Johannesburg, ZA Design Strategist CXA™ · 13+ Years

Design that thinks.
Decisions that land.

Senior design strategist, CXA™, and Design Thinking Coach. 13 years of human-centred practice across Africa's most complex institutions — and a deep conviction that rigorous thinking is the scarcest resource in product development.

Design Strategist CXA™ Certified Design Thinking Coach 13+ Years · Financial Services Meerkat Mentor of the Year 2025 Systems Thinker Founder · Fresco RCA × Design for Good Design Strategist CXA™ Certified Design Thinking Coach 13+ Years · Financial Services Meerkat Mentor of the Year 2025 Systems Thinker Founder · Fresco RCA × Design for Good

Thinking that
earns its place.

13+ Years Experience
12+ Major Brands
5 Certifications

I believe the most valuable thing a designer can do is ask the right question before anyone starts building. That conviction has shaped 13 years of practice across financial services, fintech, insurance, and innovation — and it's the reason I built Fresco.

My work spans design leadership, design research, service design, and product strategy. I've led teams, shaped practices, and delivered for institutions where the stakes are high and the complexity is real — Nedbank, Capitec, Standard Bank, Old Mutual, Discovery, Accenture, and others.

I'm a UCT d-School Certified Design Thinking Coach, HFI Certified User Experience Analyst™ (CXA™), and the 2025 Meerkat Mentor of the Year. I was also recognised by the Royal College of Art for innovation in design for social good.

CXA™ UCT d-School Coach RCA × SDG4

When the work
calls for it.

I take on a small number of engagements each year with organisations where the problem is genuinely complex and the thinking needs to be rigorous.

01

CX & Digital Experience Audit

A structured diagnosis of your digital experience — where it's losing people, why, and what to do about it. Delivered as a prioritised roadmap with business case.

02

Design Thinking Facilitation

UCT d-School certified facilitation for leadership and product teams. One or two days that moves a room from competing perspectives to a shared direction everyone actually believes in.

03

Design Research & Strategy

Ongoing advisory for organisations that need senior design thinking without the full-time overhead. I work alongside your team, challenge decisions early, and help build a practice that lasts.

13 years of thinking.
Encoded.

I founded Fresco because I kept watching the same problem repeat itself — founders and product leaders making expensive decisions on half-evidence, under pressure, with no senior colleague to pressure-test the call.

Fresco is a decision engine for startup founders. You describe the decision you're facing, and Fresco gives you a verdict — GO, PIVOT, STOP, or NEEDS MORE SIGNAL — with the reasoning behind it. Not a chatbot. Not another AI assistant. A call, made with structure.

Learn about Fresco
Fresco · Decision Engine
What decision are you trying to make?

e.g. We've spent six weeks redesigning onboarding, but drop-off happens before step 3 even loads. Do we keep going or stop?

Should we build this feature? Pivot or stay the course?
Verdict PIVOT →

Work that
mattered.

Fresco · Founder

Decision Engine for Startup Founders

Founded and built Fresco — a decision engine that gives startup founders a verdict on the decisions they're facing. Describe the situation, get a GO, PIVOT, STOP, or NEEDS MORE SIGNAL with the reasoning behind it. Built after 13 years of watching expensive decisions get made on half-evidence.

AI Product SaaS Founder
Nedbank · Design Strategy Lead

Journey Measurement & Orchestration

A measurement and orchestration framework for Nedbank's Business and Corporate Banking teams — built for adoption across the Nedbank Business Hub (NBH), the self-service platform for business and corporate enterprises.

Journey Measurement Framework Design Business Banking
Capitec · UX Designer II

Salesforce UX Strategy

Salesforce implementation strategy for South Africa's fastest-growing retail bank at 20M+ customer scale. Treated configuration as design — building a decision framework guiding thousands of employees toward consistent, customer-centred choices.

Multi-Unit Implementation Scale: 20M+ Customers Reduced Friction
Cell C · Service Designer

Business-in-a-Box Platform

Modular product platform reducing time to market for new service offerings in a fast-moving telecoms market. Designed a library of composable building blocks — enabling product teams to assemble new offerings without technical dependencies.

Rapid Deployment Reduced Dev Time Low-Risk Testing
Old Mutual · Product Design Lead

Personal Loan Digital Product

Digital-first personal loan product with transparent automated decisioning. Designed a flow that surfaced key risk criteria clearly at each stage — balancing fintech-competitive speed with full regulatory compliance and customer trust.

Fintech-Competitive Transparent Decisions Full Compliance
Standard Bank · Product Designer

Digital Account Opening

Digital account origination across corporate, investment, and retail segments. Designed a modular flow architecture with dynamic decision trees — serving multiple customer types from a single platform while maintaining compliance at every step.

Multi-Segment Platform Scalable Framework Reduced Time

Recognised for
the right things.

Meerkat Design Awards · Nedbank
Mentor of the Year

Recognised for guiding an inexperienced team with hands-on coaching and tailored development — growing team self-sufficiency, output quality, and individual leadership capability.

2025
Royal College of Art · Executive Education
Innovation for SDG4: Quality Education

Certificate of Completion from one of the world's leading art and design institutions, focused on designing integrated solutions for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

2025
Hasso Plattner d-School · University of Cape Town
Certified Design Thinking Coach

Certified in design thinking methodology and practice — encompassing strategic planning, workshop facilitation, and end-to-end delivery of human-centred solutions at the intersection of business and technology.

2024
Human Factors International
Certified User Experience Analyst™ (CXA™)

Rigorous two-week expert-led programme demonstrating mastery in motivating users to engage and convert — covering persuasion, emotion, trust, and omnichannel strategy.

2024
Organisations I've worked with
Nedbank Capitec Discovery Standard Bank Old Mutual Accenture Ogilvy Next176
Get in touch

Let's
connect.

If you'd like to discuss a project, an idea, or just want to talk about design and decision-making — I'm always open to a good conversation.