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How complex things actually work
Human-centered, at Super•hu•man scale

Context: Building the after-sales service behind delays, warranties and returns for a fast-growing B2B AUTODOC PRO platform (where one broken hand-off can cost a garage half a day's work).
Role: Lead B2B Service Design & Customer Experience
Org.: AUTODOC (Insights & Customer Experience team)
Overview: I led the service design and research behind AUTODOC PRO's after-sales backbone — delay management, warranty and returns. I defined the end-to-end vision (customer journeys, service blueprints, cross-functional flows) and the requirements product and engineering build from. Two examples: a six-phase returns blueprint, "from request to refund," that maps ten functional teams onto one shared source of truth so hand-offs don't fall through the gaps; and a delay-management service audit that adapts Lou Downe's Good Service Scale to the PRO reality (eight pillars, in a before-launch and a live version) to test whether the service is ready, and later whether it actually works. I also ran the proof-of-concept research behind the new courier-pickup returns model.
Methods: Service blueprinting, journey mapping, cross-functional requirements, service audit (Good Service Scale), proof-of-concept research, moment-of-truth analysis.
Impact: Turned a growth bet into an evidence-based plan. The new returns model has to support opening coverage fast enough for a ~30% PRO growth target (> 115% target). The PoC research with focused cohort of PRO customers across three markets (DE, BE, NL) surfaced the exact risks that would erode that upside — courier no-shows, doorstep hand-off failures, and one return becoming five at packing — before a wider rollout, and the blueprint gave product, ops, care and finance one agreed map to fix them against.
References: Under NDA – available on request

Context: Building a design practice where AI does the connective work between research and delivery: so a small team can keep a complex product coherent at the pace engineering now ships
Role: Lead B2B Service Design & Customer Experience
Org.: AUTODOC (Insights & Customer Experience team)
Overview: I build internal AI tools that turn static research and design artefacts into working ones:

• A live blueprint tracker that keeps 115+ cross-functional requirements visible across six delivery domains;
• A discovery-to-delivery engine that translates upstream research into backlog-ready epics and stories;
• And AI agents applied to systems analysis – mapping adoption drivers, feedback loops and subsystem interdependencies from field research (for example, a new Garage Management System broken into five subsystems) to inform product-strategy decisions.

The line I hold: AI accelerates the connective work between research and delivery; interpretation and synthesis stay with the humans (researcher).
Methods: qualitative research, interpretation and synthesis (human-led); AI used only for connective work — structuring and tracking requirements, translating validated insights into backlog-ready epics, and modelling systems and causal loops; prototyping; service blueprinting.
Impact: Less meaning lost between discovery and development, and enough leverage for a small team to work at a scale that usually needs a much larger one. The working conviction: as AI speeds up execution, design's job becomes keeping the product coherent.
References: Under NDA – available on request

Context: Way-finding; ticket queuing; waiting and privacy in a high-traffic building.
Role: Senior Service Designer
Org.: LabX / AMA (now ARTE.gov.pt)
Client: Lojas de Cidadão (One-Stop Shops)
Overview: Portugal's One-Stop Shops ("Lojas de Cidadão") put dozens of public services under one roof, with heavy daily footfall – around 9 million visits a year in a country of roughly 11 million people. On the LabX team, I helped redesign the in-person experience. Research pointed to four main problems: people got lost in the space, struggled with the ticket machine, waited too long, and had no privacy at the desk.
Working with citizens and shops' staff, we built 10 prototypes – a new way-finding system, a simpler ticket-machine UX, desk privacy panels, floor markings for queues, and better waiting areas (charging points, a reading and work area, a children's corner). We tested them in the real setting, not a lab: two rounds over 2 weeks gathering feedback from 300+ citizens and 40+ staff on site.
That evidence guided what got rolled out nationally, and showed something useful: testing the whole journey at once tells you more than fixing one thing at a time.
Methods: field research, co-creation, prototyping, live testing, way-finding, queue UX and space design.
Impact: The redesign was driven by evidence from the people who use and run the service, not by assumptions. Feedback from the citizens and staff fed directly into what the network of shops chose to roll out nationally, and the two-round approach gave the team a repeatable way to prioritise fixes across the whole journey rather than one desk or screen at a time. Overall, it significantly impacted the efficiency and UX of several public services available at Loja de Cidadão, making them more efficient, user-friendly, and aligned with the most pressing needs of the public.
References:

• Article (LinkedIn)
• Innovation is impossible without a change in culture
• Making the Future Today - Progress Report (PDF - Page 15)

