Skill Set

Skill set

I have over 15 years’ experience working at the intersection of product, research, business, and design. Throughout this time, I have developed a comprehensive skill set that uniquely positions me to build impactful, user-centred products and services.

Product Management

  • Product management is the craft of building, shaping, and evolving digital products to meet real user needs and drive meaningful outcomes.

  • Product management involves leading the product development process and guiding the product team.

    It requires developing a clear point of view on the user and their needs, the product itself, its key features, the vision, the roadmap, and the strategy behind it.

    At the same time, it’s about coordinating and aligning cross-functional teams to ensure delivery and continuous progress.

  • I have over 15 years’ experience creating impactful, user-centred products and services.

    I’ve led dozens of product initiatives—both building brand new products and evolving existing ones.

    I’ve led cross-functional teams across product studios, corporates, tech companies, and government agencies, helping teams establish and mature their product, research, and design practices.

    I’ve also developed an extensive product development framework and practice, and have published a range of tools and frameworks along the way.

  • I’ve always been passionate about products, technology, and innovation.

    🎓 Undergraduate

    I started my journey during my undergraduate degree, where—alongside studying Psychology at the University of Sydney—I took part in a range of entrepreneurial programs and competitions. That’s where I first got a taste of product, business thinking, and product design.

    During that time, I also spent a semester abroad at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where I studied entrepreneurship and was properly introduced to user, product, and business frameworks.

    🎓 Masters

    After finishing my undergraduate studies, I decided to build on that interest and go deeper into business, strategy, and innovation.

    I went on to complete a Master’s in Management (also at the University of Sydney) — a degree with a strong focus on human-centred design, innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship.

    During the degree, I was introduced to product and design theory, frameworks, and ways of thinking that still shape how I approach product work today.

    ✈️ Crowdflight

    During my Master’s, a few classmates and I entered (and won) a major product innovation competition run by Deloitte.

    Off the back of that, we set out to turn our concept into a real startup. The product was called CrowdFlight — a platform that used passengers’ spare time on flights for user and market research. I led the product side and was the driving force behind getting it off the ground.

    The startup didn’t take off — we learned the hard way that aviation is a tough space to build for, especially when you’re just starting out. But I completely fell in love with the process of building digital products, and from that point on, I committed to learning as much as I could about the space.

    🚗 GoFar

    A bit later on, I joined GoFar, a connected car startup that turned everyday vehicles into smart, sustainable cars using real-time engine data.

    I led the go-to-market team, helped clarify our users and value proposition, and worked on improving the overall product experience.

    I also led a successful crowdfunding campaign, raising a quarter of a million dollars and securing our first 1,000 users.

    🧪 Fusion Labs

    My next chapter took me to Fusion Labs, a leading product and design agency based in Sydney.

    I joined as a Product Lead, guiding client teams through high-intensity product and venture launches.

    Over time, I grew into the Head of Product, leading the agency’s product consulting arm.

    I was responsible for developing our product practice, mentoring both internal and client teams, and leading some of our most complex product initiatives.

    🧱 Boral

    After leaving agency life, I started contracting as a product lead, looking for new challenges and deeper, more embedded impact.

    One of my first major clients was Boral, where I worked as Principal Product Lead in Residence.

    I helped launch and develop Boral's digital innovation lab, mentored product leads and teams, and developed a unified product practice across the business.

    One of the key products I led was Found — an on-demand concrete ordering app we often described as “the Uber for concrete.”

    For a while, Found was seen as one of Australia’s most successful examples of corporate digital ventures done right.

    📺 ABC

    After Boral — and just as COVID hit — I joined the ABC as a Product Strategy Lead.

    I was brought on by the Head of ABC Digital to help define a clear product and people strategy for the division.

    Over the course of the year, I worked closely with both executive leadership and on-the-ground teams to co-create that strategy from the top down and bottom up.

    I focused on improving ABC’s product development practice, rethinking its digital product portfolio, shaping new product ideas, and helping build a stronger product culture across the organisation.

    My goal was to help make the ABC one of the most exciting places to work in product — and to lay the foundation for long-term digital success.

    🌊 Pebble

    In early 2021, I decided to formalise my independent work by founding my own product agency — Pebble.

