About Matt
Why UX/product design
I once worked on a graphics communication project in high school. My task was to design a reception desk for a fictional gym called NRG. My first design had large 3D letters as the base and a simple worktop. It was striking visually. Then I realised it had no drawers, no shelves, no cable management, no space for legs or a tucked-in chair… And the structural integrity could be questioned. It looked pretty good, it just wasn't designed for a person.
I redesigned it. Enough space underneath for legs and a tucked-in chair, a hole for cables, shelves and drawers for the things a receptionist actually needs. The new design was something I might have once called boring, but it was actually designed for a human.
How I work
I try to understand the problem before I think about the solution. A well-framed problem is half the work.
From there I explore broadly — including directions I'll probably reject, because that's how I know I'm not just going with the first reasonable thing I landed on.
I'd rather put something rough in front of a user on day three than discover a fundamental issue on day thirty. The earlier a wrong assumption surfaces, the cheaper it is to fix. That shapes how I prioritise.
I'll defend a point of view when I believe in it — but with reasoning, not stubbornness. And if the evidence points somewhere I didn't expect, I'll follow it. The work matters more than being right about it.
When I'm not designing
I enjoy playing football regularly. However, it is mostly five-a-side nowadays. My full-pitch days are behind me. I am comfortable being the butt of sports jokes, having grown up a proud Tottenham supporter.
I enjoy travelling with my fiancée whenever I can. My favourite place we've visited so far is New York City.
I also play a lot of Skyrim. Still. I've gone far enough down that rabbit hole to have played Morrowind too, which I'm told makes me a Morrowboomer.
