Our team
Our strength comes from our considerable experience working with leading commercial and public sector organisations, and the highly complementary skills of the individual team members.
Our core consultants are:
Chris Rourke, Managing Director & Founder
Chris has over 20 years commercial experience in usability, accessibility, human factors consultancy and training. Chris has worked with a range of clients including Hewlett Packard, Dell Computers, NCR, Houses of Parliament, Emirates Airline, DirectGov and many other commercial and public sector clients in the UK and abroad. His particular user experience interests include web accessibility, the application of Rich Internet Applications such as AJAX and Flex, remote usability testing, eye tracking and persuasion architecture.
Chris is Founder and Past President of the Scottish Chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association and the UPA’s regional coordinator for Europe. He is a member of various professional organisations, including the British Human-Computer Interaction Group (BHCIG), and the Computers and Human Interaction Group of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM-SIGCHI).
Chris is a Board Member of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the software, IT and creative technology industries for Scotland. He is also on the Steering Committee for the world’s first Master’s degree in Design Ethnography at the University of Dundee which is helping train the ethnographers of the future.
Chris holds a BSc. in Engineering Psychology from Tufts University and a MSc. in Ergonomics from the University of Michigan.
In his spare time Chris enjoys travel and sport, particularly ultimate Frisbee.
Emma Kirk, Strategic Director
Emma has over 16 years experience in Strategic Marketing and Internet fields. Her career spans a wealth of blue chip organisations predominantly in the financial services sector. She also has digital agency experience having established the digital service for Scotland's largest direct marketing agency.
Emma brings a strategic yet common-sense approach to User Vision, making usability an understandable and jargon-free experience for our clients. She holds a BA (Hons.) Business Studies with Marketing and the CIM Diploma in Marketing.
Emma loves nothing more than to “bag a few Munros” in her time off – a great way to unwind (unless it's raining).
Ross Philip, Principal Usability Consultant
Ross has over 10 years experience in the commercial application of user-centred design process and methods in software and web development. Since joining User Vision in 2002, Ross has led and managed a very large number of high profile usability and accessibility projects for many of User Vision's clients.
He has particular interests in Strategic Usability, Usability Maturity , User Centred Design , Information Architecture Analysis and Training .
Acting as a Liaison between the BHCIG and the British Standards Institute (BSI) on the committee responsible for usability standards, he has had previous input into the development and refinement of usability related standards including ISO 23973 (now ISO 9241-151) – "Software ergonomics for Worldwide Web user interfaces". He has also previously been involved with the development of an international accreditation scheme for usability professionals and is a member of the Scottish Usability Professionals’ Association.
Ross holds a MSc. (distinction) in Information Systems from Napier University where his passion for usability and user-centred design was first lit.
(New Para) His career has also included posts as medical researcher, financial consultant, direct marketer and professional musician prior to switching to Information Technology and the specialist field of usability.
He often has his hands full with his three young children, still loves playing bass in his band and likes nothing better than a contemplative days fishing and a top curry, ideally one after the other.
Simon Duke, User Experience Director - User Vision MENA
Simon has a BA in History from the University of Sheffield and an MSc in Recreation Management from Loughborough University and is currently finishing an MSc in Interactive Systems: User Experience at Edinburgh Napier University.
After completing his Recreation Management MSc, Simon worked in the market research industry, most recently for Ipsos MORI, one of the world’s leading research firms, where he spent eleven years. At Ipsos MORI, he started out as a classical researcher, gaining considerable experience in both qualitative and quantitative skills, before specialising in the field of usability testing. From 2005, Simon was responsible for leading the UK Usability and Accessibility business at Ipsos MORI.
Given his market research background, Simon is highly experienced in user needs analysis, particularly in conducting focus groups and stakeholder interviews to gain an understanding of issues and using this information in persona and task development. He is a strong advocate of placing the user at the heart of the design process.
Simon has worked for both private and public sector organisations, to conduct user needs analysis and to test websites, mobile phone applications and touchscreen kiosks. He is particularly experienced in the financial services, education and travel sectors.
Simon is currently writing his MSc Dissertation on the usability of personal banking websites with the objective of developing an improved user experience without impacting on security.
Outside of work, Simon enjoys playing a range of sports, most frequently football, cricket and badminton and tries to find time for at least one ski holiday a year.
Mark Westwater, Senior Usability Consultant
Mark is qualified with a BSc. (Hons.) in Applied Biological Sciences from Napier University in Edinburgh, an MSc. (Eng.) in Work Design and Ergonomics at the University of Birmingham.
