James Kirk
Product Designer and Innovation Consultant
I help companies define problems, test ideas, and ship products through research, experimentation, and design.
Cleo
Product Design - Financial AI Assistant
Joined Cleo during a company-wide rebrand as the first multi-squad designer. Operated as design “special ops”: embedding where risk or urgency was highest, adapting quickly, and delivering across multiple teams in parallel.
Worked across core product, growth, and platform initiatives while maintaining consistency during rapid change.
”James joined us at Cleo as a floating designer, supporting multiple squads wherever he was needed most. Despite juggling up to three teams at once, he never let the quality of his work drop — always delivering with care, creativity, and a great attitude.”
- Kate Pincott, Director of Experience
Case study available on request
MindMax
Lead Product Designer - AI Learning App
Solo product designer working with a team of engineers, I ran research and rapid experiments focused on building retention and improving product experience. Built out the first design system for the company and implemented AI prototyping tools to rapidly increase experiment cadence.
“James is an impressive senior product designer and leader with a complete range of skills across product-design, research, and UX. He is fast, creative and meticulously evidence-led, and capable of synthesising complex competing considerations in the service of simple, effective solutions.”
- Ed Cooke, Founder
mindmax.it
Tribul
Co-Founder - Blockchain Auction House
Designed and launched a blockchain-powered auction house aimed at opening access to high-end physical art.
Built an auction platform linking physical artworks to digital certificates of ownership via NFC chips and artist-minted NFTs. Enabled provenance, resale, and authenticity at the protocol level.
Hosted auctions for high-profile Web3 artists including the estate of Charles Csuri, Trevor Jones, and Artemis. Processed over $600k in sales.
tribul.org
BlackBullion
Lead Product Designer - Gen Z / Gen Alpha Finance
Led user research and product design for a new UK student money management app. Focused on onboarding, financial literacy, and habit-forming behaviours for first-time money managers.
Worked closely with founder and engineering to iterate rapidly from insight to shipped features.
“James was brought into BlackBullion to support us in fast iteration of our app. He was a joy to work with - responsive, creative and methodical and worked well with the rest of the team - easily fitting into the culture and demonstrating terrific communication skills. The proof as they say is in the pudding and it's delicious!”
- Vivi Friedgut, Founder & CEO
Case study available on request
DrDoctor
Research & Product Design - NHS Patient Communication
Led research and end-to-end product design for a messaging tool connecting NHS trusts with patients.
Conducted on-site research across UK hospitals, defined core patient and staff needs, and designed the MVP, MLP, and long-term product vision. The product is now in active use across NHS trusts.
“It saves a huge amount of time each day and removes the feeling of being overwhelmed by everything I need to do.”
- NHS Trust Service Manage
Case study available on request
CharacterLabs
Co-Founder - Web3 Studio
Co-founded a Web3 studio exploring internet-native brands and financial primitives.
Launched multiple meme tokens and LabRats - a yield-generating NFT collection released during December 2021, themed around genetically modified rats escaping into the metaverse.
About
Product designer and founder with 10+ years’ experience building digital products for different shaped companies, from pre-seed startups, to multinational organisations.
I’ve co-founded multiple start-ups, some that raised millions of pounds, and others that didn’t make it much further than the pitch. That mix has shaped a pragmatic view of what actually moves products forward, where teams stall, and how execution succeeds.
My work spans product design, service design, user research and innovation strategy. I’ve built and led teams in start-ups, agencies and in-house, working directly with founders and C-suite leaders.
I specialise in end-to-end product thinking: turning ambiguous problems into clear direction, shipping products and tying design work to measurable outcomes.