What am I up to now?

This is my Now Page. Think of it this way: if an About page is my life’s story, a Now page is the chapter being written, well, now.

Improving design execution

As I moved from an IC product designer to a managerial role, my responsibility shifted from creating solutions to operationalising my team’s output.

I’m spending a lot more time thinking about the evolving role of product designers in tech, measuring our impact and ensuring that the team delivers in a predictable fashion.

Things I'm thinking about:

• how design tools are geared towards exploration but there’s little to help direct those explorations towards a goal
• how there are no pure “product design” metrics
• how the impact of a product designer is influenced by and achieved through product management and engineering

Speaking

Originally, I meant to try public speaking in early 2020. (insert obligatory Mike Tyson quote here)

In the second half of 2024 I was given the opportunity to speak about at two events and, despite major stage fright and bombing at least one of the two talks, now I’m on the hunt for more speaking opportunities!

DIY

It’s been a little over a year since my partner and I bought our house in The Liberties in Dublin.

Since then, I have come to realise two important points:

• property improvements are a never-ending series of side projects you’re never adequately prepared for
• making things with my hands never stopped being a major source of joy

Apart from basic tasks like putting together furniture, adjusting cupboard hinges and repainting walls, in the last couple of months I’ve replaced a drab ceiling lamp with a set of smart LED lights and organised the chaos of TV, Apple TV, Playstation and speaker wires by running them behind the walls – magic!