I am a highly regarded, conscientious and dependable Product Design Director with a solid diplomatic delivery style. I have presented design strategy and design work to the CEO and C-Suite level; I’ve successfully pitched work to external clients and demonstrated the importance of great design to hundreds of people at conferences during my career. I’m an advocate for the user-centred design approach, and I understand the importance of UX research, intuitive UX thinking and a beautiful stand out UI. I’m a determined hands-on design leader who’s motivated and well organised. I’m calm under pressure whilst ensuring high-quality designs are delivered on time and within budget.
Specialising in Design Systems, Creative Direction, UI/UX, UCD Process & Problem Solving, Team Development, Mentoring, Project management. I was Global Head of Design at Aviva and managed a team of over 100 designers, responsible for Aviva's International Digital Design language and Design System, which has now been rolled out, creating a unified Global online brand presence. I was one of the main stakeholder/contributors to the Brand team to develop a new Brand Tone of Voice for Aviva that created a single look and feel for B2C and B2B online and offline; this work connected all of the business areas within Aviva.
I was the Lead UI/UX Artist at FreestyleGames (Activision), working on GuitarHero Live. Call of Duty Online (Chinese COD free to play), responsible for a team of 9 UI and motion graphic artist.
I was Lead UI/UX at Codemasters, working on the F1 Series, Dirt Showdown, Dirt 3, Grid 2, F1 Race stars, Codemasters Racenet, Bodycount and Operation Flashpoint Red River.
Charles B. Reeves
Vice President Design & Product Strategy at Stealth Mode Startup (Aviva)
Neil is the definition of World Class, as a designer, as a leader, and as a creative innovator. I've worked with him across multiple industries, companies and projects - spanning a range from Call of Duty and Guitar Hero to Fintech, Online Education startups and global corporate transformations and rebranding campaigns. In all this, Neil has distinguished himself and his work - he's a creative powerhouse. He's able to be a brilliant player and coach - someone who can unite and inspire cross-functional teams to exceed their best and who can also bring his skills directly to the game, excel, delight and surpass the wildest and most demanding expectations. He lifts culture with his incredibly engaging approach and can inspire loyalty and collaboration across teams.
Samuel Moreau
VP Design & Research at Coursera
Neil is a true professional. As a design leader, Neil brings leadership and mentorship that attracts talent and grows the team members skills. In my time working with Neil at Coursera, I have seen him be very effective in collaboration and communication across the design team and product and engineering partners. Neil is selfless and always puts the greater good of the team first. We were very fortunate to work with him on our design system, and he would be a great addition to a company that needs to add strong, seasoned creative leadership.
Jeff Maggioncalda
CEO, Coursera
Neil, thank you for lending us your considerable expertise. You have provided so much value to us with our VPAT and, more broadly, a scalable design system that will serve us well in the years ahead. I wish you every success going forward and want you to know that in me you have an admiring fan.
Will Faulkner
Digital Product & Design Director (Aviva)
Neil led our digital redesign at Aviva and breathed new life into our entire customer experience. Aside from the fact, Neil is a fantastic designer himself; he also brought great energy, passion, leadership and collaboration to the organisation during his time at Aviva. Neil is a great guy to work with and brings a clear vision, supported by the ability to execute.
Kevin McQuillan
Director Customer Experience (Aviva)
Neil was a terrific asset to the team and a joy to manage. He has a magnificent approach to design and moved the business forward significantly in this regard.
He was a joy to manage and went out of his way to help develop a team that he cared about deeply - any issues dealt with professionally and maturely. I have no hesitation in recommending Neil.
David Fifield
Game Director at Crystal Dynamics (Activision)
Neil was at the very centre of a critical UI/UX redesign that helped save our Call of Duty project that was very much on the brink. His design insight and aesthetic sense were exactly what we needed to convert our traditional console approach into a viable PC game as a service. Working across teams on 3 continents and time zones, his patient communication style backed by his passion for excellence was instrumental to our ultimate success. I can't recommend him highly enough to whoever is fortunate enough to bring him on board their team.
David Costello
Studio & Game Leadership (Activision/Aviva)
I had the pleasure of working with Neil twice for Activision and Aviva and he is an amazing creative leader. Inspires those he leads, can build fantastic teams and provides robust, clear, stunning creative work, that first and foremost meets users needs and makes products shine. Highly respected and highly respectful of others.
Derek Racca
Director of Product @Bethesda (Activision)
Neil is not only an amazing UI artist he is also an incredible game developer and teammate. Neil worked with us when we called out for some help on Call of Duty to get us out of a pinch and provided us with some much-needed heavy-hitting UI support. He knocked it out of the park and was awesome to work with. Neil would be a great asset to any team lucky enough to have him.
