About

I am John, a product designer who also writes front-end code. I have done this for ten years, the last four of them independently, working with small software teams who need someone to design the product and help build it.

How I work

• In the browser. I sketch on paper, then go straight to code. Prototypes you can click are worth more than pictures of them.
• With the team. I sit in the engineering channel and the standup. The work is better when I know why something is hard.
• Small and documented. I leave behind things a two-person team can maintain: a short design system, a checklist, a page of decisions.
• Honestly priced. A day rate for embedded work, fixed prices for audits and systems, said out loud on the first call.

What I am good at

Flows, forms, settings, tables, admin screens, accessibility, and the words in an interface. The everyday screens that products live or die on. The work page has three examples and the writing has the thinking behind them.

What I am not

A brand designer, an illustrator, a marketing site person, a researcher who hands over a report. I know good people for each and will introduce you.

Before this

Six years in-house at two product companies, a payments company and a developer tools company, mostly on the settings, billing and admin screens nobody else wanted. Before that, a degree in architecture that I did not use for buildings but use every day for everything else.

Outside work

Lisbon, two dogs, long walks, and a slow attempt at learning to throw pots. The now page has the current version.

Email me or book a call.