Context: Improve a busy physical service that can't close for works — the same constraint an airport has
Role: Senior Service Designer
Org.: LabX / AMA (now ARTE.gov.pt)
Client: Lojas de Cidadão de Aveiro (Aveiro's One-Stop Shop)
Overview: Designed "Public Service as a Living Lab" to transform public service delivery in Portugal by experimenting, testing, and refining concepts in real-world environments. We used a working One-Stop Shop as a live test-bed. During normal opening hours, citizens, staff and outside specialists (two universities and Fraunhofer Portugal) helped build and check solutions over a four-week programme. We tested a colour-coded wayfinding system (three zones, each with its own directory and matching ticket machine, so people reach the right service faster); two simpler ticket-machine screens; acoustic privacy panels at the desks; and a tactile floor strip marking the service line. A second phase tested a government login portal before it went live.
Methods: living lab, field research, co-creation, way-finding, ticket-queue redesign, usability and accessibility testing, iterative prototyping.
Impact: The initiative de-risked public sector innovation through real-time testing, delivering immediate gains in operational efficiency and user experience. Crucially, it embedded user-centred within public administration, empowering civil servants to independently prototype and deploy evidence-backed solution. What real users on site told us:

• Self-service & navigation (n =478): users confirmed that the new way-finding layout directly lowers friction and cuts staff/security support interventions
• Ticketing usability (n = 45): User testing proved the updated UI outperforms the current ticket machines in user comprehension
• Physical accessibility & signage: Floor strip achieved 90% awareness / 80% understanding, fully meeting reduced-mobility standards
• Spatial privacy: Privacy panels were endorsed by 30 citizens and 15 staff members.

References:

• Blog: Public Services as a Living Lab
• Report: Public Services as a Living Lab (Portuguese)
• LabX Living Lab - Report (PDF - 2nd Ed.)
• Making the Future Today - Progress Report (PDF - Page 23)

Role: Design and Research Lead
Org.: LabX / AMA (now ARTE.gov.pt)
Client: Employment and Professional Training Institute (IEFP)
Overview: Lead the usability and UX assessments to enhance the user experience of the public employment portal, named IEFP Online, focusing on interface design and accessibility. It involved applying mixed research methods to understand the needs and pain points of users, combined with an heuristic analysis to identify key areas of improvement, which fed directly to the portal's development backlog.
Impact: The portal became more intuitive and user-friendly, making it easier for citizens to navigate and access employment services. Some of the metrics of the improvements led to a 75% increase in access from mobile devices, a 36% increase in applications for professional internships, a 49% increase in the number of new users, and a 25% reduction in dropout rates.
References:

• Employment Online Project
• Public Employment Portal Improvements

Role: Design Lead
Org.: FutureEverything
Client: Partner organisations from the UK
Overview: Led the design and implementation of the Smart City Blueprint, using the city of Manchester as a testing bed, integrating Human-Centred Design (HCD) principles to address urban challenges and improve citizen experiences, in partnership with a cohort made by public authorities, universities and leading tech companies, developing innovative solutions that not only address immediate needs but also consider long-term environmental and societal sustainability.
Impact: Developed innovative solutions for urban infrastructure and services, enhancing overall city functionality and citizen engagement.
References:

• Co-creating a Smart City Blueprint
• City Verve: 4 lessons / 4 months
• Evaluation of Human-Centred Design in CityVerve
• Incorporating Human-Centred Design in CityVerve

Role: Design Lead
Org.: FutureEvertyhing
Client: Partner organisations from the UK and EU
Overview: GROW Observatory is a citizen-driven observatory project which aimed at empowering individuals and entire communities to take action on soil and climate issues across Europe and was named. I've facilitated multidisciplinary collaborations, bringing together artists, technologists, and other stakeholders to co-create innovative solutions.
Impact: Promoted community involvement in environmental monitoring and provided actionable insights, fostering sustainable practices and empowered farmer and food-growing communities to improve soil quality using low-cost sensors, an app, and satellite data.
References:

• Cross-Sector Partnerships and Why
• Co-creation and Citizen Science

Role: Design and Facilitation Lead
Org.: LabX / AMA (now ARTE.gov.pt)
Client: Multiple
Overview: LabX created a Network of Innovators, which is a community of practice with ~700 members from public administration. Within this community, I designed the framework, program and innovation governance model to apply to the Network of Experimentation Labs and dozens of Public Servants within the Portuguese public sector. This network aimed to foster a culture of experimentation and innovation across various government departments.
I also led to the practice infrastructure behind the network — toolboxes, playbooks, and a guide for the (re)design and evaluation of public services. All published by LabX and freely available to public bodies across Portugal.
Impact: Established a collaborative ecosystem and platform for public sector innovation, enabling the sharing of best practices and facilitating the development of innovative public services.
Fostering a culture of innovation within the public sector. It has empowered over 10,000 citizens and 2,250 public servants through training and collaborative projects, resulting in improved service delivery and enhanced capacity for ongoing innovation.
References:

• Article (LinkedIn)
• Labs Network Overview
• LabX - EIPAs first prize winner
• Toolbox Labx (PDF)
• LabX portfolio of work