Built on Curiosity and Real Conversation
Our Portsmouth workspace sits above a coffee shop, which means we spend more time than we'd like explaining what we actually do. "Interface design" sounds abstract until someone realizes their banking app confuses them or their healthcare portal feels hostile. That's where we come in.
We're a small group – intentionally so. Large teams create communication layers that distance designers from the people using what we build. Our approach revolves around staying close to actual problems, not theoretical ones.
How We Think About Design Work
Most UI courses teach tools. Figma shortcuts, component libraries, design tokens. That's useful, but it misses something fundamental – understanding why people struggle with interfaces in the first place.
Our background spans cognitive psychology, accessibility consulting, and about fifteen years of watching users click things we never expected them to click. That combination shapes everything we teach.
- We prioritize research methods that reveal actual behavior rather than stated preferences
- Accessibility isn't a separate module – it's woven through every decision we make
- We teach the uncomfortable parts: handling conflicting stakeholder feedback and designing under real constraints
- Projects connect to genuine UK public sector and healthcare challenges we've encountered
What Makes Our Method Different
We built our curriculum backwards. Instead of starting with theory, we began with thirty interface problems we've actually solved – then worked out what knowledge someone would need to solve them independently.
Context-First Learning
Every technique comes with the messy context it emerged from. You'll see the failed attempts, the client pushback, the technical limitations that forced creative solutions.
Critique as Core Skill
We spend significant time on giving and receiving design feedback. It's harder than it sounds and most programs skip it entirely because it's uncomfortable.
Constraint-Based Projects
Real projects have irrational deadlines, limited budgets, and stakeholders who change their minds. Our assignments reflect that instead of pretending conditions are ideal.
Cross-Discipline Exposure
Interface design touches development, content strategy, business goals, and accessibility law. We bring in practitioners from each area so you understand the full ecosystem.
Portfolio as Narrative
Your work portfolio shouldn't just display finished screens. We help you articulate your thinking process, the problems you solved, and the impact on actual users.
Continuous Iteration
The course itself gets redesigned constantly based on what works. Last year we completely rewrote the prototyping module because students found the original approach too disconnected from implementation.
The People You'll Work With
Our teaching team stays actively involved in client work, which means the problems you'll explore in the program are current, not theoretical. We rotate instructors based on project relevance rather than fixed schedules.
Saoirse Fothergill
Spent eight years making government services usable before realizing teaching was more interesting. Still consults on accessibility audits for NHS digital services. Has strong opinions about button labels.
Honesty About Limitations
We're transparent when we don't know something or when a problem doesn't have a clean solution. Design involves uncertainty, and pretending otherwise does students a disservice.
Respect for User Experience
This sounds obvious but gets ignored constantly. Beautiful interfaces that confuse people aren't successful. We measure success by how well something works, not how impressive the animation is.
Sustainable Work Practices
The design industry has a burnout problem. We structure the program to be intensive but manageable, and we're explicit about setting boundaries between work and personal time.
Accessibility as Standard
Not an afterthought, not optional, not someone else's problem. Every project includes accessibility considerations from the start because that's how responsible design works.
Join Us for Autumn 2025
Our next cohort begins in September 2025. The program runs for eleven months and intentionally keeps class sizes under twenty people. Applications open in May.
We're looking for people who ask good questions, aren't afraid to show incomplete work, and genuinely care about making digital interfaces less frustrating. Prior design experience helps but isn't required – curiosity and willingness to engage with challenging problems matter more.
