About

I am a digital experience designer, researcher and musician. I play cello and piano and am a founding member of the Night Light Collective, Goldfox duo, and Betwixt music series.

I have a Bachelor of Music (specialising in Performance) and a Masters in IT (specialising in Human-Computer Interaction), both from the University of Cape Town. I also have a Licentiate in Performance from the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).

As a left-handed person, I learned early on about inaccessible design. Can openers, scissors, tape measures, and customised coffee mugs (with the little picture on the inside - you know the kind I mean) were generally difficult or disappointing to use.

After I finished my music degree, I stumbled upon the wonderful world of human-computer interaction (HCI). I realised that many right-handed tools are unusable for left-handed people by design (for right-handed people!), and I discovered that HCI and user experience design are a serendipitous combination of logic, design, science, psychology and creativity.

Music

As a cellist and chamber musician, I've played for masterclasses with musicians including Maria Kliegel, Lynn Harrell, Marian Lewin, Farida Bacharova and Jill Richards. I have extensive experience as an orchestral player in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and am a former member of the South African National Youth Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Orchestra (UK). I collaborate regularly as a performer and composer with South African musicians including Galina Juritz, Matthijs van Dijk and Cara Stacey.

Design

As a digital product designer, my career includes educational technology, open source and traditional publishing, front-end development, project management, UX and UI training and e-commerce and fintech experience. I'm a published author and have spoken and presented workshops at local and international conferences. I strongly believe that human-centred, inclusive design makes the world a better place. I apply this design philosophy (along with my start-up and corporate experience) to my work as both a designer and a musician.

Research

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by people and history. In 2020 I decided to start studying arcaheology and anthropology - I'm on track to finish my BA at the end of 2025. In the meantime I founded The Empathy Lab - a human research consultancy that provides end-to-end research, analysis and advisory services to help businesses, organisations and communities understand complex social problems and transform evidence into intentional action.

When I’m not drawing paper prototypes and grumbling about bad UX, I hang out with my two cool Collies and my enigmatic cats, drink wine and watch too much Netflix. In 2025 I will complete my BA in archaeology and anthropology - because history and humans are hekkin cool!