Mark has over 15 years experience applying User Centred Design (UCD) methodologies to product developments. Prior to joining User Vision Mark worked for NCR, the world leader in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) Research and Development. His primary focus was to plan and support both hardware and software developments including both mobile and voice recognition projects.
Since joining User Vision Mark has worked across a variety of sectors for a diverse list of clients. He has worked extensively in Financial Services and across the mobile platform as well as conducting more product based research. As well as his user-centred project roles, as a Senior Consultant Mark has responsibility for project management, presentation to board level, business generation and delivering training courses in mobile usability. Marks client list includes the BBC, Autotrader, Sainsbury’s Bank, Channel 4 and iBAHN.
He has been a Registered Member of the Ergonomics Society for the last 15 years and is currently the membership secretary of the Scottish Ergonomics Forum. Mark is also a Member of the Usability Professional’s Association (UPA). He has published a number of research papers and has several filed patents in both the security and accessibility fields. In 2001 Mark won the ‘Eureka’ award for innovation for a visual PIN concept for ATM security.
Mark enjoys DJing and also plays golf regularly and was a county team member. Today, unfortunately, Mark hacks his way around a golf course with little purpose.
Stephen Denning, Senior Usability Consultant
Stephen has over 12 years experience in delivering user-centred solutions across a variety of industries and sectors, helping organisations deliver products and services that meet the needs of their users in a usable and compelling way. His User Experience (UX) knowledge is complimented by years of experience of project management and systems/business analysis, as well as being underpinned by a solid technical background.
Before joining User Vision Stephen was a Principal Consultant with PA Consulting, working with a range of well-known clients, including Nissan, BBC, Egg, NHS and HMRC. In 2007, Stephen took a career break to undertake a post-graduate degree in Boston, Massachusetts and while there also worked as a Research Associate at the Bentley University Design & Usability Center, undertaking UX projects for clients such as Nokia, Salary.com and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Since joining User Vision in 2009 Stephen has worked with a number of clients, including Tesco Bank, English Heritage, Autotrader and NHS24, providing valuable insight at crucial points in their service development and helping them to realise the benefits of delivering an excellent user experience.
Stephen has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University and a Masters in Human Factors in Information Design from the Bentley University Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the British Computer Society and the Usability Professionals Association.
In his free time, Stephen can be found perusing the technology magazines, playing with his young son or grabbing a pair of skis and hunting out some snow.
Jonathan Marshall, Head of Interactive TV
Jonathan Marshall is one of the key technical strategists in the field of interactive TV, having led the development of the BBC's first ground-breaking services on DTT and Digital Satellite.
Jonathan started his career at the BBC in 1991 as a recording engineer for BBC Scotland. He then left to complete a degree in Electronics and Music followed by a Masters in French and Management. By combining these skills he worked in Paris for IRCAM designing and implementing Digital Music Workstations for contemporary composers and performers to use.
Jonathan rejoined the BBC in 1996 working firstly on DAB and then Digital Television for the Research and Development department at Kingswood Warren. It was here that he developed the world's first interactive TV broadcasts in MHEG. In 1999 Jonathan joined the newly-created BBC Interactive TV department at Bush House, where he worked with the technical team in delivering a whole raft of services in the interactive TV field. Jonathan went on to become BBC Interactive TV's main technical interface for all third party software providers, testing and appraising their products, and giving him an unrivalled knowledge of the interactive TV tools market.
Laura Farrant, Senior Consultant - User Vision MENA
Laura is an experienced usability research and consultant who has applied her skills to a wide variety of business domains including public sector organisations, broadcasters and publishers, financial services and market research. She has led the the planning, execution and reporting of lab-based remote (moderated and unmoderated) research, eye tracking, expert evaluations and focus groups for leading organisations both in the UK and in the Middle East.
As part of our Middle East and North Africa team, Laura has valuable regional experience from leading user centred design and market research activities for Yahoo! (Maktoob Research) and Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC).
Laura has worked with many leading organisations including Emirates Airline, Barclays Capital, the FSA, the National Archives, TK Maxx, Zurich, and the Department of Education.
Mark Palmer, Accessibility Consultant
Mark has 12 years experience in the IT Industry, 6 of which were spent heading the user interface team at Intelligent Finance. In his role as Senior Analyst Programmer, Mark headed up numerous projects, ensuring that accessibility standards were maintained from the projects inception through to the delivered product.
