Fuelling the familiar design process with the insight gathered from involving customers was a revelation to me. I saw how it created consensus, drove creativity and reduced risk.

Arriving back in the UK in 1995, I was one of the first members of a small team devoted to exploring how the BBC could engage with the internet – and how they could deliver a commercial online service. The UK online industry was fledgling, and many businesses were starting to develop tentative online presences.

None of the design agencies at the time worked in a user-centred way, and yet there was clearly an opportunity to help businesses innovate around the new technologies. In 1997 I founded Flow to fill this gap with a unique mix of research and design.

The approach was enormously successful and Flow grew quickly and gathered an enviable client list. In 2011 Foolproof and Flow merged creating Europe’s largest specialist user experience agency.

The Flow brand continues to specialise in delivering elegant solutions to the ever increasingly complex design problems our clients face. I am now a partner and director working across both brands.

In my spare time I love to run Ecomodo, coasteer, kayak, forage and cook.

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