People

Oliver King

As a co-founder and director of Engine, Oliver leads the private sector practice helping organisations to identify where, when and how they can provide better, more meaningful and valuable services.

In practical terms he works with organisations to help them formulate strategy and deliver service innovation by improving or interconnecting the things that their customers experience - from product to processes and people.  Oliver is a passionate advocate of co-creation, design thinking and helping organisations to help themselves through actively building their internal service design capabilities.

With over 17 years experience, Oliver is a recognised pioneer in his field and regularly speaks and writes internationally on service design and innovation.

Joe Heapy

Joe Heapy is a co-founder and Director of Engine. With roots in industrial product design, Joe is an engaging advocate of the social value of design in improving people’s lives.

Joe has worked with many of Engine’s clients across sectors to improve business performance and the experiences of service users.  Joe leads the development of the public sector practice that continues to scope a role for designers in improving people’s lives through the organisations of government, public service, social enterprise and the citizen sector. Joe collaborated with Demos to research and publish, The Journey to the Interface, a pamphlet setting out the role of user-centred approaches to service design in the public sector.

Gavin Maguire

As a Senior Service Designer at Engine, Gavin has run projects with clients including Virgin Atlantic, BSkyB and Norwich Union. A degree in industrial design at RISD gave Gavin a passion for improving things - making them more functional, efficient, and appealing. Gavin’s background in interaction design honed his skills in creating engaging experiences which unfold over time. A grounding in information architecture enrich his understanding of systems and usability. These skills come together in Gavin’s service design work - where he creates elegant solutions which simultaneously reward service users and providers.
Gavin also speaks French.

Tamsin Smith

Tamsin is a senior service designer at Engine. She has lead service design projects for BAA and P&O and managed work for Vodafone, TfL, Eurostar, E.ON, Southwark Council and the BBC.

Prior to joining Engine she worked in the Design Council’s design knowledge team developing tools for designers and applying service design principles to the Design Council’s internal systems. Tamsin has also worked in user research at PDD, Instrata and the D&AD where clients included Proctor & Gamble and Epson and Masterfoods.

She has a background in design research and a degree in product design from the The Glasgow School of Art. 

Alex Nisbett

As a Service Design Lead at Engine, Alex combines design thinking with a practical collaborative approach to solving problems across diverse industries.

His expertise lies in designing highly participatory services and award-winning experiences; where brands and their audiences create and build meaningful relationships and generate sustainable, mutual value.

Trained originally as a graphic designer, Alex has over 20 years experience in traditional communications, branding, digital relationship marketing and service design; developing customer-centred strategies and innovations most recently for the BBC, Mercedes-Benz, ANA (the Portuguese Airport Authority), P&O Ferries, Virgin Atlantic and Vodafone.

James Samperi

A product designer by training, James has honed his skills in research, planning and strategy working on both agency and client side. Since completing an MA in Design Strategy and Innovation from Brunel University, James has specialised in developing user driven, product and service strategies at SeymourPowell and Samsung Design Europe. Before joining Engine, James was instrumental in establishing the design planning function within Samsung’s European studio developing a range of tools, processes and techniques.

James has helped develop design programs at BA and MA level, has had work published on innovation process and also won a DBA Inclusive Design award. James sees services as the next significant challenge for businesses and believes in the empathic nature of design to deliver innovative and competitive solutions.

Mike Culverwell

Mike is head of business development at Engine, and is typically the first point of contact for people interested in the value we can bring to their organisation.

Previously a director of client relations for a leading user centred design company, Mike has 10 years experience in consulting on and promoting the right types of services that enable organisations to deliver exceptional customer experiences and improve the success of their business.

His key focus is promoting the successful application of service design as the essential practice to ensure the creation of useful, useable and desirable service experiences.

Martine Curtin

Martine is the Office & Finance Manager at Engine. With an extensive background in business administration, management and development, her professional incentive focuses on the value of providing an outstanding customer service experience in business.

Prior to joining Engine, Martine worked for Cadbury Schweppes Plc. at their London-based GHQ. She also has business management experience in the fashion, retail and catering sectors. Martine is dedicated to implementing and promoting service design and providing steadfast support to the business. 

