Testimonials

Simon was the first designer I ever worked with when I started out as a content designer at the Department for Education and he set the bar very high!

I learnt so much from Simon; not just about prototyping and service design, but also GOV.UK Design Systems and agile. He’s able to be calm and super productive at the same time as maintaining an acute attention to detail. He always has the end user in sharp focus and thinks strategically about how complex services can be improved. He’s friendly, approachable and very easy to work with in a multidisciplinary team. I’m also very grateful that my many (many!) questions about tech and prototyping tools were met with patience and clear explanations. If you can get him on your team, do it!

— Kate Harries

For over two years, I worked with Simon in his various service design and interaction design roles and at various product lifecycle stages. Simon is excellent at designing services with different stakeholders and incentives in complex contexts.

He’s a designer who can focus on the details and the bigger picture, meaning he finds solutions that meet both user and business needs.

As an interaction designer, Simon is skilled at designing how users engage with and use digital services. He’s a natural advocate for GDS principles, the service standard and GOV.UK Design System. Notably, he brings people less familiar with these standards and ways of thinking on the journey with him instead of just preaching to them, meaning he’s been a valued member of the different teams he’s been a part of.

— Pete Ward

Simon is one of those designers you can put into any situation and you know he’ll deliver good work. He has a broad skillset across the design spectrum and is calm under pressure. He is very adaptable and is capable of working on bigger picture strategy as well as the more detail orientated nature of digital service delivery. Simon also has great knowledge of the government design principles, service standard and GOV.UK design system.

— Stephen McCarthy

I worked with Simon at Ministry of Justice Digital & Technology between 2017-2019 during which time for all intents and purposes he was the lead interaction designer across the whole of the team of 25+ designers. He was the go to person for all support and an excellent coach and mentor. He was instrumental in the development of the MoJ Design System and the relationship with the GOV.UK Design System team in Government Digital Service. He was also instrumental in the building and development of the MoJ Register of Public Facing Services. He was one of the most senior and experienced design assessors in the team. I always want Simon as part of my team and that is why he is part of the highly esteemed Bright & Matt network.

— Matthew Solle

I worked with Simon on GOV.UK’s coronavirus response and transition preparations, and can honestly say he’s a total dime to work with. He has a brilliant skills blend of strategy, front end design, and technical. And you know that any design challenge you throw at him from across this spectrum will be in a safe pair of hands. He works with a calm and proactive approach, and speaks up for users’ needs when it most counts. He has extensive knowledge of GOV.UK’s design system (and has contributed to the development of quite a few of the components and patterns on it). This really helps when you’re working on something of critical importance at such pace, as we have been on the coronavirus response. I hope he comes back to work with us on GOV.UK soon!

— Kate Ivey-Williams

Working with Simon was an absolute pleasure. Extremely knowledgeable and unfalteringly professional.

We buddied up on research field trips across the country while working in an agile development team for one year. He understands Service Design and the GOV.UK Design System well and continues to be a constant source of knowledge on all things design and technology-related. I am super lucky to have worked and learnt from him.

— Theba Marando

Simon is an excellent designer with coding skills and technical knowledge. Together this makes him superb at designing end to end digital services as well as producing interfaces that are usable and accessible.

He thinks deeply about the small details as well as the big ones which makes him an asset to any team during all phases of delivery.

He was pivotal in creating the MOJ Design System which is not only being used across Ministry of Justice (MOJ) but in other departments too.

If you get the chance to hire Simon, you should.

— Adam Silver

Simon brought energy, logic, and humour to the design community at the Ministry of Justice. It’s clear that he valued learning, instead of just answering questions or fixing code, always justifying his rationale and explaining why something went wrong so that I could learn. That’s such a great quality and he will be a huge asset to wherever he goes next.

— Eve Bayram

Simon’s work as a Service Designer on my team at the Ministry of Justice over the past 2 and a half years has been second to none. His dedication, attention to detail and focus on the user has always been at the forefront of his work.

Moving from working on one product, to across a service composed of 6 products, Simon has shown his variety and strength of skills not just working on user-centred product design, but across complex end to end user journeys.

Simon works well in a multi-disciplinary team and is supportive of his colleagues, as well as being a great asset to his design profession, which he has strived to help shape and develop. He would be an asset to any organisation.

— Alice Cudmore

Simon is a talented and focused Senior UX Designer.

During his experience at Yoti, he has been a key player in the communication between the SMT and the cross functional leads and he has always impressed me with his ability to quickly move between the different levels of abstraction, when reasoning about new ways to build or improve our users’ experience.

Simon has outstanding logical skills and his experience allows him to effectively balance creativity and pragmatism.

