This page is still incomplete and work in progress. I am slowly adding my past experience to this site. I appreciate your patience.
Design is so much more than making things pretty. My design work is focused on making things usable: function over form. I love to make sense of complex information systems. I’m happiest when working in a combination of both strategic and tactical design work.
Current position
As of June 2022, I started a new longterm engagement as a User Experience (UX) Designer with the Dutch provider of employee insurance schemes (UWV). Unfortunately, most of the work I do here, cannot be disclosed.
Certification
I have a bachelor in Media, Information and Communication (2016, University of Applied Science Amsterdam). In the 80ies, I was trained as a graphical designer and engineer. The early design computers were code based, which was very similar to HTML. I have a basic+ level knowledge of HTML and CSS (mostly selftaught). I am a certified content designer.
I’m a continuous learner. If you want to learn more about User Experience Design, I highly recommend the Interaction Design Foundation courses (referral link: this means I get 3 months subscription for free).
UX Consultancy
For 3 years, I was part of the international design collective UXATT. Together with Cathi Bosco and Jackie D’Elia, I helped business owners, developers, agencies, product teams and others in the digital space improve the usability and accessibility of their product.
Work for UXATT
- User research, UX design, accessibility consultancy and prototyping for various WooCommerce plugins by Kathy Darling.
- User research, UX design, content design, accessibility testing for GravityView, a WordPress plugin that creates content from form submissions.
- For GoDaddy, an international hosting company, we created prototypes and did a usability study to research options for a client portal and onboarding in WordPress.
- Full redesign of a custom webshop and elearning platform for IAB Ingenieurs. Included prototyping, creating a UI kit, project management and hand off to developers.
Past design and consultancy work
As an independent designer, I have helped various small business owners to identify their online goals with strategy workshops and design consultancy. I’ve guided businesses, NGO’s and other organisations on branding, design, communication and content strategy.
Design teaching
- One on one courses WordPress
- Group courses on the new WordPress block editor that was introduced in 2018
- Freelance teaching at the University of Applied Science in Visual Storytelling, Design, Prototyping, Online Publishing, WordPress, Marketing Strategy
- In house teaching on Content Design for editors/writers at UWV (in person, elearning)
Open source contributions and volunteering
- Since 2017, I contribute to the WordPress project. I was part of the WordPress design team and a team rep for a while.
- At WordCamps (WordPress conferences), I lead the design table a few times, helping new and existing contributors collaborate and work on WordPress design challenges. I also volunteered a few times in various roles and have spoken at WordCamps and Meetups.
- I was a juror for the Automattic Design Awards 2018, lead by John Maeda.
Public speaking
My presentations on Meetups, WordCamps and other conferences. At least, most of them. I have also included some podcasts and online interviews.
2023
- Panel discussion on Chat GPT at Amsterdam WordPress Meetup. With Joost de Valk and Paul van Buuren.
2021
- Verbeter de usability van je website in 10 stappen, presentation in Dutch for WPNL live, February 2021
- Van lokale naar internationale speler: cross-border succes met je webshop, webinar in Dutch for Weglot, in collaboration with Mollie and Sendcloud, March 2021
- Make your product or website more usable in 10 easy steps, online presentation for WordSesh, May 2021
2019
- 100 days of what? Why you should learn how to code, even though you don’t fancy a coding career, presentation at WordCamp Europe, Berlin, May 2019, Wordcamp New York City, September 2019 and ParisWeb, October 2019
2017
- The Importance of Information Architecture – How to Organise Content to Improve User Experience, WordCamp London, March 2017, WordCamp Europe, Paris, June 2017, WordCamp USA, Nashville, December 2017
Interviews and podcasts
2021
- Input: Client succes and engagement, november 2021
2020
- Kinsta Kingpin, January 2020
- Women in WP #024, January 2020
2019
- Hallway Chats #113, October 2019
2017
- HeroPress essay: Coming Home, March 2017