Product designer / systems thinker

Rowan
Vale

I shape clear, accessible digital tools for people doing important work. My practice moves between product strategy, interaction design and the details that make a system feel considered.

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Profile

01

Over the last eight years, I have helped small teams turn complex workflows into calm, useful products. I work best where research, content and interface design need to become one coherent experience.

Selected work

02
01 / 2024

Fieldnotes

A lightweight case-management workspace that gave community teams a shared view of intake, follow-up and handover. I led the initial product framing, prototyping and design system foundations.

02 / 2023

Good Measure

A clearer way for small food producers to understand their environmental reporting. I translated dense reporting requirements into a guided, plain-language flow.

03 / 2021

Open Hours

An appointment experience for a public learning programme, designed around flexible access needs. The work combined service mapping, content design and a tested mobile prototype.

Experience

03
Northline Studio2022—Present

Senior product designer

  • Partner with founders and engineers from first brief to shipped product.
  • Set practical research and critique habits for a seven-person product team.
  • Build accessible interface patterns that keep complex tools legible.
Common Thread2019—2022

Product designer

  • Designed web and mobile services for organisations in education and public interest technology.
  • Ran collaborative workshops, usability sessions and content-first journey mapping.
Independent2017—2019

Designer and researcher

  • Supported early-stage teams with product discovery, interface direction and prototype testing.