Nice to meet you ✌
I’m Michael, you can call me Michael, Mike or Mikey.
Here is a brief history of me, what I do and why I could be your best friend.
I live and work in Leeds with my wife Emma, our two superstar kids, and our little dog Ralph. I’m a fan of football, craft beers, retro game player, terrible jokes, serial cake testing, and listening to a lot of music and podcasts.
I am also the design-gatekeeper for our family run business Bobbin and Bumble.
With over 16 years of experience being a curious designer in public and private sectors, agency and contracting roles for clients of all sizes, specialising in leading and facilitating design, designing clean interfaces, as well as plotting services and products from discovery to launch.
I do all of this by telling memorable stories to describe the work I am on - using strategy, research, visual design, and user-centered design approach to complex design problems.
I'm passionate about all of my work, giving my 100% in each project, totally committing to delivering a solution of a high standard.
Who I’ve worked with
- NHS
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
- Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
- Sky Bet
- British Airways
- Royal Mail
- GOV.UK
- Sky Sports
- Argos
- Jet2
Lots of experience in
- Interaction design
- Visual design
- Prototypes
- Facilitating workshops
- Instigating and maintaining design systems
- Design strategy
- Agile delivery
- Design leadership
- Line management
What I’m known for
- - Helped instigate and designed the first Design System for Department for Work and Pensions, ensuring we provide a consistent output for the end-users whilst allowing teams to control the process but make situational decisions
- - Successfully help lead design and deliver a politically charged service go-live. Presented the service design to multiple stakeholders, whilst joining teams from multiple sites and disciplines to help deliver a challenging service
- - Established new ways of working within Sky Bet, implemented ways to improve working relationships to help develop industry-leading web apps
- - Led the design for two iOS apps that were featured by Apple
- - Advisor for a start-up Emble on design and product direction
- - Design director on Bobbin and Bumble
Also known for
Running a mentoring program called Lets Learn Things - supporting designers and developers for career guidance and progression. Often covering subjects such as taking on more responsibility, leading as an introvert, building trust within your team, giving and receiving feedback and finally designing!
Nice words about my work
The product was unquestionably better as was the team
"Michael has amazing ability as a lead user experience designer. The product was unquestionably better for his collaborative approach and for him always challenging the team to better meet user needs. I whole-heartedly recommend him to any organisation that values user-centred and results driven design."
– Tom Simcox, Content Designer at The Department for Work and Pensions (GOV.UK)
Added incredible value and experience
"Michael came in to help with our new season launch as we had 3 sites launching within a few months of each other. Michael was fantastic; he was very professional, organised and experienced. The sites have certainly moved forward"
– Anthony Devine, Lead Front-end Developer at Craghoppers
Michael is a fantastic mentor...
"...and line manager. I worked with him on many design projects. He is always willing to lend his design expertise, and assist on projects. He spent many hours teaching me complex programs and design techniques. For this and his great sense of humor, I cannot express enough gratitude."
– Jill Winter, Design team member at Premier Food Safety
Always generous with his time, talent, and humor.
"Mikey is a talented and expert graphic designer who has the skills and knowledge to not only produce wonderful works but also recommend better solutions to enhance the project if needed. "
– Christine Restivo, Marketing Lead at Premier Food Safety