A day in the life of James, our Head of Digital Product Design

How long have you worked at The Distance?

I've been at The Distance for 5 years and 6 months!

How would you describe your role in one sentence?

I help our clients design and architect their application, with a focus on the end users.

What does a day in your life as Head of Digital Product Design look like?

Each day varies and is dependent on the projects we are working on and the specific needs of each project. A typical day consists of:

• Answering product-related questions from our clients and our internal developers.
• Understanding client requests and requirements, and translating them into development specifications and wireframes.
• Client calls to present outputs or receive feedback on outputs.
• Internal kick-offs to transfer knowledge of the product to our internal developers.

Problem solving. Everything we do in product is related to solving problems. Our partners want an application that solves a specific problem and can be used by their end users. This thruline is carried over in everything we do, from external problems and blockers to internal problems and blockers. Product needs to be able to look at something and then find a solution that works for all parties involved.

Putting the user first is a great way of approaching this. User’s are used to using mobile applications and anything to different will require them to re-learn everything. We say we are never trying to re-invent the wheel, as the wheel works. This helps us focus on what the user is trying to do, and then thinking about the best way to achieve that with functionality the user is familiar with. We can then get creative if there is something in particular that would be unique to solving the particular user problem.

It’s not a design principle exactly, but one that I use throughout the whole discovery process is always asking "why?".

Clients come to use with ideas and asking "why?" when discussing those ideas is a great way for both the client and The Distance to really understand the purpose or thoughts behind what they are asking.

Within our initial workshop for a new project, we work with the client to break down business goals and user goals. These are normally linked together in some way, but could be very different, distinctive goals.

Once decided, we use these as a thruline throughout the whole project, always reflecting back to them to make sure any decisions made tie to at least one of the goals. This keeps the application consistent, but also prevents the client and us from talking about features or functionality that are related to those goals.

Thinking about features and functionality over who will be using their application and why they would be using it.

Also, focusing on features and functionality might lead to developing features that the user never asked for and will never use.

Figma for wireframes and designs, and Confluence for documentation.

Nothing beats having a conversation with a developer to help them understand what we are trying to do. This happens at multiple points throughout the discovery process, inducing a full day of going through the whole application before the developers provide an estimation on how they would develop it.

Related to the problem solving, but actually seeing your proposed solutions come to life and working as expected.

If you were a biscuit, what biscuit would you be?

Ginger Nut, an acquired taste, but a lot of people's favourites… plus I’m a ginger.

If you weren’t in this role, what would you be doing?

Creative producer for films or television shows.

Whether he’s untangling a tricky user flow, sketching out a wireframe, or translating business needs into developer-ready specs, James sits at the heart of every product we build. His work ensures that what we design not only looks good but also works brilliantly for clients, developers, and end users alike.

Design might start with wireframes, but with James leading the charge, it always ends with clarity, consistency, and real-world value.

Curious about how great design can elevate your digital product?

Take a look at how we work, or get in touch. We’re always up for a good conversation about turning ideas into intuitive, user-first experiences.