About Me

I’m a UX Consultant who loves developing a deep understanding of people and problems to design effective solutions. It’s my empathy for users that drives robust, evidence-based design decisions. UX design has the power to change people’s lives and I take great joy in being part of that process.

My Experience

For the last three decades, I have worked internationally for small, mid and large size organisations across gaming, finance, pharmaceutical, retail, travel and public health industries. I’ve taken multiple career breaks to travel to more than 70 countries where I immersed myself in local cultures and experienced how developments in technology and globalisation have transformed the world and the communities around it.

Much of my career experience has been in HR project management and data. It was while working as People Operations director that I observed the negative impact of a poor HR information system on employee morale and productivity. This inspired me to switch careers and move into UX where I could influence the design of products to improve people’s lives rather than becoming a source of stress.

My experience in HR Operations means that I am well placed to work on internal employee experience projects as well as external user and service experience. I strongly believe that a positive employee experience goes hand in hand with a positive customer experience.

My wide range of career and life experiences amplify the value I’m able to bring as an experience researcher. I connect easily with people and operate, always, from a place of genuine empathy.

I am highly motivated by a sense of meaning. I enjoy working with small companies and non-profits where I can make an impact quickly, or with travel, social justice and environmentally conscious organisations which align with my personal values and passions. I have particularly enjoyed projects with governmental bodies where my work had the potential to improve life for more vulnerable or disadvantaged members of society.

View my work history and qualifications on Linkedin

My Skillsets

UX Skills

  • User Research

  • Safeguarding

  • Card Sorting

  • Competitor analysis

  • User Flows

  • User Personas

  • User Journeys

  • Wireframing

  • Prototyping

  • Usability Testing

  • A/B Testing

  • Information Architecture

  • UI Design

  • UX copywriting

Complementary Skills

  • Project management

  • Social Media Marketing

  • Squarespace

  • Copywriting

  • Blogging

  • SEO

  • Stakeholder Presentation

  • Information Systems

  • Data & Analytics

  • Communications

Established Soft Skills

  • Communication

  • Critical Thinking

  • Collaboration

  • Problem Solving

  • Story telling

  • Curiosity

  • Empathy

  • Cultural Sensitivity

  • Growth Mindset

  • Continuous Learning

  • Organisation

  • Openness

Testimonials

Louis Allgood, Delivery Manager - Justice Digital

I worked with Mel as part of a discovery project into digital reform of the Mental Health Act. Mel was instrumental in enabling us to understand who are our users and what are their needs. Mel’s ability to navigate complex work was outstanding. She organised and led in depth 1-2-1 interviews with a variety of users. Thanks to Mel we effectively safeguarded research participants and fellow researchers amidst extremely sensitive research whilst gaining rich detailed insights.

I won’t forget Mel's creative research analysis. She articulated our findings with a multitude of models/visuals whilst highlight the key user needs. The analysis was highly memorable and received great feedback from stakeholders.

As a Delivery Manager I strongly recommend the opportunity to work with Mel. Her commitment and dedication to understanding user needs will benefit any team

Ása M. Ólafsdóttir, Senior HR Manager, CCP Games

I had the pleasure of working with Mel for five years at CCP Games, Iceland when she joined our HR Team as HR Ops Director in 2013.

Her role was to select and implement a new HR information system for this global video games company; a huge task that required great project management skills, critical thinking and organization. Mel brought all of that and more.

I have worked with many amazing professionals in my lifetime, but Mel is one of the best. She has a great work ethic, is both conscientious and motivated and rises to every challenge. She is knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with and demonstrates her integrity and intelligence in everything she does. She positively impacted the HR Team with her inspiring and optimistic outlook; shared her knowledge and demonstrated exemplary work ethic.

Mel was always an important and appreciated member of the team. I highly recommend her and would love the opportunity to work with her again. She will be an asset to any company she decides to join.

My Passions

My core values:

Fairness, respect, kindness, honesty

Some of the things I love (in no particular order):

Travel, Nature, Running, Hiking, Unusual Experiences, Cooking, Modern Art, Horror Films, Maine Coon Cats, Electronica, Colour, The 90s, Meditation, British Comedy, Science, Genealogy, Audiobooks, Whiteboards, Post-its

Four books I recommend to everybody:

Invisible Women

Why We Sleep

Atomic Habits

Ultra Processed People