Career highlights

Dave has deep experience in design & innovation, across industries from early web through to AI-native product delivery. Currently freelance consulting in design and innovation, his recent chapters include leading facilitation, design and innovation at one of Australia's Big Four banks, co-founding fitness-tech startup Keystone, building brands and digital products at Volcanic.

Figma Desktop Bridge plugin panel before and after the DGC redesign - the original compact MCP ready panel alongside the new named panel with status, pause and cloud controls, shipped v1.31.0 June 2026

DGC

DGC is Dave's new venture focusing on consulting and facilitation in the design and innovation landscape.

Working from enterprise to startup and scale-ups his clients span an incredible variety of sectors and problem spaces, from manufacturing, retail, to hardware and software.

He facilitates workshops and discovery where it's needed, whether in-client, remotely or in the field. The design work that follows spans product design, UX, brand identity, websites and marketing campaigns.

Highlights so far:

  • Redesigned the Figma Desktop Bridge plugin UX and UI, shipped June 2026 with 90,000+ downloads in its first month
  • Saved a client hundreds of thousands by validating their existing product over a new build
  • Delivered the evidence the client needed to confirm why their customers were struggling and not using their safety devices. Insights that reversed the initial 'no redesign' scope into a brand new UX and UI in Figma, with the prototype testing at under 90 seconds against the five minute setup goal
  • Shipped an end-to-end product MVP covering research, UX, UI and design system
  • Led AI enablement discovery across 7 department heads with quick-wins and multiple pilot recommendations for each
  • Facilitated CFO-level finance discovery, mapping the life of an order and delivering process quick wins

Thanks Dave, the log-intelligence + status redesign is a real upgrade... The core UX you built is intact and genuinely improves the plugin...

TJ Pitre / CEO, Southleft (creator of Figma MCP Desktop Bridge)

Design, Strategy and Product Expert.

AI-ready workflows, discovery to delivery, tailored to your stack and governance. With or without Figma.

NAB fintech work showcase

NAB

Dave's venture into fintech at NAB saw him lead Domestic Payments. His role was split between Design Leadership, and full-stack design on services/products with unmet customer needs.

He provided end-to-end design in Service, Product and Go-to-market, exploring quickest to market MVPs for pilot through to future state opportunities. Dave led design for many of NAB's flagship projects, including first-to-market releases with Amazon, Plenti, NSW Government and many more.

Highlights including securing Amazon where he was instrumental in the sales pitch to enable an aggressive delivery. Another where Dave successfully campaigned for customer-centric, systemic change to improve UX, adoption and confidence.

Dave's talent and creativity have truly helped bring Pay By Bank to life. His work has left a lasting impact, and I'm grateful for the passion and dedication you put into crafting stunning prototypes for such a diverse range of merchants. Keep dazzling the world with your design brilliance.

Dave's meticulous attention to detail and his dedication to achieving a 'best-in-class' customer experience are truly commendable. His genuine passion for building something exceptional is an invaluable trait.

One of the standout moments was witnessing Dave lead user testing sessions. His professionalism combined with his ability to make testers feel at ease, reassuring them that there are no wrong answers, was remarkable.

Clint Gandy, Product Manager, Pay by Bank (AU)/ Banked

Design, Strategy and Product Expert.

AI-ready workflows, discovery to delivery, tailored to your stack and governance. With or without Figma.

Keystone fittech work showcase

Keystone

Keystone is a fittech start-up providing coaching solutions for the Fitness industry, scaling from 3 employees to 10 in 18 months.

As a co-founder, Dave brought a unique mix of skills to the founding team, from executive management, product development, as well as being the sole brand and product designer.

On the product design side continuous lean research, iteration, prototyping and testing enabled ambitious and rapid releases.

Dave provided all creative direction, brand and product design across all digital as well as marketing website, payments, social media and support desk.

Dave was one of the key forces behind the momentum at Keystone.

He worked extensively to keep up with the startup pace iterating on UX, building UI elements, doing user research, experimenting, engaging with customers for feedback and integrating himself well into the engineering process day after day.

His engagement with the engineering process, product and the end user went beyond just design and UX work - it energised the team and created an environment of fun and collaboration.

Daniel S. Co-Founder CTO, Full-stack Engineer/ Keystone

Design, Strategy and Product Expert.

AI-ready workflows, discovery to delivery, tailored to your stack and governance. With or without Figma.

Volcanic Creative work showcase

Volcanic

Founder of design studio Volcanic Creative which he ran for 12 years, a design partner for start-ups to government and corporate.

The longevity of the business came from our focus on each customer, delivered through efficient systems to achieve fast turnaround, capturing the client's needs and designing end-to-end solutions, enjoying long-term relationships.

Key Services: Branding and Visual Identity, Design Systems, Web and Product Design, Prototyping and Development.

I have worked with the Volcanic team for over 10 years. In that time Volcanic quickly became an extension of our marketing team. They know our business and have developed our brands across print and digital campaigns. Always great to work with, combined with the ability to get the job done on time.

Lynette Rodgers, Head of Marketing - Engineered Products/ Motion APAC