Hello, I’m Cleo 👋
I’m a research-led, strategic designer.
I help businesses establish effective user-centred processes for their product teams. I love bringing people together to get things done.
I’m currently helping launch a community platform for U.S. local government, shaping ethical AI experiences for a multinational, and mentoring designers online.
Previously, I was UX Lead for Springer Nature’s publishing platform serving millions of researchers and editors worldwide.
I’ve lived and worked in Asia, North America, and Europe—gaining valuable experience aligning work practices across timezones and cultures.
Work
Full portfolio available upon request.
Replace a legacy SaaS product while supporting and growing the design team
I led a team of 8 designers, across 3 offices, to deliver a complex SaaS product for millions of users. To drive a user-centred culture, I embedded into six product teams to introduce research and better work practices.
Role
Manager, Product Strategist, Researcher, Facilitator
Impact
Improved user CSAT score from –57 → 60
Hired 5 new UX Designers
Improved team retention from 30% → 100%
Teams gained clarity on applying research at various decision-making levels and integrating it effectively in a lean environment
Improve time-on-task through a global information architecture redesign for millions of users
Our leading scientific journals required more efficient workflows. I designed and led a strategy to align 30+ stakeholder groups, then streamlined design processes to enable an iterative rollout.
Role
Product Strategist, Researcher, UX Designer, Facilitator
Impact
Successful task completion rose by 70%
Customer Support requests fell by 45%
Product team’s delivery time halved, and implementation quality improved
New ways of working were piloted then adopted across departments, strengthening collaboration between teams
Explore possible AI applications for improving workflows and reducing operational costs
As part of an innovation team, I ran discovery research to surface organisational inefficiencies, propose AI-driven automation workflows, and recommend longterm company strategy.
Role
Researcher, Service Designer, Frontend Developer
Impact
Prevented £3 million in unnecessary R&D investment
Automation & AI helped reduce tedious internal processes by 60%
Mapped end-to-end Customer Service processes to show how AI could support their workflows across 3 different countries
Collaboration
I never work alone.
To achieve high-performing cross-functional teams, I work closely with others to remove barriers, resolve conflict, and facilitate teamwork.
Sketching Sessions for efficient decision-making
I design and run workshops to foster team collaboration — walking participants through research insights and structured co-design. This format enables teams to move straight into delivery, without losing the integrity of the design process.
I’ve facilitated many online and remote cross-discipline sketching sessions to design user journeys and solve problems.
“From a developer’s perspective I find sketching sessions valuable as they’re a focused session taking a design and finessing it so development can begin quickly.
They are useful for setting a wider context on upcoming work and gives everyone an opportunity to analyse and mitigate potential problems before developers start. Everyone’s expertise contributes to different aspects of the agreed design and there’s less pressure to invent things on the spot.
It leads to a smoother project, with fewer surprises.”
Teams need to be set up for success
I run workshops—small or large, short or long—to define a team’s mission, set clear expectations, and promote safety and inclusion.
Facilitating an inception to define mission, purpose, and product strategy of a newly formed innovation team.
Facilitating a 2 day workshop to share best practices and define career progression at Business Analysts Away Day.
Building influence through relationship building
Design works best when it shares a purpose with other disciplines. I take the time to understand the motivations of others so we can find common ground to build a user-centred approach.
A team coming together to demo a user journey we built together.
Strategy
& Execution
Shipping complex software in any company requires more than just a roadmap.
Navigating different departments and requests requires a level of direction, clarity, and engagement for us to deliver great products.
Research-informed strategy
Educating product and business colleagues with discovery research is one of my strengths. Be it testing out new technology, reducing operational costs, or finding efficiencies, I investigate and analyse what we need to reach our goals.
Ensuring value-for-money
I conducted a discovery to assess a vendor’s AI solution adoption throughout the company. We showed it wasn’t being applied effectively, leading to significant cost savings by redirecting staff to existing in-house solutions.
£14 million saved
I led a research study to assess the need for a new software system. We prevented considerable costs by focusing on how we could leverage existing tools instead of building something new.
Using mapping to uncover hidden issues
We often receive solutions before understanding where the actual problems lie. I interview and map entire processes to reveal how we can best tackle solutions.
I worked with multiple departments to map all communications sent to our customers.
I mapped the end-to-end Customer Service journey and reviewed how AI can support their team’s workflows across 3 different countries.
Bringing the right people in
From stakeholders and subject matter experts to members of the product team, a product's success depends on aligning everyone around a shared vision.
I ensure the right people are involved at the right time, fostering collaboration and leveraging diverse expertise to set a clear, strategic direction to drive us forward.
I facilitate stakeholder workshops to define vision, understand processes, surface journeys, and scope for software build.
We established a project’s working group with key stakeholders, actively involving them in co-design sessions and ongoing feedback loops.
Leadership
As designers, we should challenge others to think deeply, investigate critically, and design pragmatically.
For me, design in the world means empowering others to build these skills.
160+ hours mentoring
On ADPList and within past jobs, I’ve created bespoke learning plans for others moving into design, mentored designers in a team of one, and coached senior designers in navigating difficult team dynamics.
“Cleo really takes the time to deeply understand your context to provide really specific, actionable advice.
She has a lot of expertise that she’s generous in sharing, whether it’s about transitioning from a consultancy to a product company, or working in different countries. She’s also incredibly generous, warm and encouraging. I can’t recommend her enough!”
100% retention
From high burnout and low retention rates, we went to 100% in 6 months. I worked with other discipline leads to target team’s root problems while we coached and supported them during team changes.
“I had the delight of speaking with Cleo as my mentor; not only are her insights valuable but also incredibly actionable, especially for those who are still navigating their design journey. She has a knack for reframing perspectives, helping me see the full impact of design decisions and strengthening my portfolio.
Beyond her expertise, she is also remarkably approachable, warm and positive, making our mentorship session an absolute delight. 😊”
Sharing
I love sharing what I’ve learnt and creating spaces to learn with others.
Articles
Workshops & Talks
Building customer-centric teams — Growth School, and OVO Energy
Sketching Sessions: A technique for efficient collaboration from research to delivery
How to be better at facilitating workshops — for Project Managers, UX Designers & Business Analysts
How to give and receive feedback
How to develop curiosity and ask good questions
Culture
What is a good work/life balance without a good working culture?
Fostering compassion builds trust and safety, something I hope I can provide for everyone.
Co-led Open Conversations to create a safe space to explore difficult topics
Co-led a department's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion group
Ran Unconscious Bias workshops to improve understanding in the workplace
Ran Monthly Watch Parties for designers
Ran Resilience training for designers to overcome tough situations
Ran workshops on creating better ways of working for multiple teams
Ran workshops to define Team Principles
“Not only were her UX designs always spot on, Cleo is always enthusiastic about trying new approaches, and finding imaginative ways to overcome technical or scope challenges.
As a member of the team she always brings positive energy, gets on very well with everyone, and finds ways to help other team members achieve their goals as well.”
“As Head of Product I have found Cleo to be a terrific UX Lead to work with. She is able to balance ambition and principles with practicality and delivery. She also has a good insight into people and is keen to coach individuals and help teams with ways of working.
Cleo worked with us from eight time zones away and made it seem like she was in the next room, the best example I have seen of someone able to make light of the challenges of a distributed organisation.”
Clients
I’ve worked with a diverse range of clients, from multinational corporations to government organisations in the U.S. and Asia, as well as startups revolutionising finance and online learning. This breadth of experience gives me a strong perspective across industries.
