Nico Wiggin
Experience Designer & Founder
Hey, I'm Nico. I've spent eight years figuring out what makes people tick, across advertising, product and design. I've also built a community from scratch to test that thinking outside of work too.
I'm now looking for roles in innovation, venture, or start-ups, where collaborative design thinking is how work moves forward.
Philosophy
What I believe in
01
People-first
Not users, humans. They're people, and that simplifies things. The best digital products show up when people need them and get out of the way when they don't. I design for usefulness, not engagement.
02
Being in the room
IDEO's shopping cart redesign has stuck with me: generalists solving an unfamiliar problem in a week, experts on process, not subject. That's the room I want, argued into clarity, led by whoever holds the group, not whoever's most senior.
03
Why over what
Not every product needs to exist. Before I open a design tool, I want to know why, real conversations with customers, ethnographic research, the data, not assumptions. Design should answer a question, not just execute a brief nobody's tested.
04
AI-assisted design
Knowing when to augment versus automate is becoming key to my practice. These tools need a conductor to keep them in check. No shortcuts, no building before validating. The same process, just faster.
Experience
Where I've been
2023-2025
Product Design at
Brandwatch
2021-2023
Founder & Creative Director at
Orange
2021-Now
Product & Design at
Sequest
2021
UX Design Course at
General Assembly
Account Manager at
T_
Talon Outdoor
Skills
What I can do
Research
Ethnographic and generative research
Usability testing
Insight generation
Competitor analysis
UX auditing
Journey mapping
Experience & Service Design
End-to-end product design
Service blueprinting
Object-Oriented UX (OOUX)
Wireframing & prototyping
Interaction design
Strategy
Product strategy
MVP scoping & prioritisation
Brief interrogation
Behavioural frameworks (MINDSPACE)
Workshop facilitation
Brand & creative direction
Client & Commercial
Client relationship management
Senior stakeholder presentations
New-business pitching
Commercial campaign planning
Tools
What's on my screen
Figma
Figma Make
Miro
Claude
Claude Code
NotebookLM
Google Suite
Jira
Notion
Sticky Notes
Spotify
Hobbies
Outside of work
Music
Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and U2 sit alongside LCD Soundsystem and Geese. That love of music led somewhere unlikely: singing lead vocals in Dadz Army, a cross-generational covers band playing pubs and festivals across London.
Sport
Southampton FC through autumn and spring, cricket through summer, including a trip to Melbourne to watch England get hammered and still call it worth it.
Travel
A solo trip through New Zealand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, campervanning, hiking, surfing, and figuring things out along the way. Tadao Ando's work on the Art Islands of the Seto Inland Sea has stayed with me since, architecture and nature in real harmony, and it's changed how I think about digital experiences learning from physical ones.
Community
After Covid, I founded Orange, a roaming supper club for people in their 20s and 30s who wanted to meet strangers, eat well, and put their phones away for a few hours. Ten sold-out events later, it's become something I'm genuinely proud of, and 2026 is about expanding into walks, talks, and post-work music events.