It seems only a few short months ago that we were reluctantly pulling on shoes and socks for the first time in weeks and getting prepared to begin the year. Fast forward 12 months and it’s time for reflection on the year that has passed and what lies ahead.
2019 has been flat out – we continue to challenge the team with work that is complex, and as a result, we’re seeing them develop and grow as never before. We’re enjoying getting our heads around new industries and contexts, new technologies and people, and we’re doing more real-world experiences, thanks to the power of VR and the trust and vision of our clients.
We continue to work with two external advisors who challenge our thinking and keep us honest. Phil Pickford facilitates our strategy stream and Roger Hatrick-Smith acts as our CFO. We’ve been working with Phil for about 18 months and Roger came onboard at the beginning of the financial year. Having Phil and Roger’s combined expertise is invaluable; we’re learning more about the business every day, and as a result, we’re more willing to take on new things as we’re better informed and supported in our decision making.
The work we’ve been doing with Phil and Roger has resulted in us designing a new organisational structure which will provide a better framework for the delivery of services to our clients and for the development of our people. I’ve taken on the role of Managing Director leading strategy development and execution. Blake is now Director of Experience and has responsibilities for business development and quality across the organisation. In addition, we’ve created two new roles that see Jon Martin take up the well-deserved title of Head of Design, and Kimberley Edgell will be joining us in January from Air New Zealand as our Practice Lead.
Jon’s been with us for almost six years and has worked across many of our foundational projects with ASB, Global Dairy Trade, Gentrack and Air New Zealand. It’s been a real privilege to see him develop and take on more responsibility as he’s matured. He’s truly a full-stack UXer and one of the best analytical thinkers that we’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.
Kimberley’s role as Practice Lead will see her take on responsibilities for developing our people and supporting Blake and myself in executing strategy. In addition, Kimberley will work as a UX Strategist across projects and help us bed down many of our internal processes.
Both Jon's and Kimberley’s appointments directly relate to the development of our people with Jon helping us develop our technical design skills and Kimberley leading our employee experience. As we’ve scaled, we’ve needed to put more structure in place to support our people doing great work and these appointments position the team for ongoing success.
So what will 2020 hold? We’ll be bedding in the new structure and getting on with delivering great work. We’ve got some exciting projects booked for the first quarter and will be looking to expand the team to support our clients in their quest to deliver great experiences.
To the team, our families, clients, colleagues and friends thank you for another great year, we wish you a safe and relaxing break and look forward to being part of your ongoing success in 2020.
