UX Research is my differentiator - I’m experienced in a vast array of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Over my 15+ years in the user research industry I have facilitated hundreds of user tests, conducted scores of interviews, sent a range of surveys, and shared back insights that have impacted decision making all the way from interface to strategy.

Through this experience I’ve latched onto a simple truth - a successful research project needs strong stakeholder alignment and effective, creative planning.

As a people leader I believe that maximising strengths and focusing on aspirations is the best way to ensure my team is happy, challenged, and doing their best work. I am always looking for coaching opportunities to address areas of improvement and am quick to address any performance concerns with direct, evidence-based conversations.

I’m inclusive by default and like to lead by example. I enjoy the work I do so relish the opportunity to get my hands dirty - working on things with my team has benefits beyond the output of the work.

I bring both practical and theoretical experience in innovation and entrepreneurship.

I’ve founded two companies

• Payve: a not-for-profit that helps charities get predictable funding by collecting recurring donations each pay cycle and taking the pain out of claiming tax rebates.

• Accuro (formally Wine Grenade): an innovative hardware solution that helped winemakers create barrel quality wine at scale in steel tanks in a fraction of the time through micro-oxygenation.

I led an internal “tiger team” tasked with exploring adjacent opportunities that lead to the creation of Serato Studio, and I have spoken on Innovation at UX Homegrown.

Additionally, I’m trained in innovation. In 2014 I completed a two-year Masters of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Auckland.

The last 12 years of my journey have been working inside digital product teams to embed customer insight into product strategy.

As UX Lead at Serato I was responsible for the crafting of a comprehensive UX Research plan that spanned multiple different products. I planned and then conducted the bulk of the research myself and worked with Product Managers to embed customer insights in our decision making.

In my Director role at Xero, my focus is more strategic, working alongside my leadership peers in Product and Technology to plan and prioritise areas of focus and then oversee a team of researchers to ensure we’re focusing on the right things and meeting a high standard of quality.

While I don’t get to do a lot of Interaction Design or prototyping these days, time spent with the hands on design of interactive user interfaces helped me become more able to spot patterns and themes in UX Research.

Early in my UX career I learned that the design of the interactive experience was where my skillset lied and this was what gave me the most satisfaction. I prefer to work alongside visual designers, and I’m endlessly fascintated by their ability to bring our imagination to life.