About Me

What I'm looking for

I'd love to do some more Government Digital Service work - I've found the previous GDS projects really interesting and exactly the kind of challenge I've been looking for as an interaction designer. If I can make use of my experience as a reservist in some way, that'd be ideal, but I appreciate there's not much crossover here! I've also really enjoyed working on this website too, so more of the same would be great. For the devvier inclined reading this, my website is built using Next.js - a React.js framework - which is also used by such luminaries as Domino's Pizza, The Washington Post and a little known tech firm called Apple. I'm also interested in taking my work with Ruby on Rails a little further too - the LawBite project was very satisfying - it felt like a perfect combination of my interaction design and front end development skills.

What I'm doing now

A few years ago, towards the end of 2021, I made the potentially quite stupid decision to leave a perfectly fine and stable job to set up my own business as a UX / Front end developer contractor. I really valued my full-time job, but the flexibility offered by contracting was exactly what my burgeoning secondary career as an RAF reservist needed. That, and I'd strayed a little too far from my primary passions of design and development.

Fortunately, my post-COVID gamble seems to have paid off and I've enjoyed three great years of working on multiple challenging projects. I've also done some really interesting work as a reservist too - you can read about that on my LinkedIn profile🔗 if that's the kind of thing you're interested in. As of right now (April 2024) I've recently finished a mobilisation with the RAF and taken a little break to recharge and am now looking to pick up a new contract. As it stands I'm free for the next six months or so and I'm now looking to fill this gap with an interesting project or two.

I've also managed to spend a decent amount of time refining my photography skills too - I might even get around to using the empty "side quests" page to show some of my photos off at some point, but maybe when my confidence levels are a little higher. You may also catch me infrequently streaming on Twitch🔗 too if you're into PC gaming / watching occasionally sweary people who should know better play video games. Say hello if you do drop by!

What I did previously

Previously I worked for a software development consultancy based in Liverpool called Yozu. I joined Yozu as a front end developer in March 2016. During my tenure, and as the business evolved, I donned a number of hats as Yozu's growth demanded (from UX Consultant with a hint of product ownership, to Learning & Development Lead via two years as Client Coordinator).

Prior to Yozu, I worked for a boutique design agency in the creative heart of Liverpool's Baltic Triangle where I specialised in WordPress and Magento e-commerce website development. During this time I also gained valuable insight into cyber security and every aspect of digital marketing, from social media campaigns to SEO.

I also served time as a product designer for an internationally renowned design automation and sales configuration app, achieving my first software credit on version 11 of the DriveWorks software.