Bringing together social science and design to innovate, consult and educate on human-first digital strategies: inclusive, privacy-protecting, and sustainable

I am a seasoned designer, tinkerer, and creative code wrangler – passionate about the often under-represented human side of technology: inclusion and universal access, non-prototypical “users” or contexts of use, privacy and the risks from its violations, the interplay of (legal) norms and technology, and technologies’ impact on society and the environment.

I regularly write about these topics in my Journal and assemble curated sources in my “digital garden” under Resources. I provide an RSS feed and an email newsletter. You can also find me on the Fediverse/Mastodon.

My creative, research-based practice of two decades is all about finding ways to focus (web) design and technology on the people using it, while striving to create inclusive, data-minimalist and socially as well as ecologi­cally sustainable solutions. I am driven by the desire to develop critically con­structive, novel approaches to digital design – based on a chiefly human-centred approach and considerate of syste­mic consequences: individually, socially, globally.

I am available for training, consulting and design projects where human values are a key driver: creating digital solu­tions that put people first, or fostering initiatives to increase digital literacy. I enjoy working with organisations that are keen on pushing boundaries in terms of accessibility, privacy, sustainability …approaching things differently. Mostly doing consulting, research, and concepts, I greatly enjoy touching code myself as well (incl. my pet projects).

Exemplary project highlights:

• Ongoing: design lead in an exploratory legal design project aiming to provide easier access to justice
• Designed an inclusive design system for an information service aimed at broad audiences including low-literacy demogra­phics with low-end devices
• Assisted an educational NGO to establish their accessi­ble, privacy-respecting and performant website
• Consulted various clients on data minimisation strate­gies for their web presence
• Eight years leading the “Usability and accessibility” unit in a training program for communications professionals
• Developed a “Privacy UX” approach that considers privacy a core pillar of user experience, presented at multiple conferences
• Co-authored and facilitated an innovative GDPR workshop series that combined legal compliance, human-centred design, and agency practice
• “The Absent Peer”: award-winning sociological analysis on technology non-users and their role in designing for social interaction
• Developing multiple open source software projects; mostly CMS plugins for the open and accessible web.

References and portfolio details are available on request.