Our team and associates
Simon Rubens is founder and Director of new experience and leads all client engagements. Previously he was Director of User Experience at leading user experience firm Sapient, and before that, a senior consultant at brand consulting firm Siegel & Gale. He has a BSc in psychology and an MSc with distinction in ergonomics from UCL. Simon has had numerous papers, citations and articles published. He is co-founder of the Ethnography in Design forum and a member of the UK Usability Professionals' Association.
Raina Brody has over ten years’ experience in the field of user experience research. She built the usability programmes at Amazon.com and Getty Images, and has worked in research for Microsoft and Yahoo!. Raina specialises in persona generation and benchmark testing, but is experienced in a broad range of techniques from RITE testing to eye tracking, as well as quantitative analysis methods. Raina’s obsession is good customer experience, she thrives on using great research to help companies create products people can’t live without.
Nerija Titus is passionate about inspiring innovation by using creative approaches and providing actionable research insights to teams and clients. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of HCI and user experience research. Nerija has lead a multitude of user and market research projects for Cisco and Yahoo! as well as founded and ran her own research company based in Palo Alto, CA before moving to London in 2011 and joining new experience. Nerija is especially versed in the areas of online and mobile communications and international research with a focus on emerging markets. She specialises in ideation facilitation, ethnographic field studies, participatory design and remote (online) qualitative research.
Julia Townsend is our Business Manager. She was previously Finance Director at companies within the WPP Group and Saatchi & Saatchi. Her responsibilities encompassed tax, accounting, legal and regulatory environment. She has also been a non-executive director in the PR industry. Since qualifying as a chartered accountant with Andersen, Julia has worked in financial services, advertising and design industries in Europe and Australia.
Igor Zakhleniuk has an MSc in Ergonomics and Human Factors from Loughborough University, and a BSc in Human Genetics from UCL. At new experience he has worked with a wide range of clients including 3, Microsoft, Orange, Sky, Vodafone, Nokia, Shell, Associated Newspapers, Sony, Trader Media and TalkTalk. Igor is experienced in ethnographic research methods, usability testing, participatory design workshops, expert reviews and service trials.
Joe Knowles has experience using many different user experience research methods from ethnographic research to usability, and has worked on research projects for Sony Ericsson, TalkTalk, Play.com, Ubuntu, Metro, Sony, Orange and Sky among others. Joe has particular experience of managing large international projects spanning Europe, the United States, and Asia. He has an MSc in Ergonomics and Human Factors from Loughborough University, a BSc in Psychology, and is currently studying Anthropology part-time.
Joe Langford has over 20 years experience in user-centred design and has a BSc in ergonomics and human factors from Loughborough University. He has done projects for Rank Xerox, Telic Alcatel, BT, the Design Council, The Consumers Association and Royal Mail Group. He has also taught on undergraduate and postgraduate courses at several universities. Joe is editor of the book Focus Groups: Supporting Effective Product Development.
Katarina Bohacova has an MSc in Ergonomics (Human-computer Interaction) and a BSc in Psychology from Paris Descartes University, and an MRes in Complex systems, Natural and Artificial Cognition from École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. She has worked on several eye tracking projects involving adults and children for Paris Descartes University and Lutin Userlab, as well as for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She has several publications in the field of eye tracking research and has presented at scientific conferences. Katarina recently joined new experience and has so far worked on several major projects for Vodafone.
Ruth Miller was previously Director of Document Design at Siegel & Gale. She has a BA in French and linguistics from the University of Warwick and is a founder member of the Information Design Association. Ruth is one of the most experienced and highly regarded document design professionals in the industry and has unparalleled experience in financial services.
Jo Allerton specialises in usability testing web and mobile services across the private and public sector. Jo has a BSc in psychology and an MSc in ergonomics and human factors from Loughborough University. Most recently Jo has run trials for Metro and Sky as well as numerous usability projects for Hutchison Whampoa and 3.
Marianne Markowski has worked at Serco Usability Services and as 3's in-house usability specialist. She belongs to the UK Usability Professionals' Association and helped organise World Usability Day events. Most recently she has worked on usability testing projects for Nokia, and is currently engaged in a part time PhD course at Middlesex University on 'Designing Social Media for Older Users'.
Nicola Evans is our New Business Development Manager. Prior to joining us Nicola spent most of her career working in the advertising industry and was responsible for running major accounts including Tesco and Mars. She worked at Saatch & Saatchi, McCann Erickson and was also board director at DMB&B (now Leo Burnett).