    Pebble became my platform for impacting the product space, in terms of both theory and practice.

    I distilled everything I’d learned into a cohesive product practice, developed ways of working, brought together a brilliant network of collaborators, and led fascinating product innovation work across various companies and sectors.

    Alongside client work, I also published a range of tools and frameworks, mentored product and design teams, and experimented with new approaches to research, delivery, and strategy.

    🎙 Guest Lecturing

    During this time, I also returned to Maastricht University as a guest lecturer, teaching topics related to products, users, and ventures.

    🌾 The Department of Agriculture

    At the end of 2023, I decided to step away from agency life and move back in-house — focusing on one product at a time and going deeper.

    That brought me to the Department of Agriculture, the federal agency responsible for overseeing Australia’s agricultural goods and exports.

    I joined the department’s digital team and found myself among a growing group tasked with building both its internal platforms and its product practice from the ground up.

    During my time there, I led the creation of two major internal platforms — taking each from rough concepts to working products, widely used across the department.

    I was responsible for product management and user research, while also guiding product design and engineering, and collaborating with multiple product teams and stakeholder groups across the department.

    🧩 Wrapping up

    And that brings us to the main milestones of my journey so far.

    There have been many other threads along the way — from experimenting with product ideas, to running and participating in hackathons, think tanks, and incubators, to working on many more interesting projects.

    But all in all, this is my journey — a path shaped by curiosity, craft, collaboration, and a deep love for building things that matter.

Strategic Design

  • Strategic design is a discipline that applies design principles to understand markets, users, and problems — as well as to build and test new, user-centred solutions.

    It’s typically associated with the early phases of products and services, where ambiguity is high and direction is still being shaped.

    In many cases, strategic design comes before product management, laying the groundwork for what gets built and why.

    More recently, the two disciplines have begun to merge — with strategic design often seen as product management at the earliest stages of a product’s life.

  • Strategic design focuses on the early phases of a product or service — often before there’s a clear understanding of what should be built.

    It typically evolves into, or hands over to, product management once the direction becomes more defined and the concept begins to take shape.

    The work involves developing a deep understanding of the space, the users, and their needs — and forming a clear point of view about the types of solutions that could address the problems at hand.

    Strategic designers use tools like user mapping, value proposition design, feature identification, and early prototyping. The process often includes designing the underlying business model as well.

    At its core, strategic design is a balance between developing a strong point of view and testing it — using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research to guide iteration and alignment.

  • I have over 15 years’ experience creating impactful, user-centred products and services.

    I’ve led dozens of product initiatives — both building brand new products and evolving existing ones.

    I’ve worked with cross-functional teams across product studios, corporates, tech companies, and government agencies, helping teams establish and mature their product, research, and design practices.

    Much of my work blends strategic design and product management, using design to explore and define direction — and product thinking to deliver it.

  • I’ve always been passionate about business, products and design.

    🧠 High School

    I was first introduced to the foundations of user research and human-centred design in high school, through my studies in Society & Culture.

    We learned how to map users, form assumptions, test those assumptions, and evolve our thinking based on the results — a process that still underpins how I work today.

    🎓 Undergraduate

    In my early 20s, I studied Psychology at the University of Sydney, where I was introduced to social psychology, behavioural economics, and a range of frameworks for understanding human behaviour.

    I also built a strong foundation in both qualitative and quantitative research.

    🌍 Semester Abroad

    Towards the end of my degree, I spent a semester abroad in the Netherlands, studying social entrepreneurship.

    It was there that I first encountered formal product, user, and business frameworks — and began to see how business and design could come together to make real-world impact.

    🎓 Master’s in Management

    I followed up with a Master’s degree in Business Management, focused on human-centred design, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

    The program deepened my understanding of design thinking and strategic design, and introduced a wide range of new tools and practices.

    ✈️ CrowdFlight

    During the program, a few classmates and I entered — and won — a Deloitte business innovation competition with a concept called CrowdFlight: a platform for conducting user research using passengers’ spare time on flights.

    After graduating, we tried turning the concept into a real startup. I led the user and product effort, applying everything I’d learned so far.
    We eventually stepped away from the venture, but it was a pivotal experience — one that cemented my love for early-stage product thinking and strategic design.

