About me

• Lead UX/UI Designer
• BA (Hons) Illustration with Animation, 2013
• Contact me on LinkedIn

About my career

My first big role was with Arctic Shores. It was a start-up and I was employee number three. I think start-ups tend to give people just starting out a good chance. I obtained this through a friend, who recommended me for the role - networking really did play a key role here. At the time, I already had a portfolio and was able to show my work and what value I could bring which helped with the interview stages.

I’m a senior UX/UI Designer. My responsibilities are:

• mentoring mid-weight/juniors
• creating end-to-end user journey maps
• making key design decisions for product
• growing a design system
• leading teams from a design and user perspective
• leading workshops and presenting back ideas to stakeholders

I think Manchester Met helped me prepare in creative ways and allowed me to try out different avenues and understand what I liked best and what tools I enjoyed learning. A sketchbook also helped me document my work and how I got from A to B, which is still very relevant now. Also presenting my ideas back to teachers, getting feedback, and making changes accordingly was incredibly useful.

Since graduating, I’ve mostly relied on up-skilling at events and in my current roles. I feel like you can learn a lot by interacting with people in your industry and understanding what they do/what tools they use. I’m quite a people person, so enjoy chats in a pub or at events.

My top tip for students is

A few things, I would say:

• have and grow a portfolio. It’s a great place to have all your best work and continuously improve on it
• go to events. If you enjoy design, there are lots of free events in the city centre where you can learn and network
• get a LinkedIn! A great place to network early and look for job roles
• create your own projects. One of my most enjoyable projects was something I worked on with help from a College in my spare time
• share knowledge with people in industries similar to yours

I’m inspired by

The world around me and wanting to improve on the experience of products and feel like I’m contributing ideas and creativity with everything I do.

Why I love Manchester Met

The freedom to explore different things and really realise my love for design.

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