Product Design Strategy & UX Audit Consultancy | Bold Wise

About Alex Magill
Product, digital, and the space between.

I work as a fractional and interim product and digital lead – bringing clarity, momentum, and delivery where work has stalled or become overly complex.

Background

2016
Product & Digital LeadBold Wise
2010
Freelance Designer & StrategistDefinition Four
2006
Senior DesignerBadenoch & Clark
2004
Senior DesignerBNP Paribas Real Estate
2001
Graphic DesignerHerbert Smith
2000
BSc Product DesignBrunel University
Alex Magill - Product Design Strategist

I started out as a product designer – the physical kind. I studied at Brunel, spent time on engineering schematics at a shipyard, worked on assistive technology and human-computer interaction research, and gradually found my way toward the screen.

By the time I was working at Herbert Smith and then Atis Real (and then BNP Paribas Real Estate), I was deep in brand, identity, and digital. By the time I left Badenoch & Clark (then Adecco) in 2010 I was shaping briefs from the strategic level down, and beginning to understand that the most useful thing a designer can do isn't design – it's to provide clarity.

I work best when I'm brought in early, trusted to think alongside you, and given space to make meaningful progress.

Since then I've worked independently – first as a freelance designer and strategist, and for the past decade through Bold Wise – partnering with founders, product teams, and leadership to move work from discussion into delivery.

What that background gives me is genuine range. I can read a brief at the strategic level and still care about the detail. I understand code well enough to have honest conversations with engineers. I've worked in-house, agency-side, and independently, so I know how decisions actually get made – and where they tend to get stuck.

What I do

Product direction

Sharpening unclear product direction, defining scope, and translating strategy into a set of decisions your team can actually act on.

Digital delivery

Planning and leading digital initiatives – from rebuilds and relaunches to new tools – staying close to delivery rather than handing off and disappearing.

Embedded leadership

Working alongside internal teams as a fractional or interim lead – providing momentum, structure, and senior judgement without the overhead of a full-time hire.

I'm typically brought in when there's a gap between where an organisation wants to be and what's actually happening. That might be a product direction that needs sharpening, a digital initiative that's drifted, or a team that's busy but not moving forward.

My role is to make priorities clear, get decisions made, and turn discussion into delivery. I don't disappear after the strategy deck. I stay close to the work.

I work well with
  • Founders and startup leaders
  • In-house product teams
  • Leadership navigating complexity
  • Organisations between hires
  • Teams with stalled digital initiatives

Get in touch

I’m always happy to hear from thoughtful people – whether you have a clear brief or just a hunch that something could work better.

Book a 15-minute discovery call →