
I was born from Portuguese workers who fled the dictatorship in the 1970's. I was their third and last child, but the first one to be born in France, and also the first one to get a college degree. I graduated in Psychology at the end of the 90's – when the Internet was starting to be a thing. My geeky self took an immediate interest in that new communication means and changed career.
I learned HTML, CSS and PHP, founded and ran a web agency for about ten years in the south of France. I found it particularly rewarding to help clients figure out what they could do with a website, in a way that would facilitate their day-to-day work and help their business. We built e-commerce platforms and tailored web applications with extensive back-ends until the 2012's economic crisis forced me to take the painful decision to close business.
There is something peculiar in France: even with a decade in digital and plenty of successful projects to show for, recruiters can doubt you could be a good fit for a project management role if you don't have the degree that says so. I quickly decided to go get another Master's degree!
I chose to join the renown Gobelins Paris school – ensuring I would not hear I had the degree but not from the right school – and soon discovered I had been doing UX research and UX design for years before even knowing about the term UX. Mobile app stores were growing fast and I focused my career on mobile experience.
At the same time, I naturally felt there was more to good design than usable screens. Experience design is not about screens; it's about individuals interacting with a product, a service or other individuals. Constantly challenging the boundaries of the design work I was assigned, I took more senior roles in UX strategy and in service design.
I moved to Amsterdam for love. There I made a significant step in my career setting up the service design practice and service design team at MOBGEN. Hiring in less than a year a dozen of service designers, mentoring them through each client engagement and supporting their career was one of the best experience I had. And I am grateful for the confidence MOBGEN's CEO and Design Director had in me.
Following MOBGEN's acquisition by Accenture, I join Forrester Research. As Senior Analyst for CX, I had the opportunity to work with some of the smartest people I know. I learned a great deal from them and enjoyed conducting in depth research related to design, customer experience and customer service as a driver for CX quality. Quite quickly I found myself bringing psychology back into my work, as it gave me a unique perspective for research. I authored and co-authored 50+ research reports that leaders in CX, design or Digital from our client base recognised as actionable, and shared my expertise with a wider audience as a keynote speaker at CX and design events.
I am today pursuing research in the space of teams' psychological safety, collaboration and employee experience. I also advise and mentor experience design leaders and their teams as an independent.
On my spare time, I volunteer as mentor for design organisations, helping young design professionals with their resume, portfolio and job search. I love modern dance and black & white photography. I combine the two, volunteering for the dance company Rose des Vents. I capture images from their performances for communication, support fundraising activities and take care of their online communication.
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I am based in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
I also spend time in Aix-en-Provence (France).
Do you need me for a speech, a training, or a mentoring engagement? Get in touch!