I lead the design team responsible for Absa’s banking app. We work closely with product leaders, engineers, business partners and our other channels to design and ship financial services to customers. Our design work covers everything from discovery, concept development, detailed design, validation and delivery.

In 2018 I initiated and led a full redesign of the app as part of an overall bank rebrand. We fixed the information architecture and implemented a design system for the app. This provided the fundamental framework for the growth of the app since. At the same time, I led the design of the first WhatsApp-based banking service at Absa (and in the world, at the time).

Since we redesigned the app I’ve led many projects to design and ship financial services to customers, evolving the app along the way.

My work has resulted in Absa’s App Store rating improving from 2.7 to 4.7 out of 5, on both iOS and Android. The number of active customers using the app has grown by approximately 60% year-on-year, to 1.8m active users today. Customer engagement has gone from about 1 session per week to over 20 sessions per month.

I've also shaped the design organisation at Absa. I created a skill development framework for designers to work with their mentors to grow their design skills. I helped develop our grad program. And I’ve hired and mentored many designers across the teams.

Together with 2 co-founders, I started a company called Stub with a mission to help more small businesses in Africa grow and succeed.

Stub is an invoicing and accounting platform that is really easy to use, so that anyone, no matter their financial know-how, can manage their money. It automates some common tasks, helping business owners get paid quickly. And as people use our toolset it learns about their business and provides insights into their specific market. I oversee the product and I designed and built the front-end.

We’ve validated that Stub is something that people actually want—we’ve acquired a few passionate (and paying) customers, and we’re actively building to grow our market.

We’ve built a small, close-knit team where we debate ideas strongly and frankly, always exploring different product possibilities. We’re in a very early stage of the business and looking at options of how we might scale and grow.

I started the design team in Johannesburg (as an extension of the team in Cape Town) and worked with the broader strategy and consulting business to grow the capability within Deloitte Digital.

I led consulting teams through projects where we designed products and services using human-centred design, customer discovery, and prototyping.

I ran design thinking and product management training programmes.

I also led customer research initiatives and I helped some clients establish their design and research practices.

My projects included helping a major bank incubate a challenger proposition, building a web-based platform for investment fund management, helping a vehicle finance company find new ways to reach their market, redesigning a corporate and investment bank’s on-boarding experience and many more.

I managed the UX design team at Ogilvy. My responsibilities included pitching for work, scoping it, delivering it, working with stakeholders along the way and, all the while, looking after the UX team.

My team delivered end-to-end user experience design, including archetypes, journey maps, system models, wireframes, interactive prototypes and mockups. We tested our designs with users and constantly sought customer feedback, always looking for ways to tell those stories to our stakeholders and project teams.

I worked with many different clients, large and small, in industries including clothing retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, quick service restaurants, mobile network operators, airline operators, hotel businesses and others.

I worked with smart, capable, senior business leaders to help them shape their digital strategies and figure out how to grow their businesses in a changing world.

I designed (and in some cases built) interfaces for client software projects.

I worked closely with developers on one hand (to implement the right solutions) and our clients on the other hand (to solve the right business problems). I designed journey maps, service blueprints and other models to build consensus and commitment to our design solutions.

My clients included a multinational logistics company, a company that built custom access management hardware, a startup working on a managed building contractor solution, a steel distribution company and many more.

I co-founded an online retail company. We sold and installed audio and media systems for clients like schools, theatres and live production venues.

I designed the brand, built and managed the website, developed marketing programmes, and managed all of the digital infrastructure, while my co-founder negotiated with our suppliers, managed our inventory and serviced our customers—all while we both sold as much as we could.

To differentiate ourselves in a highly competitive market we tried many different strategies—even developing our own line of custom guitar effects pedals.

Ultimately, in 2018, we decided to close the business as we were all moving into different life stages and we wanted to explore new opportunities. I’m most proud that we’re all still great friends to this day.

In addition to multimedia design, I built and managed websites for OneLife’s various initiatives.

My work covered design, development, SEO, content strategy and analytics. This included 2 full redesigns as we grew the web traffic by over 300% in 3 years.

I was also part of the media team where I designed media and marketing for campaigns and events. My work included photography, film production, sound/music recording, print design and above-the-line marketing. I also led the live sound production teams.

OneLife is a non-profit organisation based in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, with programmes for community betterment, leadership development, family counselling and more.

I developed .NET software solutions for Chillisoft clients, which included government agencies and corporate businesses.

Most notably, I designed and built a pharmaceutical management system, used to manage the inventory of pharmacies within the government healthcare system. This system went on to be widely used across KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Chillisoft is a software development agency based in Durban, South Africa.