Partnered with global brands including Dyson, HSBC, GSK & Accenture to design and transform customer and employee experiences at scale.

I design connected experiences the systems, journeys, and mechanisms that shape how customers and employees feel, behave, and stay loyal. My work blends experience strategy, service design, innovation, and transformation, bridging the worlds of customer and employee experience into one coherent operating model.

Across 15+ years, I’ve partnered with global brands including Dyson, HSBC, GSK, O2 Telefónica and Accenture, leading work that reimagined journeys, redesigned services, and built new experience-led ways of working. My sweet spot is solving fragmentation: connecting frontstage and backstage, culture and customer promise, digital and human touchpoints.

I’ve redesigned Dyson’s global EVP and experience system; built innovation incubators at HSBC and GSK; and helped O2 Telefónica become both #1 in mobile customer satisfaction and a Great Place to Work, proving that customer and employee experience rise together when the system behind them is coherent. I’ve led cross-functional journey redesign, prototyped new service experiences, shaped new operating models, and built capability programmes that shift teams from project thinking to experience-led delivery.

Organisations bring me in when they want to break out of service sameness, design experiences people actually feel, and turn strategy into something tangible. My approach is direct and practical: I challenge assumptions, connect the dots others miss, and help teams design experiences that move metrics and meaning.

What drives me is simple: building experiences with coherence where brand, behaviour, and experience finally align, and where the people using the system can feel the difference.

Danny Seals

I love the downtime while am looking for my next role...but man I get bored  
Next week, I’m doing something different and way more useful.

I am taking the day off from LinkedIn scrolling and maybe tiktok 👀

I'm hosting free coffee shop "office hours"  two days next week in Dubai

No charge, just bring a challenge you're working on and let’s jam together.

What I can help with:

𝗛𝗥 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 
Strategy Design, Op model design moving your traditional HR to a people experience and People Product function 

𝗘𝗩𝗣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
Crafting your EVP without the copy-paste consultant approach

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆
How to actually do VOE that goes beyond 2 surveys a year

𝗫𝗗 𝗨𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁
Designing a new customer or employee experience, be it onboarding, leadership, retail experience, moving your offer from service to experience 

𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱
External sparring partner for your ideas or challenge, someone to pressure-test what you're building

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝘀
Building future capability of People functions, customer experience and innovation functions.

I've spent 15 year helping organizations design the future of work, new customer journeys and HR transformations so I have stories and learning to share

Right now, I have the time and energy to share it

If you're working on something in this space, let's grab a coffee .

Comment below or DM me, and I'll send you the booking link.

Ps your definitely buy your own coffee though

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Biomimicry Innovation

Behavioural Economics

Enterprise Design Thinking - Team Essentials for AI

Enterprise Design Thinking Co-Creator

Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner

HUMAN-CENTRED SERVICE DESIGN

Invite only: Experience Design Masterclass

Google Analytics

Channels to Market 

Customer Centricity

Digital Culture 

Digital Imperative 

Organisational Agility 

Unlocking Data

Prince2 foundation 

TetraMap Facilitators

NLP Diploma

People Product | Culture Transformation | Employee Experience

I help innovation leaders, CX and EX directors, and HR professionals design experiences and innovation strategies that deliver measurable business and cultural impact.

With deep expertise in Customer Experience (CX), Employee Experience (EX), Service Design, Culture Transformation, and Human-Centered Design, I turn ambitious strategies into scalable realities.
Whether you're:

• Scaling Innovation Frameworks and Capability Building
• Redesigning digital or physical Customer and Employee Journeys
• Embedding Behavioral Science and Design Thinking methodologies
• Launching Venture Incubation initiatives or agile experiments (MVP Testing)

I provide practical, outcome-focused solutions that resonate across your organization and your customer base.

