Experience Designer
A natural leader with a passion for human-centred design
I am an Experience Design Leader, I lead multidisciplinary CX/EX/UX teams to deliver end-to-end digital experiences for Australian government departments and agencies as well as global brands and agencies in the United States, Asia and Australia. I believe in leadership with empathy and encouragement, focusing on supporting colleagues to grow and flourish, and therefore deliver the best results.
I love talking to real people and understanding their behaviours, motivations and challenges, then applying human-centred principles to design intuitive and accessible solutions that connect them to information and services and makes their user experiences better.
I am a visual communicator, problem solver, artist and writer. I have produced a diverse book of work with expertise encompassing service design, UX/UI design, UX research, digital content strategy, branding, corporate identity, book illustration, fine art, and copywriting.
I currently hold a baseline security clearance.
Contact
james@manningstudios.com
0415 574 563
Things I do
Service design
I take a strategic approach to improving the user experience of services across various sectors. Irrespective of the industry, service design focuses on understanding user needs and designing services that meet those needs. Using insights from user research I love to uncover user expectations and preferences, then prototype, test, iterate and refine ideas based upon real user feedback. By developing a core understanding of nuances specific to an industry or organization, I design services that fit the client’s unique constraints and requirements.
Team leadership
As an empathetic and experienced leader, I base my team leadership style upon encouragement and trust. By empowering people to dive into challenges, with full support and belief in their ability, I promote growth and confidence. Conquering the human condition of ‘fear of failure’ means celebrating success, creating an environment where colleagues feel safe asking for help, and providing collaborative environments. This leads to team happiness and better solutions. I work hard to develop self-motivated and confident teams, building trust by always having their back and championing them to achieve more than they thought they could.
User experience/User interface design
As a UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) designer, I find it deeply satisfying creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces that reduce pain-points and bad experiences for real users of any product, whether digital or not. A well-considered UX creates better user journeys, making the customer/ provider relationship a happier one. Additionally, once I understand what’s not working, building a thoughtfully structured, visually appealing UI that helps users intuitively navigate websites or apps better is tremendously rewarding.
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing – building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help.”
– David Kelley, Founder of IDEO