    📚 Doubling Down on Learning

    After CrowdFlight, I dove even deeper into the theory. I read widely on product, design, and user thinking — and actively sought out mentors and practitioners from across the human-centred design space, keen to learn all I could.

    ❄️ Antarctica

    Around this time, I joined a design and innovation think tank expedition to Antarctica.

    I helped lead the program, designing its structure and assembling a team of facilitators and designers.

    🚗 GoFar

    I then joined GoFar, a connected car startup working to make everyday vehicles smarter and more sustainable.

    I led our go-to-market efforts and applied strategic design principles to better understand users, sharpen the product, improve the experience, and position it more clearly to the market.

    🧪 Fusion Labs

    After GoFar, I joined Fusion Labs, a leading product and design agency.

    I started as a Product Lead, guiding cross-functional teams through high-intensity design and innovation projects.

    I later became Head of Product, leading the agency’s product and design consulting arm.

    I helped develop a unified product and design practice, mentored both internal and client teams, and led some of our most complex strategic initiatives.

    🧱 Boral

    After Fusion Labs, I spent several years contracting — blending strategic design with product leadership.

    One of my key clients was Boral, where I served as Principal Product Manager in Residence.

    I helped establish their innovation lab, develop product teams, shape the internal product and design practice, and create ventures to diversify Boral’s market offering.

    📺 ABC

    Next, I joined the ABC as a Product Strategy Lead.

    While the role was closely tied to product management, it leaned heavily on strategic design — helping teams develop a unified approach across product and design, rethink the existing portfolio, and better understand their users.

    I worked closely with executive leadership to shape the digital product strategy and embed stronger design and discovery practices across teams.

    🌊 Pebble

    After several years of contracting, I founded Pebble, a product and design studio — bringing together strategic design, product management, product design, and user research into a single, coherent practice.

    My vision for Pebble was to contribute meaningfully to the space of design-led innovation.

    I built a network of collaborators, led projects across industries, mentored teams, and developed a number of tools and frameworks in the space.

    🎙 Lecturing

    Alongside client work, I also returned to Maastricht University as a guest lecturer — teaching product, users, and ventures to the next generation of designers and entrepreneurs.

    🌾 Department of Agriculture

    At the start of 2024, I returned in-house — hoping to focus on a smaller number of long-term, high-impact products.

    I joined the Department of Agriculture, where I’ve led the development of two major internal platforms — foundational systems to support Australia’s agricultural exports for years to come.

    Alongside product and design leadership, I’ve also helped shape the department’s internal practice — embedding strategic thinking across multiple teams and initiatives.

    🧩 Wrapping Up

    And that brings us to the key milestones of my journey so far.

    Of course, there have been many other threads — from running and joining design jams, think tanks, and incubators, to experimenting with product ideas, developing design frameworks, and working on a wide range of projects.

    But all in all, this is my path — shaped by curiosity, craft, collaboration, and a deep love for building things that matter.

User Research

  • User research is the discipline of developing a deep understanding of users and products through qualitative and quantitative methods.

    It’s about uncovering needs, behaviours, motivations, and context — and using these insights to guide decisions, shape products, and ensure we’re building the right thing.

  • User research can take many forms — from open discovery to focused validation.

    At times, it begins with exploration: trying to learn enough to form a meaningful point of view. Other times, it starts with an existing idea, breaking it down into assumptions and putting them to the test.

    In both cases, the process continues by synthesising findings, generating insight, and iterating on the original perspective based on what you’ve learned.

  • I have over 15 years’ experience working at the intersection of product, research, and design — leading dozens of product initiatives.

    Throughout this time, user research has been a central part of my work. I’ve conducted over 1,000 user interviews, led extensive research across a wide range of domains, and developed a number of research templates and frameworks along the way.

    In addition to hands-on research, I’ve helped teams embed stronger research practices — building internal capability, shaping team mindsets, and helping research play a foundational role across product and design.

  • I’ve always been passionate about understanding people, problems, and needs — and exploring how insight and evidence can lead to better solutions.

    🧠 High School

    I was first introduced to qualitative user research in high school, through my studies in Society and Culture.