Specialties:
✅ Innovation Strategy and Operating Models
✅ CX & EX Strategy and Journey Mapping
✅ Behavioral Science & Human-Centered Design
✅ Service Design and Prototyping
✅ Culture Transformation and Organizational Change
✅ Agile Methodologies & Venture Incubation

If you're facing challenges with CX, EX, or scaling innovation... DM me lets have a chat.

Bi-weekly newsletter covering: People Experience/ Design Thinking / Experience Design / Strategy

KNOT Another Newsletter

The Insightful Innovator: How to Level Up Your Employee Experience" guides HR, EX and CX professionals in creating superior Services, Products, Interactions and Experience through Design Thinking and Service Design and System Thinking principles. 

This compass to HR's future gives you tools to build innovative people products and solutions

The Insightful Innovator: How to level up your Employee Experience: Using Design Thinking: A No-Nonsense Approach to Designing People-Centered Products, Services and Experience

The Digital Pack that unlocks the secret tactics to Designing Breakthrough People Products in HR, Employee Experience, Customer Experience and innovation

People Product OS

Speaking to the great minds of people experience, Innovation, design thinking and experience design

‎Mindchimp Podcast

Listening to stories is one of the oldest forms of learning there is and can leave us with profound memories and experiences that stand the test of time. Today, the medium through which stories are told might include digital resources and online...
Danny - 34:00

Thomas Junod & Danny Seals - Storytelling - LT20

Design and delivery of the employability workshops.

This workshop gives young adults the skill and behaviours required when coming into a working environment.
- cv work 
- interview techniques 
- public speaking/presentation skills

People & Culture Strategy | HR Transformation | People Product

Walid Ali

I rarely do a shoutout, but when I do... they get a picture and everything!!!

Three people who've genuinely made a difference lately be it in my timeline, or in the DMs or virtual coffees:

Daniel Bustamante 🥷🏻  
If you're building a newsletter his AI newsletter is pure gold. Every post is packed with actionable tips and an AI prompt you can actually use. No fluff, just value

Zoe Scaman 
In a world obsessed with keep it short, Zoe writes long form and absolutely smashes it, She breaks every rule about typical newsletter writing, and honestly, That's the reason I love it. Her writing is raw, real, and I've learned something from every single post. Proof that authenticity beats algorithm shout out to Ed for helping me reconnect with Zoe's work

Ed Mehmed 
The critical friend and sparring partner everyone needs, when my confidence hit a wall, or I am second guessing my thinking. Ed was there with the right perspective and the push forward I need be it on a virtual call or just in the DMs. If growth strategy is your world, seriously pay for his brain. Worth every penny.

Connect with them, follow them they will make your feed x10 better!

Check the comments

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6 leaders, 5 completely different problems, All walked out a little clearer just from a coffee, a critical friend and some lived experience

Last week, I tried something simple.
I opened up Office Hours no slides, no prep, just me in a coffee shop with a spare chair…and my iPad and people showed up.

Leaders from all walk of life from Standard Chartered, Atlantis Resorts, Majid Al Futtaim, and a couple of scale-ups came with unique puzzles to crack from 

We covered

• New value proposition design
• Moving from HR to People experience and product 
• How to do continuous discovery and listening 
• Experience Strategy design

So am doing it again

I’ll be in a coffee shop on Tuesday and Friday and opening up a few more spots.

If you want a critical friend on your challenge, let me know in the comment and I’ll send over the link and location

PS....still no free coffee.

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I just unlocked the vault, to the same tools I used to shift change and transformation at Dyson and GSK… and so on and now they’re yours

These are the same tactics behind millions in innovation, transformation, and CX wins at global companies.

These are the plays behind multi-million pound shifts in innovation, CX, and people and culture.

and now Im handing them to you for 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘

I’ve opened this up to early builders and once it’s full, it’s gone

If you want life time free access, drop me a 𝗗𝗠 or let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 and ill DM the access code

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📌 If you like this, you will love my newsletter 

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I’ve built a new writing habit, it’s pretty simple and one that helps me get through my writing blockers.
Here’s how you can use it 


𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 
One thats built on my manifesto, Obsidian notes, content and articles I’ve written and also lots of content I am yet to share yet on Design Thinking, Experience Design, CX, EX, Tourism and Destination Design.

