Skip to content
David Hayward

UX strategy · Product design · Design engineering

Senior Product
Designer

Senior Product
Designer

“If you want user success, remove everything that isn’t essential. Complexity blurs your point.”
Scroll to explore

Overview

15+ years in Product Design, UX & UI

I make complex products feel obvious.

I combine strategic product thinking with hands-on UX/UI design to create elegant, scalable digital experiences across B2B SaaS, enterprise platforms and consumer products.

Designers can no longer simply be given a brief, accept its assumptions and start designing. The work begins by understanding and clarifying the problem.

Design answers: How should this flow and look?

Research answers: Why do we exist? Who is this for? Why should they care?

I’m never content with only what is put in front of me. Ironically, for someone working in technology, it is the human element that is often the most nuanced and complex. That is what excites me: understanding people and solving the right problem. Contentment is the enemy of invention, and we should always push to be better, live better, give better and receive better.

“Good design makes you look better. Good strategy makes you worth more.”
More about how I work

Research · Strategy · Design

Not every problem
needs a design solution.

I can help before the interface takes shape: clarifying the question, gathering evidence and turning insight into a practical product strategy.

  • Product & service strategy
  • Stakeholder workshops
  • Analytics & competitor reviews
  • Surveys & recruitment
  • User interviews
  • Task-based usability testing
  • Accessibility & comprehension
  • Research synthesis & roadmaps
01

Strategy
& discovery

Framing the decisions, aligning stakeholders, reviewing existing evidence and defining the right problem before choosing what to build.

B2B / B2C case study ↗
02

User research
& validation

Research plans, surveys, recruitment, interviews and task-based usability testing, with clear measures of success.

Greggs loyalty app ↗
03

Design systems
& accessibility

Scalable foundations that improve consistency, accessibility and engineering efficiency.

OpenSolar platform ↗
04

Interaction
& prototyping

User flows, polished interfaces, prototypes and motion that make behaviour clear.

WithU fitness app ↗
How I research

Design systems

Patterns · Brand · Implementation

Consistency with
character.

I build design systems that bring clarity and consistency without making every product feel the same. Material Design, IBM Carbon and Microsoft Fluent 2 offer useful foundations, with Shopify Polaris another reference for commerce.

I combine familiar UI patterns and Gestalt principles with bespoke branding, themes and thoughtful interaction. From Figma components and variables to HTML and CSS, I turn those decisions into a practical system that leaves room for creativity.

My approach to design systems

My design principle

Remove everything that isn’t essential.

The best products are not the ones with the most features. They make the right things effortless through customer insight, clear priorities and careful craft.

Selected work

Different audiences.
The same focus on clarity.

Explore the portfolio

Collaboration

Strategy with sleeves rolled up

Senior by experience.
Curious by nature.

I partner with product managers, engineers, researchers and leadership, facilitating decisions, building alignment and staying close to the details that determine whether an experience really works.