Joseph Harrington

Joseph specialises in Public Sector work for Engine. With a background in social services and design research, Joseph is experienced in running social
research projects and utilises design methods to mediate research processes. In the past he has worked on and lead projects with organisations including;
Orange/France Telecom, the manufacturers Advisory Service (MAS), Barnet Borough Council and London borough of Southwark. Joseph is also experienced in working within the charity sector as a
strategic consultant and is on the board of directors of a London-based homeless charity. He is also a visiting tutor at Goldsmiths College.

Julie McManus

As the studio assistant, Julie supports all aspects of the running of the team, from admin to hospitality.

With an MA in Comparative Literature from Goldsmiths and BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, she enjoys working in a creative and exciting atmosphere. With a history in retail and hospitality, Julie believes in the importance of excellent customer service and a passionate approach to service design.

Paul Edmunds

Since graduating in Product Design in 2003 Paul has worked within a broad range of design disciplines, including consumer experience and service. Before joining Engine, Paul was a designer at the innovation consultancy IDEO, where he worked bringing human centered design solutions to companies in both the private and public sector. Paul has recently worked with IKEA, Oxfam and Holiday Inn.

Paul is passionate about bringing tangibility to service design through prototyping. He believes design is a tool that can bring value to any industry and enjoys taking clients through a process to create stronger more innovative solutions.

Rachel Deller

Rachel is a Junior Designer at Engine. She recently graduated from Northumbria University with BAHons in Design For Industry and has been doing freelance Service Design work alongside her degree for three years.

Rachel’s experience so far has included working with Zest Innovation in the North East, Unilever, Autodesk in Toronto, and the Dott 07 programme. Energy and passion fuel Rachel’s commitment to working with a wide variety of people. She believes in the importance of sensitivity, humour and building relationships for any design project to succeed.

Tom Wynne-Morgan

Tom is a designer and researcher primarily concerned with the interactions between people and future/emerging technologies, products, services and brands. With an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art he has been involved in projects ranging from investigating the future of biotechnology to the design, architecture, positioning and project management of company websites. Tom has also worked in film production and written a white paper on the real value of co-creation for business.

Ross Timms

Ross is fascinated by storytelling and how brands cross the line from physical to digital - and back again - to articulate their story and emotionally engage consumers. And, more, how they are now inviting consumers to participate in building their story, so it remains enduringly relevant. Ross believes in bringing strategy and brand to life using design.

He is focused on collaborating with the client, their consumers and the design team to deliver solutions that are human-centered, feasible and viable for the clients business. Giving a design team the opportunity to explore their passions and push the boundaries of their craft. The aim is to deliver clients something that has a tangible ‘next step’ to implement in their organisation alongside a larger, more systemic roadmap.

Jonas Piet

Jonas is an enthusiastic designer who loves designing with and for people to find better ways of thinking and doing, making things work, and making them happen. Jonas is trained in Industrial design with an Msc degree from Delft University of Technology. The development from industrial design engineering via user research to public service design took a long time, going through vases, baby carriers, furniture, interiors, websites and future transport scenarios, over a 6 year period.

He believes the things that different types of design have in common is user research, building, trying things out and implementing them by combining learning, designing and doing. Now he has found his niche, Jonas loves working with local authorities, citizen research, big problems and ultimately making something that works for everyone: he believes that in the end it is about social outcomes.

Katie Buchanan

Katie is a Service Designer at Engine.  Since completing an MSc in Ergonomics, she has worked on a variety of user-centred design projects in both the physical and digital space.  This has involved using a variety of design techniques/tools to develop innovative solutions for organisations in the private and public sector. Projects she has worked on include designing the structure and functionality of websites and intranets, the layout of control rooms, the wayfinding in railway stations and the end-to-end experience of a new transport system. 

Katie is particularly interested in bringing research findings and user stories to life using visualisation techniques, and then using these insights to drive design decisions.

Aimee Tobin

Aimee is a designer and strategist, specialising in user-centred design and innovation. She is passionate about bringing consumer and cultural insight to the design process, demonstrated through experience in a range of sectors from financial services to broadcasting and digital experiences.