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝟳𝟬%
I share with the agent an article I am writing for my newsletter, usually by this point i've already written around 70% This could be a pattern i've observed, a gap, an approach or a POV

𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮'𝘀
Next, I slip on these Ray-Ban  Meta  glasses and go for a walk, I fire up my ChatGPT agent in voice mode and then ask it to interview me as if am on a podcast. I then force it to ask me about the details, why it matters and anything am avoiding saying.


....Then I walk, until I feel I've been grilled enough 


Sometimes it’s around the block other times it walking past places like the Museum of the Future.

Honestly for a dyslexic it removes so much friction in the writing  process for me

Getting the steps in while you thinking and talking free up the mind and gives space for your ideas to breathe, something you cant always get sitting behind a desk.


While the Meta glasses are new the approach isn't 

I have always found value in a walk approach be its when leading teams in 121s, coaching conversations or brainstorming a challenge   everything always feels easier when you have fresh air

Give it a go, get outside and get some steps into your next challenge 121 or article can’t crack a challenge or a puzzle get outside 

(also if you live in Dubai, you have no excuses we have nice weather and even nicer things to look at)

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No alternative text description for this image

The minutes at the end decide everything 
The ending decides the story they share
That story becomes the verdict

Many organisations overcook the time spent designing the start and middle of the journey, But then undercook how they say goodbye often missing the simple fact people don’t leave with the journey they leave with the ending

That feeling is 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗲.

It’s the aftertaste that forms the memory, and shapes the story they tell others

Did it 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 or transactional 
Did they 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱 or processed 
Would they 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 again
Would they avoid you at all costs.

This Emotional Residue isn’t neutral it an 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 or an emotional scar

Bad ending cause 91% of customer to avoid repeat business 

Customers with awesome endings, spend 140% more post experience 

A great goodbye makes 45% more ex employees refer others 

So if you want loyalty, referrals, return visits don’t just end the
experience design it, give it the care and attention it’s needs
Make the 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳, 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆, 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲

Sheep follow best practice and give people an average and forgettable exit. 

Your goal is to be 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗮, guide the ending make it smooth frictionless and memorable. 

Sherpas create ending that feels personal  and something you will recall in years to come 

My friend still remembers their Sherpas name from ten years ago when they claimed Everest… there a reason for that.

See the 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀

Got a great goodbye or a horrific one let me know in the comments

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Coffee Hours Update:

I have had a few folk cancel for coffee hours tomorrow so if you want to jam on a puzzle or challenge your working on drop me a DM and ill share the cal link with you 

Here's what I can help with:

𝗛𝗥 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 
Strategy Design, Op model design moving your traditional HR to a people experience and People Product function 

𝗘𝗩𝗣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
Crafting your EVP without the copy-paste consultant approach

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆
How to actually do VOE that goes beyond 2 surveys a year

𝗫𝗗 𝗨𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁
Designing a new customer or employee experience, be it onboarding, leadership, retail experience, moving your offer from service to experience 

𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱
External sparring partner for your ideas or challenge, someone to pressure-test what you're building

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝘀
Building future capability of People functions, customer experience and innovation functions.

I've spent 15 year helping organizations design the future of work, new customer journeys and HR transformations so I have stories and learning to share

Right now, I have the time and energy to share it

If you're working on something in this space, let's grab a coffee .

Ps your definitely buy your own coffee though

If they wouldn’t kill your best idea… don’t work with them.

Let me explain 


The beer test is real and it’s one of the secrets to getting the right, people and the right strategy 

Most people ask boring questions.

Use these when hiring, partnering or building your core strategy team as a good gut check

They’ll save you months of wasted time and thousands in bad decisions.


𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿-𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿-𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝗱𝗼𝗲𝗿? 
In other words, do they just come up with ideas and talk about them, or do they actually roll up their sleeves and put those ideas into action? Are industry is full of thinkers who have never actually done the thing, they have no actually real boots on the group experience of implementing their new approach, framework or strategy, You want someone who’s a deep thinker but can also execute in the real world.


𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺? 
It’s a great personal litmus test, If you’d enjoy hanging out casually, you’ll probably enjoy working together too. A lot of my best relationship with clients and stakeholders I also enjoy having a coffee or beer with. At the end of the day a good relationship is when both side can bring their full self to the table professional and personal.


𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗴? 
If you’d hand them the leash to your most beloved pet, that’s a huge sign of trust, it means you believe in their responsibility and care.


𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱? 
The butterfly is your idea. The thing you’re emotionally attached to. This is the critical-friend test. Can they kill that idea early if it doesn’t make sense, is flawed, or is simply dumb? Too many bad ideas make it into the world because no one was willing to kill the butterfly when it mattered usually because it belonged to a friend. If they can’t challenge your ideas, they’ll protect your ego instead of the outcome.

What your most unconventional question?

Let me know down below, am a geek and love collecting questions

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David James

As Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning and host of The Learning & Development Podcast, my passion lies in helping organisations to build and transform L&D functions to drive measurable impact. With a career rooted in leading L&D strategy and innovation, I’ve dedicated myself to bridging the gap between what businesses need and what Learning & Development can deliver.

I’m proud to have co-founded Looop, an innovative learning platform that was acquired by 360Learning in 2021 and, prior to that, I was Director of Learning, Talent & OD for The Walt Disney Company, where I shaped learning strategies for one of the world’s most iconic brands.

My work is also about sharing insights and sparking meaningful conversations. The Learning & Development Podcast has had close to a million downloads, ranking in the top 1% of all podcasts globally, providing practical, actionable advice for L&D professionals from some of the best minds in the industry.

With more than 35,000 LinkedIn followers and recognition as one of the top 25 global influencers in L&D (by the Corporate Learning Network), I remain dedicated to inspiring and empowering L&D professionals to drive business performance and employee engagement through effective, results-driven learning strategies.

Podcast Host

The Learning & Development Podcast is a topical podcast show for L&D professionals. Each week David James discusses and debates topics affecting the profession alongside various guests.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and many more.

I learned the hard way, whilst leading L&D at scale, the difference between a strategy that looks good on paper and one that actually moves the needle.

Here are a few essential Learning Strategy Do's & Don'ts I wish I'd employed earlier:

DO anchor your strategy in business performance.
If your strategy can't clearly articulate how it helps your organisation to win (in whatever format your org determines success), it’s not a strategy. It’s an activity list.

DON'T start with solutions.
Starting with programs, frameworks or platforms before deeply understanding the problem is how L&D ends up busy but peripheral.

DO treat stakeholders as partners, not customers.
Real influence comes from consulting with the business, not taking orders from it.

DON'T mistake alignment for agreement.
Being strategically useful sometimes means challenging leaders, not simply reflecting their preferences back to them.

DO think like a product manager.
Defined audiences, articulated outcomes, iteration, marketing and adoption all matter far more than elegant content.

DON'T hide behind learning language.
If you can’t explain your strategy in plain commercial terms, it won’t survive a serious leadership conversation.

DO plan for impact and credibility.
A great strategy without the trust, data and visibility behind it will quietly die.

DON”T expect your good work to speak for you.
The common view of L&D is to provide learning in programs and platforms and change is an option.

DO shout about your impact.
Amplify your successes (no matter how small) to anybody and everybody so they learn what effective L&D can do for them if they accept it may look and feel different.

These lessons weren’t learned from theory. They came from getting it wrong, fixing it and watching what actually moved the needle and drove results.

If you want a seat at the table, your strategies have to earn it.

CLO at 360Learning / Host of The Learning & Development Podcast

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