Designer, design leader and co‑founder of Provius.

Based in Preston, Lancashire.

Preston, UK/

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0103Experience

  1. Co-founder & Director2026+Provius Ltd⁠Trusted by:
  2. Head of Design2022–26Flutter UK&I⁠
  3. Co-founder & Director2017–22Provius Ltd⁠Trusted by:
  4. UX Manager2014–17Perform Media⁠

0201Projects

    02

    0302Writing

    12

    UsesClose esc

    Tools I Use

    The apps, services and hardware I use regularly and therefore have made it to this honorary page of useful stuff.

    Apps & Software

    1Password⁠

    Keeps my passwords safe and works seamlessly across all my devices.

    It also stores licence keys, passport details and all the other important information I’d otherwise put somewhere “safe” and never find again.

    Audible⁠

    I read a lot of books…

    And when I say read, I mostly mean listen to.

    Audible is my go-to app for turning journeys, chores and otherwise unproductive moments into reading time.

    Caffeinated⁠

    A tiny app that keeps my Mac awake.

    It does one job. Does it well. Stops my computer nodding off halfway through something important.

    Claude⁠

    My preferred AI assistant for work.

    I use it for writing, thinking and developing ideas. Occasionally, it confirms that the solution I had five minutes ago was far more complicated than it needed to be.

    Duolingo⁠

    I’m currently learning chess.

    That might not technically count as learning a language, but I’m maintaining the streak… which is obviously the important bit.

    Figma⁠

    My canvas of choice.

    I’ve committed so many of its shortcuts and peculiarities to muscle memory that moving to another design tool would probably result in a temporary loss of productivity (and identity).

    GitHub⁠

    Where I host code and side projects.

    It also helps me keep the various AIs I use in sync. Increasingly important now that half my projects involve several artificial colleagues who never speak to one another.

    Wispr Flow⁠

    I use Wispr Flow for practically everything.

    In some months, I’ve apparently been among its top 1% of users. Impressive or concerning, depending on how you look at it.

    I even used it to write (or, more accurately, dictate) this page.

    Pocket Casts⁠

    My podcast app of choice.

    It works brilliantly with Sonos, has a generous collection of useful features and rewarded my early support with a lifetime membership.

    Its one weakness is sharing. It sends people Pocket Casts links and those people invariably use a different podcast app.

    Their loss, presumably.

    Alfred⁠

    The first app I install on any new Mac.

    I use custom workflows, keyboard shortcuts, clipboard history and enough other features that using a Mac without Alfred feels like somebody has hidden half the controls.

    Cursor⁠

    My web development environment of choice.

    “Toolkit” is probably more accurate than “CLI”, although the precise category matters less than the fact that it helps me build things considerably faster.

    Dropbox⁠

    Keeps my files and preferences synchronised across my Macs.

    I’ve used it for so long that leaving would probably require a formal migration programme.

    Its unique selling point seems to diminish every year, but we have history. I was also a committed Dropbox Paper user before Slack Canvases came along and quietly took its place.

    Slack⁠

    My work messaging platform of choice.

    I particularly like the extensions, plugins and Canvases. Together, they allow Slack to function as a chat app, documentation system and somewhere to lose a message I definitely remember reading.

    Riverside⁠

    My preferred podcast recording studio.

    I like its automations, syndication features and, most importantly, how little explanation guests need before joining a recording.

    Rocket⁠

    My emoji picker of choice.

    Fast. Reliable. One of the first things I install on a new Mac.

    Apparently, selecting a tiny picture from a menu was still too laborious for me.

    Magnet⁠

    I find it difficult to live without Magnet.

    It makes arranging windows on a Mac quick and predictable, rather than an activity involving careful dragging and steadily increasing irritation.

    On locked-down work computers, I’ve sometimes fallen back to Rectangle⁠. A very capable free alternative.

    Things⁠

    My to-do list app of choice.

    At this point, I should probably move to a database tool such as Notion. I remain firmly attached to Things.

    I use it for much more than tasks. Present ideas, quotations and miscellaneous things I need to remember all live there.