Before joining Engine, Aimee was an Audience Planner at the BBC, working alongside programme commissioners and development teams informing decision-making with insights into audience needs and behaviours. Prior to this, she was a designer at innovation consultancy IDEO where she brought human-centred design solutions and practices to a range of private and public sector clients, including a digital music service for (RED), a charity dedicated to eliminating Aids in Africa, which was a finalist for both the INDEX Design Award and IDEA Award 2009.

Aimee is passionate about the craft of Storytelling and how it can be a tool to shape or articulate ideas; emotionally engaging consumers and stakeholders in the design process.

Trudy Keith

A commercially astute, delivery focused professional, Trudy has a proven record of success in the areas of people development and behaviour change. Motivated by making things happen, and passionate about helping people improve performance, Trudy has extensive experience in developing staff behaviours around service provision. Trudy’s experience of implementing and driving sustainable behaviour change has lead her to work with some great clients in the hospitality and travel sector.

Aviv Katz

Aviv is an Associate of Engine with a focus on projects in the public sector. Having completed a product design degree at Kingston University, and an anthropology degree at UCL, Aviv gained experience designing consumer products, exhibitions and websites for clients such as NCR, the Science Museum, Pentland Group and Parker Pen. He later joined the Design Council, developing and running projects spanning business, innovation and design and was instrumental in the development of a national skills strategy for the design sector. Aviv has extensive experience working with public sector organisations as well as education and training bodies. He has written several articles and spoken at conferences on new and emerging design practices and design education.
Aviv also speaks Hebrew. 

Paul West

Paul is an Associate of Engine, specialising in developing concepts for service environments including commercial work for airline, retail and telecommunications brands. Paul studied Interior Architecture and Design at Nottingham Trent University and has since worked on a diverse range of projects covering architecture, interiors, strategy and master-planning of large environmental schemes. Paul also has his own business, Work Starts Here, a social enterprise that focuses on creating innovative, meaningful and engaging environments. Paul is currently developing a new type of ‘working holiday retreat’ that aims to regenerate coastal towns in the UK by attracting a diverse range of businesses and special interest communities to its communal environment. Paul won funding from the NESTA Creative Pioneer Programme to kick start the business.

Ed Lennox

Ed has over 10 years experience in assisting organisations to ‘live their brand’ at every level of the business by designing evaluation systems that engage people in behaviours that are demanded by, and are consistent with, the published values of a business.

Engine have worked with Ed over the past year to deliver exceptional changes in employee engagement (taking people from ‘final warning status’ to ‘change advocate’ within 6 weeks) and customer satisfaction (improvements over 50%).

Eds understanding of call centre operations, quality evaluation systems and his ability to join up all aspects of the customer journey enable us to catalyse and embed fundamental changes within a client business in a timely and cost effective manner.

He has worked with clients as diverse as Norwich Union, Royal & Sun Alliance, Toyota, Barclays Bank, BSkyB, Suzuki GB, and Burger King.

Paul Bello

Paul is an experienced strategy and design specialist for interactive products.

With considerable experience of conceiving and creating exceptional interactive products and services for global clients, a key focus of Paul’s design work is to embrace the philosophy and ethos of the brand and translate this into the applied interactive behaviour of technology. This makes for good design, but also increases value, familiarity and customer satisfaction, and creates resonance with physical and people-based service touchpoints.

With a degree in Information Studies and an MSc in Human-Centred Computing from Sussex, Paul’s user-centred design credentials include Nokia Design, Orange Brand Experience (a founder member), Orange Customer Experience, Razorfish, BT User-Centred Design Group and NatWest.

Caroline Hooper

Caroline has worked Kent County Council for some 20 years in a number of roles including IT, project management and policy. Based in the Corporate Policy Team, Caroline worked closely with Engine in developing the Social Innovation Lab for Kent (SILK).

Based in the Corporate Policy Team for KCC, she spends some of her time on specific SILK projects including facilitating the successful Just Coping project and the following Engaging Fathers project.

As a facilitator, she aims to promote the SILK way of working and tools, drawing on strong partnership and engagement skills to bring people together to think about issues and ideas in different ways.