What I'm about
In 2016, I had a bit of a career time-out forced on me by mother nature. It gave me the time I needed to reflect, reset and plan for the future (once we’d established that I had one).
One of the key reflections was that somewhere along the way, I’d lost my sense of curiosity. The world was still a wonderful place, but I was in a bit of a ‘seen-that-done-that’ mindset. Suddenly, I could feel time slipping through my fingers like fine sand and I was just watching it go. It was an awakening.
Having briefly dabbled with religion (any) with the hope of breaking down my logical approach to life, I decided to get my learning head on and get back to school. I studied Psychology so long ago that Freud could have been my tutor, but the building blocks were still there and my re-found curiosity took me on a long and winding road to UX. Oh … my … word, what kind of amazing world is this that’s been hidden from me for so long?
Download My CVUX Skills
UX Research
Discovery Space
- Empathic listening
- Mental model diagramming
- Strategic thinking
- Stakeholder interviews
- Expert interviews
- Competitor benchmarking
Define Space
- Persona build
- Task analysis
- Prototype feedback/testing
- Card sorting
Design Space
- User stories
- Usability testing
- A/B MVT testing
- Accessibility evaluation
Delivery Space
- Surveys
- Expert training reviews
- Usability bug reviews
- Post-launch analytics
UX Design
Discovery
- Business analysis
- Contextual inquiru/ use of product
- Business requirement documentation
Define
- Affinity mapping
Design
- Ideation
- Lo-fi wireframing
- Task flows
- Prototyping (Balsamiq)
- Site mapping
Delivery inc UI
- Hi-fidelity clickable prototype (Adobe XD)
- Brand guidelines
- Asset creation
- Handing off processes
Career Skills
Advertising
- Project Leadership
- Client and stakeholder management
- Competitor analysis (SWOT etc)
- Strategic development and planning
- Creative briefing and selling
- P&L
Sports Marketing
- Contract management
- Pricing analytics
- Public speaking
- Workshopping
- Cross-culture marketing
Brand and Branding
- Intellectual Property (IP) Law
- Procurement
- Design Systems
- Expert User Guidelines
Owning a Business
- Start-up/Agile
- Funding and grants
- Industrial product design
- Industrial Standards
- Supply chain management
- Rigorous R&D processes
- Marketing to experts
- Licensing of IP (Exit Strategy)
36 things by which to know me
- I am a co-inventor of a patent in fire retardant coatings
- So far in 2020 I’ve done my 10,000 steps every day (thank you Audible/UX podcasts)
- I tried to save a drowning man
- I’ve held the (real, solid gold, priceless) World Cup Trophy
- I cried during Toy Story 3
- I have been made redundant and it really stung
- I have survived cancer
- I had dinner with Pele in Leipzig
- I’ve made people laugh at funerals
- I fluked an eagle on a par 4
- I’ve been to see the Pet Shop Boys more than any other artist or band
- The global sports company I worked for went spectacularly bust
- I’ve started, built up and sold a business
- In our last conversation a few days before Alan died, we talked about where he wanted to go in the summer
- I respect anyone who can hold faith and science in balance
- I got the half-sized model of Concorde that used to be at the entrance to Heathrow Airport made
- I eat over a thousand bananas a year
- I’d rather sit in silence with old friends than go to a party and meet new people
- My favourite car was a transit van
- My AV tech failed so I had to freestyle on global sports to an audience of 300 Gillette executives for best part of an hour
- I’ve worked with the Muppets
- I used to teach a type of dance called Ceroc
- I was responsible for the most complained about press ad of 1994
- My motorbike years allowed me to role-play my fictional rebel twin
- I've started more UX books than I will ever finish (and keep buying more)
- I gave up smoking using The Easy Way to Stop Smoking book and nothing else
- I hosted a meeting with Malcolm McLaren on the hottest day of the year with no air-con and he wore a three-piece tweed suit and heavy brogues
- I have tinnitus and it’s really bloody annoying
- My family are much smarter than me
- I currently do Saturdays viewings for a local estate agent
- The FIFA President fell asleep whilst I was presenting the 2006 World Cup logo to him
- I’ve been best man three times, two of the marriages ended in divorce
- My favourite moods are melancholia and mischievousness
- I built my own 3-tiered cantilevered steel toolbox
- Rock star Anastacia said I reminded her of Hugh Grant (not sure if she meant it kindly)
- I can’t write in lower case
One of the above is a lie ....