I have personally enjoyed working with Simon and I believe he would bring great value to any organisation.

— Quirino Zagarese

Simon is an incredibly tenacious and passionate User Experience designer. He has a vast wealth of knowledge and experience that he brings through an empathetic and considered approach. His ability to take user-centred problems and translate them into business value is second to none, and he always approaches every challenge with a smile.

Simon was a real pleasure to work with at Yoti. He’s someone I could trust and rely on both to get the job done, and as a leader and mentor to other members of the design and UX team.

His approach always put the customer and their problem first.

Through research, discovery, and collaboration, he’s able to build strong relationships with both cross-functional teams and business stakeholders to produce valuable, measurable products and features.

— James Harvey

I worked with Simon on several product initiatives at Yoti. Simon brings with him a wealth of product design experience. He has a diverse skill set and applies a versatile set of tools appropriate to the opportunity at hand. He is respectful and pragmatic about business and technological constraints but champions consumer value. Simon works very well with multidisciplinary product development teams, as well as externally resourced venture initiatives.

He is a leader and mentor to his direct reports and fellow designers. He is very articulate and methodical in his approach and wise to the wider market forces at hand. I recommend Simon on his all-around ability and positive approach in taking on tough experience and design challenges.

— Alex Learmonth

Simon is a pleasure to work with - while he is capable of turning round designs rapidly when required, the depth of his experience and user empathy really shines when he is running the process.

I was fortunate enough to participate in one of Simon’s Design Sprints and I know all those involved would recommend both the process and facilitator. Simon is always prepared to challenge assumptions and the status quo, but does so while maintaining a sense of humour and friendly attitude.

— Paul Mayze

I have worked with Simon at a number of places and he has really shaped my understanding of what a good UX professional is. Simon truly cares about the customer and solving their problems. To him UX is not just about creating nice interfaces, he really strives to understand users, their needs and interactions.

Simon places value in undertaking user research and works in a ‘lean’ or iterative fashion, constantly learning and validating assumptions. Simon is an absolute pleasure to work with and any employer would be lucky to have him on board!

— Marc Abraham

I have worked with Simon closely on two key mobile projects in Blinkbox Music and I have to say that his knowledge and understanding of UX best practices, user centric approach to finding solutions and the overall knowledge in the UX field has made him a valued member of the team.

What I like about Simon is that he grasps ideas holistically whilst still paying attention to detail. I found this to be incredibly valuable both during inception and product delivery cycle as it helped me and those part of the team to explore and understand a variety of possible solutions to few key problems as well as new product features.

Simon’s understanding of analytics and analytical tools enables him to propose and validate data driven solutions that are beneficial to both users and business.

— Izabel Raffy

I worked with Simon at Foolproof, where he split his time between practising UX as a Principal Consultant and developing the new role of Creative Technologist within the business. Simon brought a unique technology perspective to the table, which complemented our team and helped us to expand our knowledge and build our capabilities into new areas (responsive design, front end development and emerging technologies). He built up an impressive device lab, which was used as a resource to the UX research and design teams as well as our clients.

Simon’s (still) my go-to for any geeky questions and has his finger on the pulse with what’s happening in the technology and design worlds. He’d be a great addition to any UX team looking for a well-seasoned UXer with a broad skillset who can talk the same language as your technical team.

— Polly Shelton

I worked with Simon on a number of projects and initiatives while at Foolproof. Simon is an experienced professional with a broad skillset ranging from user experience research and design, to multi-channel digital strategy, and front-end development. Simon is enthusiastic and hard-working, and I always enjoyed collaborating with him.

— Jan Srutek

I had a great time working with Simon at Canonical. He fit our team immediately and was soon a key part of it, so it was sad to see him go. His insight and experience were most valuable and he very quickly had a thorough understanding of the business, which at a company like Canonical is vital to do good work and is, in my opinion, an essential part of being a great user experience designer.

— Inayaili de León

Simon is an accomplished User Experience Architect. He has a keen mind, an inherent understanding of human interaction, and a real passion for user-centred design. In addition to his user experience skills, Simon’s also a very capable developer.

Very quickly after joining Canonical, Simon became an important and popular member of the team, and we were all sorry to see him move on. I enjoyed working with Simon a great deal, and wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again, or recommend him to others.

— Steve Edwards

Simon is an all round talent. He has quality communication skills which he blends well with his considerable technical abilities. Highly likeable, talented, passionate and driven individual.

— Craig McCulloch

Simon was a pleasure to work with, self motivated and skilled. He had a true passion for technology and took great pride in his work.

— Maria Gilzean