Digital Product Design & UX

Great user experience is a competitive advantage, driving digital adoption and customer advocacy.

For two decades I've explored new ventures and unlocked value in existing businesses through design.

Design is a valuable superpower for the businesses I work with.

Often that's by helping secure funding for a new venture by bringing a promising idea to life. Through curiosity and collaboration, I explore and prototype breakthrough products and innovations. I take my clients from from uncertainty to confidence, fast.

For established businesses, I've used design as an engine for growth, retention, and better customer outcomes.

My work has helped build compelling business cases for product investments and exploring new market opportunities. I'd love you help you and your business do the same.

From early product ideation through to interface design, prototyping and testing, I've used design to help...

Elevate existing digital products.

Using design's ability to unlock value for new for customers or improve product experience for competitive advantage. Great design can move the needle and create new brand advocates.

Raise funds and awareness in the third sector.

Compelling design and product thinking can build awareness and amplify a message. Design can elevate digital channels and help explore news ways to raise funds or engage donors.

Explore product-market fit.

For founders who want to learn by prototyping ideas at speed, and early-stage ventures who need a design partner to help bring a value proposition to life and raise investment.

Drive better outcomes for public sector service users.

Effective design can make the lives of service users so much better. It can also save considerable financial resources, and free up teams to deliver valuable support to people who need it.

Grow and retain a customer base.

Ambitious organisations are always looking for new ways to add value and satisfy existing customers. Design is one of the most effective levers for retention and growth.

Transition scaleups to mature design thinking.

The shift from startup to scaleup has challenges. Moving from constant iteration to a more established brand and product language can be made smoother with the right design partner.

Want to discuss how Digital Product Design and UX can help your business?

Get in touch

Questions? Here’s a few I've been asked before.

What kind of design processes and deliverables do you use?

I adjust my process and deliverables to suit the client and challenge I'm working with. No process for process sake, or inflated scope with unnecessary outputs.

But here's a high-level overview of the kind of things you could expect to see me suggest or undertake as part of a design project.

- Exploratory design sessions and collaborative design workshops
- Interface sketching, wireframing & prototyping
- User journey maps, flows, and interaction models
- Low and high fidelity concepts for testing and validation
- Information design, IA, and taxonomy design
- Systems and Design Thinking methodologies
- Modular design: from UI kits to design system implementation
- Deliverables created using contemporary design tools such as Figma

Which design tools do you use?

I'm reasonably tool agnostic, but Figma has been my go-to tool for a few years now. I use it for everything from white-boarding sessions to prototypes and polished deliverables.

I've seen many tools come and go in my time, so I'm pretty happy picking up new software or jumping back into older tools if necessary. I've used Axure, AdobeXD, Framer and Webflow in the last decade (just to name a few).

But you'll often see me with pen and paper in hand for really early design exploration. Sketching like this is a low cost, fast way to explore concepts before moving to something like Figma.

Do you do branding work too?

I'm great at applying and expanding a brand language into a product and it's interface. But for pure ground-up brand work (like logos and brand voice) I tend to partner with some super smart folks who specialise in this area.

How do you work with developers?

Very well! I love collaborating with developers on early prototypes and production releases alike. When I first started working in digital (around 2005) I was a designer and front-end developer, so understand the fundamentals of HTML, CSS and Javascript enough to be useful.

In an ideal world I pair closely with developers when this is most beneficial to a project. I'm also very comfortable preparing assets and tickets for remote developers or for teams I won't have so much asynchronous time with.

Do you code or do front-end development too?

I don't any more. I leave that to the experts, and can help you find a developer from my network of talented people if you need one.

We need several designers. Can you help spin up a team?

Absolutely! I have an extended network of talented designers across many disciplines, many of whom I collaborate with on a regular basis.

I'm happy to manage additional resource as part of the +CO model I now offer, or I can introduce you to talented folks whom you can contract directly.

“Tom is one of the most competent and passionate designers I know, and pays great attention to detail. Having actively collaborated with Tom on numerous projects, I would definitely recommend him.”

– PAUL COOPER, Human Made MAchine

Digital Product Design & UX

For two decades I've explored new ventures and unlocked value in existing businesses through design.