Empowering teams & fostering collaboration for excellence in CX | EX | UX | design
I am a results-driven professional with 20 years of experience in design, design management and customer experience (CX). Critical thinker and problem solver, adept at tackling complex challenges, I blend a strong foundation in psychology with design thinking and tech. People who work with me value my no-nonsense approach and my commitment to delivering high-quality results, fostering collaboration, developing talent and helping others reach success.
From psychology to web development and accessibility
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. Already committed to digital accessibility, I 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.
From UX to UX strategy and service design
After a decade in digital, and plenty of successful projects to show for, I joined the renown Gobelins Paris school to get another master’s degree in digital engineering management. I soon realised I had been doing UX research and UX design for years before even having heard the term UX. It was a time when mobile app stores were growing fast and I focused my career on mobile experience.
I naturally felt there was more to good design than “just usable screens”. Experience design is so much more than 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 service design.
I made a significant step in my career moving to Amsterdam and setting up the service design practice and service design team at the mobility agency MOBGEN. Hiring in less than a year a dozen of service designers, mentoring them through each client engagement and supporting their career remains one of my best professional experience. And I am grateful for the confidence MOBGEN's CEO and Design Director had in me.
From design management to thought-leadership
Following MOBGEN's acquisition by Accenture, I joined Forrester Research as a Senior Analyst for customer experience (CX), I had the opportunity to work with some of the smartest people I know and enjoyed conducting in depth research related to design. My coverage area within customer experience included my domains of expertise - UX and service design – and led me to also explore customer service as a driver for CX quality and the future of mobility. I brought psychology back into my work as it gave a unique perspective to my research. And in almost 5 years, I authored and co-authored 50+ research reports that leaders in CX, in design or in Digital recognised as inspiring and actionable. Beyond written reports, live webinars or workshops, I also had the opportunity to share my expertise and research with a wider audience as a public speaker at industry events.
Collaboration and people first
Doing what is right, and doing it right is what drives me. And that can only happen when you enable and foster a high quality collaboration. My current research is putting people first: I am exploring teams’ abilities to create psychological safety to help organisations better shape their culture and ways of working. I support individuals, managers, leaders as well as teams through coaching, training and thought-leadership.