    This is where I first encountered user interviews, immersive research, and observational methods — laying an early foundation for qualitative inquiry and human-centred thinking.

    🎓 Undergraduate (Psychology)

    In my early 20s, I completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Sydney, majoring in Psychology.

    I was trained in both qualitative and quantitative research and learned how to break down complex perspectives into testable hypotheses. This deepened my understanding of human behaviour and equipped me with an evolving research toolkit.

    Alongside my major, I completed a minor in Philosophy — further developing skills in critical thinking, reasoning, assumption testing, and argument construction.

    🌍 Master’s in Management

    After my undergraduate studies, I completed a Master of Management, also at the University of Sydney. The program combined business, strategy, innovation, and human-centred design.

    It involved extensive research work and helped me refine my qualitative skills, expand my quantitative capabilities, and understand how research fits into broader product and business contexts.

    ✈️ CrowdFlight

    During and after my Master’s, I co-developed a concept called CrowdFlight — a platform for conducting user research during air travel, using the available screens and the captive audience of passengers. The idea originated in a Deloitte business innovation competition, which we won, and we later attempted to turn it into a real product.

    I led the product and research effort and got to apply everything I’d learned.

    More importantly, I got even closer to user research itself — designing a product aimed at the largest research companies in the world.

    While we eventually stepped away from the startup, the experience was pivotal — and cemented my interest in research-led product thinking.

    📚 Doubling Down on Learning

    After CrowdFlight, I dove deep into theory. I read extensively on product, design, and user research, and actively sought out experienced practitioners to learn from their frameworks, philosophies, and methods.

    🚗 GoFar

    I later joined GoFar, a connected car startup working to make vehicles smarter and more sustainable. I led our go-to-market efforts and applied research and design frameworks to better understand users, identify opportunities, and sharpen the overall product experience.

    🧪 Fusion Labs

    After GoFar, I joined Fusion Labs, a product and design consultancy. I started as a Product Lead and later became Head of Product — leading our product and design consulting arm.

    User research was central to this work:

    • I conducted hundreds of user interviews and field studies across a wide range of domains.

    • I helped build Fusion’s research practice — designing our research frameworks, mentoring teams, and embedding research into our ways of working.

    • I led client engagements that hinged on deep user understanding and evidence-led decisions.

    🧱 Boral

    After Fusion Labs, I moved into contracting — blending strategic design with product leadership. One major engagement was with Boral, where I served as Principal Product Manager in Residence.

    Alongside product leadership, I led user research across multiple products and ventures — helping shape Boral’s product offerings and build a stronger internal research culture.

    📺 ABC

    Next, I joined the ABC as a Product Strategy Lead. A key part of my role was to help reshape the organisation’s digital product strategy and practice.

    We approached the strategy itself as a product — and treated the internal teams as its users.

    This meant undertaking extensive qualitative research across the organisation — from team-level practitioners to executive leadership. Over the course of a year, we designed, tested, and iterated a new strategy through numerous discovery and testing cycles — building a framework grounded in real needs and behaviours.

    🌊 Pebble

    Following several years of contracting, I founded Pebble — a product and design studio focused on design-led innovation. My goal was to bring together product management, strategic design, user research, and product design into a unified, coherent practice.

    User research sat at the heart of everything we did. I led and mentored teams, co-developed research methods and templates, and helped clients embed user research into their product development cycles.

    🎙 Lecturing

    Alongside client work, I began guest lecturing at Maastricht University in the Netherlands — teaching the next generation of designers and entrepreneurs how to conduct meaningful, efficient user research.

    🌾 Department of Agriculture

    In early 2024, I returned in-house, joining the Department of Agriculture — Australia’s federal agency for agricultural goods and exports.

    Here, I’ve led the user research and product efforts for two major internal platforms. These projects have allowed me to apply years of experience while also helping shape the department’s broader product and research practice — upskilling teams and embedding strategic design across initiatives.

    🧩 Wrapping Up

    And that brings us to the key milestones of my journey so far.

    Of course, there have been many other threads — from running and participating in design jams and hackathons, to experimenting with product ideas, developing research and design frameworks, and working on a wide range of projects.

    But all in all, this is my path — shaped by curiosity, craft, collaboration, and a deep love for building things that matter.