About
During my career, I’ve discovered that I’m good at simplifying and abstracting complex technology, making it easier for people to use, and ultimately helping them to do their jobs. I have a particular interest in audio, and have been fortunate enough that my career has allowed me to work on some of the best and most advanced audio production products in the world.
I’ve designed hardware and software interfaces of audio mixers used for radio, TV, FOH, and post production by the biggest broadcasters and live event producers all over world. I’ve designed human interfaces for broadcast control systems, used to coordinate and control the largest live events in the world. I’ve created design systems for professional audio, video, network, and control applications. I’ve designed and developed VST/AU/AAX plugins for DAWs like Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Reaper, and Pyramix. I’ve designed and developed iOS and Android apps, ranging from small personal hobby apps, to huge scale consumer services.
Career
Lawo
Senior Director, Experience & Design, CTO Office
I lead Experience & Design at Lawo. I’m helping Lawo’s brilliant team to make their innovative products more human. In this role, I focus on the longer term strategic direction of human interfaces and user experiences across the Lawo portfolio, driving the product teams to develop products that align with this vision.
I’m also growing the Experience & Design team to support the design requirements of ongoing product developments, and maintain and document Lawo’s design system, LUX, to help it be more easily adopted across the organisation.
Lawo
Product Manager, Experience & Design
I joined Lawo with the goal of unifying the human interfaces and user workflows across the entire portfolio.
When I joined, each product line worked independently, with their own ideas about human interfaces, user workflows, and visual design. I established Lawo’s first company-wide product design system, LUX, and drove the adoption across the organisation. I established ground up workflows and UI for new products like HOME, the new radio mixer, diamond, and the SDI to IP edge conversion and processing product, .edge. I also updated long established products like the mc² series of audio mixers, bringing consistency across the portfolio.
After three years, the majority of the Lawo portfolio looks, feels, and works the same way. I had proven the importance of Experience & Design in the way Lawo builds products, and was ready for the next step.
Bowers & Wilkins
Senior Product Manager – Performance Audio
As Senior Product Manager for Performance Audio, my main responsibilities were to maintain Bowers & Wilkins’ existing performance loudspeaker range (Nautilus, 800, 700, and 600 series), and to create the next generation of high performance passive and active products. The first new product I launched was the Formation Flex—a beautiful wireless speaker that lets you fit legendary Bowers & Wilkins sound into any space. An important product in the Formation line up, Flex can be used as a compact standalone speaker, a detailed stereo pair, or rear speakers in a surround setup when combined with a Formation Bar and Bass. A global collaboration between teams in the UK, USA, and China, I led the product execution and go-to-market activities.
Sky
Product Manager
I led an agile scrum team of designers, analysts, developers, and testers, working on the My Sky app for iOS and Android. The app is consistently in the top 10 in free utilities category and serves over one million monthly active users. My team exceeded our KPIs to improve goal achievement and reduce digital leakage while also dedicating time for experimental innovation projects involving VR, AR, image recognition, conversational interfaces, and machine learning. The products of these experiments were tested with users, and successful projects may be developed further and taken to market.
Calrec
Product Manager
Calrec designs and manufactures networked audio production systems for the world’s top Broadcasters including BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera, NHK, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and more. I was responsible for the full range of Calrec’s digital hardware, software, mobile, and web products with a focus on human factors, information architecture, UI, and UX. The products I was responsible for, or involved with, include:
- Argo
- Apollo
- Artemis
- Summa
- Brio
- Impulse Core
- RP1
- Type-R
- H2O
- Calrec Assist
- Calrec Configure
- Calrec Connect
- Soccer Assist & Ice Hockey Assist
- Fader Assist
- Waves SoundGrid I/O Module
You can learn more about some of these projects in my Portfolio.
Calrec
Technical Author
I created technical and operational documentation for the Calrec product range. This role required a deep understanding of the products, and generated a realisation that if things were hard to explain, they were not well designed. My proactive approach to improving the products led to my role as Product Manager.
LIPA
Visiting Professional
I was a Visiting Professional for 12 years. I led a module on programming and audio processing for final year graduate students, comprising a basic introduction to C++, with the final assessment being the creation of a real-time audio unit plugin using JUCE.
Education
Queen Mary University of London
MSc, Digital Music Processing, Distinction
Attended through distance learning, in my own time while working at Calrec. My aim was to become knowledgeable in digital signal processing techniques. I didn’t want to become a DSP engineer, but I was interested in the subject and wanted to understand DSP concepts in depth, and be able to communicate with engineers in detail.
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
BA, Sound Technology, First Class
Received the Sennheiser Student Achievement Award for excellence in Multimedia Design work