About
Today I lead design in the Point-of-sale tribe at Yoco, a South African fintech. I partner with my product and engineering peers to shape the software and hardware our merchants use every day.
What I care about most is designers doing great work, because that's how we deliver value to our merchants and to our business. It takes clear direction, honest critique, and room for designers to own outcomes.
Approach
Four principles I consistently come back to:
- Design is a partner, not a service provider
- Tangible artefacts (prototypes) align teams faster than documents or debate
- Designers do their best thinking with a partner, not alone
- Product thinking matters as much as design craft
Growth
Throughout my career I've made time for structured learning. These are courses that helped to shape how I think about leadership, strategy, and self-awareness:
Kind words
The best design manager I've ever worked with.
He brings a sense of calm and superior intelligence to difficult problems and makes an incredible team lead.
Clear-thinking, remarkable leader who stays calm under extreme pressure. He has an uncanny eye for detail and always thinks about the bigger picture.
Solid, trustworthy. Talented. Caring. Smart. Truthful.
I asked Matt to work more closely with our product managers to battle-test their ideas and improve the quality of their thinking. The PMs have told me how valuable this has been, and I can see it in their work.