Hello, I'm Phil.
I've spent over a decade and a half working in user centred design. I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing teams, at all scales. From big co-operatives and government departments to small start ups.
I strongly believe that:
- design positively benefits society
- what we create should work for everyone
- the team is the most important unit of delivery
- work must be driven by evidence and outcome-based
From 2024 to 2026, I was Lead Service Designer at ICS Digital. I worked on Energy Infrastructure Applications for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and internal services to improve the outcomes and experience for our customers. I also established the service design community of practice.
Prior to joining the civil service I co-founded a startup called Consent Kit, aimed at supporting user researchers to manage informed consent more efficiently and inclusively. While I enjoyed the challenge of applying my design skills to the many aspects of running a startup, I began looking for opportunities more solely focussed on design. I'm still quite proud of our little company being amongst the top 1% of all SaaS businesses globally for customer retention.
I see service design as the bridge between what the customer expects and how the operation functions to deliver it. At the heart of my work is a pretty simple idea: if we understand what people truly need, the right outcomes usually follow. For me, success is about making sure everyone is moving forward together.
My approach is about making sure an organisation's goals are actually rooted in what real people need. I've always enjoyed the 'people' side of things. Building trust across different networks and finding common ground. I don't see it as just managing stakeholders. I see it as being a steady hand to help others get where they're trying to go.
I also believe that it's a lot easier for people to explore their needs if they can see and poke a thing - even if it's the wrong thing. I love making and I'm technically competent in both physical and digital prototyping using a wide range of methods.
I am a confident public speaker, having spoken at global design ops conferences and industry meet-ups, such as Rosenfeld Media's DesignOps Summit and DesignOps Global.
If you're looking for some support on your next project, and feel like I might be able to help, I'd love to hear from you. You can contact me here.
