I am a PhD researcher within Open Lab as part of the Creative Exchange Project. My research focuses on enabling citizens to take a leading role in the commissioning and design of technologies and services that support new models of participation between communities and local government. I believe in designing technologies that can be deployed and studied within a real-world context and have previously developed a number of platforms using this approach:

• App Movement - An online platform that enables citizens to commission, design, and automatically generate mobile applications that support communities to establish community information resources.The platform has been adopted by over 35,000 users and has seen the creation of over 60 campaigns, resulting in 16 mobile applications.
• FeedFinder - A location based rating and review service for breastfeeding mothers to locate breastfeeding friendly locations nearby. FeedFinder has over 9,000 users who have contributed over 3,000 venues and more than 3,200 reviews and continues to support mothers in the UK, USA, Australia, and India.The EPSRC recently awarded the project with a Digital Economy Social Impact award for research that rapidly realizes the transformational impact of digital technology on community life, cultural experience, future society, and the economy.
• Event Movement - An online platform for collaboratively commissioning, designing, and promoting community events.

I have also worked as a Research Associate on a NESTA-funded project with Microsoft Research Cambridge and Tyne and Wear Museums and focused on designing Collections Dive - a novel discovery interface that responds to user interactions, such as scroll speed as an indicator of interest, to recommend and explore large-scale digital heritage collections. The discovery interface continues to engage visitors of Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums’ online collections.

Before joining Open Lab I was a Research Assistant at the Lincoln University Social Computing Research Centre (LiSC) on the ENACT Project that focused on leveraging the engaging properties of Online Social Networks to increase adherence and uptake of Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia. As part of the project I developed Sleepful, an Online Social Network that delivers CBT for those living with insomnia and integrates with a novel sleep recording mobile application.

While with the research group at Lincoln I also worked on Fearsquare, a project that looked at using Foursquare and Government Open Crime Data to provide a personalised overview of crime for areas you frequent.

I have a background in Software Engineering and enjoy the challenge of designing and developing large scale civic platforms for change using web and mobile technologies.

When I’m not technologically tinkering I also enjoy exploring the great outdoors, skiing, chasing footballs around, and cooking.