    I particularly love how everything revolves around the deceptively optimistic question of what I’m going to complete today.

    Clockify⁠

    My preferred time tracking software.

    It’s free and provides just enough insight to be genuinely useful without turning the recording of work into more work.

    I used Harvest for years, but moving to Clockify delivered meaningful cost savings and better insights.

    The amount of value it offers for free remains slightly suspicious.

    Sofascore⁠

    My go-to app for live sports scores.

    It tells me what’s happening when I can’t watch (and occasionally when watching would be too stressful anyway).

    Monzo⁠

    My bank of choice.

    Monzo was one of the first UK banks that felt genuinely modern, with a user experience seemingly designed by people who had used a banking app before.

    Manus⁠

    A strong and generally cheaper alternative to ChatGPT.

    I’ve been particularly impressed by its image work. It consistently produces results that are far better than its price would suggest.

    Perplexity⁠

    My preferred tool for researching things on the internet.

    Particularly useful when I need an answer built from sources, rather than a confident paragraph that may or may not have been assembled from vibes.

    IFTTT⁠

    My occasional tool for connecting apps and devices through automations.

    I don’t use it as heavily as I once did, but it remains useful when I want two unrelated pieces of technology to cooperate without getting personally involved.

    Audio, Music & Entertainment

    Sonos⁠

    My home music hardware of choice.

    It lets me fill the house with music (or the same podcast in several rooms) without building an elaborate audio system myself.

    Spotify⁠

    My preferred music streaming platform.

    I particularly like the lyrics and multi-user functionality of the family plan. It prevents everybody’s musical choices from completely destroying one another’s recommendations.

    Nintendo Switch⁠

    My console of choice.

    I’ve recently been playing Animal Crossing and have successfully introduced my six-year-old daughter, Maple, to it too.

    This means I can now classify playing games as family time.

    Desk & Recording Setup

    Shure MV7⁠

    My podcasting microphone.

    It’s the smaller, more approachable relative of the professional SM7B, with both USB and XLR connectivity.

    I settled on the hybrid model because it comfortably meets my amateur podcasting needs while still making me sound like I know what I’m doing.

    IKEA MITTZON Desk⁠

    My sit-stand desk.

    It allows me to alternate between sitting down for too long and standing up for slightly less time before sitting down again.

    Twemco QD-35 Flip Clock⁠

    My wall clock of choice.

    It’s a proper calendar flip clock and something I’d wanted from a surprisingly young age.

    Some children dream about sports cars. Apparently, I dreamt about knowing the date from across the room.

    Blackwing Desktop Sharpener⁠

    A wonderfully engineered and stupidly expensive pencil sharpener I treated myself to once.

    It’s now my pencil sharpener of choice… which is fortunate, because owning more than one premium desktop pencil sharpener would be difficult to defend.

    AirPods Pro⁠

    My in-ear headphones of choice.

    The noise cancellation is excellent, they work effortlessly across the Apple ecosystem and they’re genuinely among the best earphones I’ve owned.

    I initially resisted buying them because of the slightly showy stigma.

    Turns out I was mostly depriving myself of good headphones.

    Apple Magic Trackpad⁠

    A trackpad is essential to my Mac setup.

    I’ve owned the original and second-generation models. I mainly wanted the USB-C version so I could finally reduce the number of Lightning cables lurking around my desk.

    Home Technology

    Ubiquiti UniFi⁠

    My home Wi-Fi runs on UniFi equipment:

    This is probably more networking hardware than most homes need…

    But reliable Wi-Fi is one of those things you only appreciate after spending an entire weekend fixing unreliable Wi-Fi.

    Vaillant ecoTEC⁠

    My Vaillant ecoTEC boiler is connected to a gateway, allowing me to control and automate it from my phone.

    An entirely unnecessary level of technical involvement in producing hot water.

    Right up until I remember I can turn the heating on without leaving the sofa.

    Tools

    DeWalt⁠

    My power tool brand of choice.

    I’m fully committed to the battery ecosystem now, so every new power tool (and increasingly every garden tool) has to be DeWalt.

    This is less about brand loyalty. More about avoiding nine incompatible battery chargers.