A passionate advocate for accessibility and web standards, Mark brings a wealth of accessibility experience to User Vision. He is a strong believer that the web can be accessible and user friendly without sacrificing style.
Mark is a huge music fan, usually listening to bands which other people have never heard of.
Jamie Sands, Usability Consultant
Jamie qualified in 1999 with a BSc. (Hons.) in Psychology from Edinburgh University and completed his PhD. in ‘Usability of Stereoscopic Augmented Reality’ from the School of Computing at Napier University in 2007.
Jamie has also spent 2 years working within the Advanced Technology and Research department of NCR, the world leader in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) development, as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Napier University and NCR, Dundee. This challenging assignment encompassed the full project life-cycle, from initial project space investigation, through user testing and prototype development. This work included the development of the largest multi-national investigation of user opinions on banking behavior and personalization.
During his time at User Vision Jamie has worked with clients such as the BBC, DirectGov and the Student Loans Company and has taken a particular interest in the application of eye tracking as a means to gather further understanding of the user experience.
This has also included emotional response testing using sophisticated eye-tracking technology to measure the immediate, instinctual, psycho-physiological reaction to visual stimuli.
Outside of work Jamie has an interest in music and film, on both sides of the camera. In particular he has an interest in short film competitions, including 8mm films, of which his first three entries have been accepted and premiered in various London screenings.
Paula Mestre, Usability Consultant
Paula has more than 6 years experience in the Information Technology field. Having started out as a Web Developer, her interest in the web evolved as she focused on the study and analysis of user requirements. Within her career she has worked for companies of varying sizes and with very different products: from call centre applications to customer facing websites and mobile services .
Prior to joining User Vision, Paula worked for Orange, helping them to ensure their services were usable and user-centred. Since joining User Vision Paula has carried out work for companies such as Sky and Visit Scotland.
She is also passionate about accessibility and ensuring that users are able to benefit from new technologies, irrespective of any physical or mental impairments.
Paula has a Bachelors degree in technical engineering of System Data processing, specialty Web technology and Services, from the Computer Science Polytechnic University in Valencia (Spain).
Paula considers herself a TV addict and loves fashion, music and travelling.
Alan Blackwood, Usability Consultant
Alan has over 10 years experience in user-centered design roles in large commercial and public-sector organisations.
During that time he has co-coordinated and led user-centered design input into major web developments in the financial services and higher education sectors, utilising his practical knowledge of the skills and techniques required to help businesses meet the varying demands of diverse user groups.
Alan completed a BA in English Literature at the University of Sheffield before discovering the wonders of the emerging technology of the web and subsequently completed an MSc in Human Computer Interaction at Napier University in Edinburgh.
When not spending far too much time staring at some form of screen, Alan enjoys travel, reading and various sports.
Luke Burrows, Usability Consultant
Luke has a BA (Hons) in Photography, film and imaging and graduated with an MSc (distinction) in Interactive Systems: User Experience from Napier University in 2009.
Prior to joining User Vision Luke worked for one of Europe’s leading digital agencies where he was involved in the development of the usability department, championing usability and its cross digital integration. He has experience in conducting expert evaluations, user research including persona creation and scenarios, user journey mapping, wireframe design, user testing, landing page reviews and conversion optimisation.
Luke has worked with numerous household brands delivering a combination of usability and digital marketing products, including Play.com, Skype, npower, Admiral, Marks & Spencer, UBS, Littlewoods Europe, MyDestinationInfo.com, Liberate Cosmetic Surgery, & redspottedhanky.com.
Shane Walsh, Usability Consultant
Shane has a B.A in English and a Higher Diploma in Applied Psychology from University College Cork. While studying Applied Psychology Shane became interested in the field of Human Computer Interaction and subsequently obtained an MSc (Distinction) in Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics from University College London.
Shane has experience of utilising a broad range of user centred design tools and techniques and has applied these in work with clients in the public and private sector.
Shane has a keen interest in emerging human computer interaction paradigms, completing his MSc dissertation on the area of Gestural user interfaces. Since joining User Vision Shane has worked on large scale projects encompassing all facets of experience, particularly prototyping and usability testing.
Shane is a member of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.
Press enquiries
Our PR contact is Sarah Lee at Hot Tin Roof. For further information on User Vision contact Sarah on Tel: 0131 225 3875 or email: sarah@hottinroof.co.uk