.
B2B platform UX for BBC iPlayer
UX design lead for the BBC on inaugural business-facing workflow to improve experience, timeframes and speed of delivery.
Global QM and supply chain org design
Strategy, design and implementation of design and production quality management across a global supply chain for leading consumer group.
AI-native SaaS product, brand, CX strategy
Product design strategy and execution across platform, go-to-market, CX for early stage AI-native startup building a bespoke bid writing SaaS.
Fintech omni-channel product suite
Design lead, five products across platforms for scale-up centred on a brand strategy and visual foundation. Brand and product design system.
AI-native SaaS early stage startup positioning
Positioning strategy and product design for health tech startup to demo stage across proposition, positioning, service and product architecture.
Service design for global healthcare org
Service design for global healthcare group, design and implement industry processes to improve design quality and optimise efficiencies
B2B experience mapping and UX design for BBC
Defining two sets of user journeys across a complex workflow to simplify processes, align two sets of users, and expedite completion.
Brand - SaaS positioning and alignment
Strategy, design and design system for global consultancy in education, transformation, AI implementation. Repositioning and alignment across SaaS platform, onboarding, CS, CX and marketing.
About
My perspective on complex UX strategy and design leadership is rooted in a career that began in graphic design and evolved through brand strategy, identity systems, organisational transformation and digital product design.
A traditional graphic design education established an enduring belief that design exists to make things work better. It taught me to solve complex problems through research, original thinking, experimentation and rigorous craft, creating physical artefacts with purpose, function and meaning. More importantly, it instilled an understanding of design as a disciplined process of transforming ideas into tangible products, services and experiences that are continually refined through testing, iteration and engagement with real users.
This foundation expanded through an early career in research-led brand strategy and identity systems, working with global enterprises and award-winning agencies across the WPP, Interpublic Group and Omnicom networks. It was here that I learned to think beyond individual products and touchpoints, viewing brands, organisations and customer experiences as interconnected systems that must operate coherently to deliver lasting value.
These experiences shaped a systems-thinking approach in which research, strategy, design, technology and delivery are inseparable. Rather than viewing design as a discrete activity, I see it as a continuous organisational capability that connects business objectives, customer needs and operational delivery. This perspective now underpins my work designing digital platforms, enterprise software and AI-native SaaS products, where complexity must be translated into coherent experiences, scalable design systems and measurable commercial outcomes.
In 2005, I founded ID&B, an independent strategy and design studio based in Cape Town. Over the following 15 years, I led brand, digital product and organisational transformation programmes for enterprise, public sector, SME and startup clients across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
Technology was a consistent focus throughout this period. I particularly enjoyed partnering with founders to launch, grow and scale early-stage businesses, while also working with established organisations to define strategy, develop brand architecture, design digital products and modernise customer and employee experiences.
Working directly with founders, executive teams and business owners meant my role naturally extended beyond strategy and design into organisational transformation, programme leadership and executive advisory. I was responsible for aligning strategic priorities, managing interdependencies across multidisciplinary teams, directing resources where they would create the greatest impact, and leading implementation from concept through to adoption. This required balancing long-term strategic objectives with operational realities, creating the governance, processes and design systems that enabled teams to deliver more consistently, improve quality and scale effectively.
I later closed ID&B to relocate to the UK, with a deliberate focus on applying this experience more directly within the technology sector. Today, I work with organisations building complex digital platforms and AI-native SaaS products, helping them translate strategy into scalable design systems, user-centred products and organisational capability.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside talented teams, visionary founders and leaders within some of the world’s most recognised organisations, including:
BBC
Sage
BT/EE
PNI Media
Softwire
Ludic Group
AutogenAI
Virgin
Distell / Heineken
Shoprite Checkers Group (across 4 retail chains)
Old Mutual
Syspro
Mediclinic
Pathcare
The Presidency of South Africa
PetroSA | National Oil Company South Africa
Cape Town Convention Centre
Cape Town Tourism
South African Chamber of Commerce in America
Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation
Shuttleworth Foundation
Nelson Mandela V&A Foundation
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