Mr Paul Reynolds Product Design

I help organisations to identify and build purposeful opportunities to grow value and use a holistic design-led approach to unlock them.

I have led strategic design to shape spaces, amenities and products for end customers, and to transform complex operational environments & systems for in-house teams.

I work across multiple sectors, countries, and cultures, applying end-to-end thinking to bridge the gap between operational design and end user needs.

In my current role as a Principal Consultant at Mima I work primarily on strategy and design for operational environments & systems, and complex, mission critical workspaces. I work in sectors including aviation, rail, renewables, data centres, smart cities, government, scientific research, and emergency services.

My skills mean that I can regularly play a hands-on role through research, briefing, ideation, design development and beyond. I leverage emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly through Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. This accelerates and optimises engagement of stakeholders including user representatives in design thinking and builds by-in to outcomes.

My work has boosted operational performance for a railway service team by 30% through targeted transformation of spaces, processes and workflows.

I have led strategic design that helped to shape Ocean Infinity’s Armada service offering and defined the human-centred design for the first mission-critical, uncrewed maritime operating system of its type. This work directly supported the remarkable speed with which Armada grew from a bold statement of ambition to a fully operational next-generation fleet within just 5 years.

I have orchestrated a project with an airport team undertaking a major redevelopment, helping them to sustain customer satisfaction and brand loyalty throughout disruptive works and to capitalise on the resulting enhanced customer experience in refurbished spaces as the work developed.

I have also worked with technology-led organisations at start-up stage, to unpack and address complex problems, build business cases, and co-create design-led strategy for development and growth.

Skills

• Developing understanding of business context and needs through facilitating activities with senior leaders and other functions
• Conducting deep user research such as contextual inquiry to capture existing user experience and associated opportunities for change
• Using evidence from research to share and build awareness across the organisation of key objectives and empathy with user needs
• Working confidently with senior stakeholders to interpret ideas into proactive vision and strategy
• Ensuring strategy responds to identified needs and clear evidence for where measurable impact can be successfully achieved
• Building design driven solutions on the foundation of evidence
• Holistic application of design thinking, end-to-end service design, iterative prototyping, piloting and testing, fast innovation, and change management strategies
• Hands-on human-centred design including advanced skills in AutoCAD and SketchUp, and proficiency in a range of wider design software and integrated Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools
• Drawing on insights from other contexts to drive outcomes; such as building flexibility and agility, designing for human behaviour and using the system of systems context to inspire cumulative value creation
• Clear, concise communication focused on evidence driven design-led actions and measuring success
• Application of strategic design targeted at identifying the correct problems to solve, then addressing them directly – delivering a faster fit of environment, system, service or technology with market position
• End-to-end human-centred design focus connecting outcomes more closely to what users need and wish for, improving usability and value for customers, and building customer loyalty & commercial gain.
• Project management including running complex concurrent projects, managing internal resources and subcontractors, stakeholder communications and financial planning
• Business development including attending and speaking at industry events, directly approaching potential clients, developing thought leadership content, writing proposals and tender responses