Coaching and mentoring for product and design people

I met with Alastair for a few sessions after graduating, during in lots of uncertainty and without a clear sense of where I wanted to head.

He was very attentive and kind, offering resources as well as practical tips on how to navigate and find my feet.

He always has an open door and is up for a conversation - bringing experience and resources in a way that feels natural and appropriate. He listens and reflects, bringing fresh perspectives and conversations that have helped me a lot!

I'm still in the early stages of my career in UX design, so I've found it invaluable to come to Alastair with various challenges - from process issues, to prototyping methods, to how to best articulate my design decisions. His many years of experience make him a fantastic sounding board for design and product related challenges.

Alastair's excellent at helping me figure out what the core problem might be, asking questions to help me see the situation from a different perspective, and suggesting extra reading and resources, so that I can work towards an appropriate solution.

Something that really sets him apart is he actively asks for and implements feedback. He listens, reflects and tailors his sessions to his learners, so they can get as much out of them as possible.

I had recently joined a startup and was new to working with a technology product. I needed a crash course in user experience and product management, and how to establish and grow those functions within the company.

I was overwhelmed with the amount of work and wasn't sure where I should start. Plus we had a number of issues that we wanted to address within the product, but lacked a clear understanding of where we wanted to go and what to prioritise.

Alastair gave me more confidence to take on more responsibility. He helped me learn the basics of Product Discovery and how to put user needs at the centre of a strong product process.

I use what I learned from Alastair everyday - whether it is leading user interviews, running ideation sessions, or simply prioritising the backlog.

As the company has grown and our product ambitions have expanded, the insight and experience I've gained from working with Alastair has helped me ask the right questions, advocate for our users, and approach complex problems with confidence and empathy.

I'm now working with two junior product managers, and not a week goes by where I'm not passing on some piece of wisdom or insight Alastair shared with me.

He is incredibly experienced, has a breadth of resources he happily shares, and is always available for a conversation.

I felt comfortable asking basic questions, going to Alastair for guidance on issues related to work and my personal career trajectory, and even sharing book and show recommendations!

I always felt like Alastair was in my corner, even when I got something wrong or needed a couple of tries to grasp a concept.

I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to work with Alastair. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without his support.

I met with Alastair during the early stages of founding Marmot Energy. He coached us through discovering problem-solution fit - helping us nail down what we're building, for who and why it could be useful for them.

A great brainstorming partner, Al picks up complicated concepts super quickly, asks the right questions to surface risky assumptions and helps come up with experiments to go away and put into practice.

Bags of experience in building products which solve problems for people and an all round pleasure to work with to boot.