JMCQUARRIE.co.uk
James McQuarrie is a UK-based product leader helping teams turn ambiguity into clear direction, fast learning, and real-world products.
About James
I’ve spent most of my career working with teams who weren’t sure what to build next. Not because they weren’t capable, but because the problem wasn’t clear.
For over 20 years I’ve worked across startups, scale-ups, and multinational companies always helping teams make better product decisions and turn direction into products that work in the real world.
What I do
The work I enjoy most usually starts with a team trying to figure out what to build next or whether they should build anything at all.
Sometimes that means helping founders understand whether a problem is worth solving. Sometimes it means helping established teams realign around changing customer behaviour, technical constraints, or new market realities. Often it means helping organisations make better decisions about where to focus, what to prioritise, and why.
I started my career building products writing front-end code, before gradually moving into UX and product design, after finding myself regularly asking whether we were building the right solution.
Fast forward 10+ years and I found myself regularly asking a broader question:
Were we solving the right problems?
That shift naturally pulled my work into broader product leadership across strategy, discovery, delivery, and team leadership.
Whatever the role, my work has always been fundamentally about the same thing:
Helping teams better understand the people they are building for, reducing uncertainty through learning, and turning direction into products that work in the real world.
That work has included:
- validating new product opportunities and markets
- leading product discovery and early-stage testing
- helping teams align around product strategy and priorities
- improving existing products through iterative learning and optimisation
- bringing user, business, and technical perspectives together into coherent product direction.
I work in a highly iterative and collaborative way, favouring early learning, rapid feedback, and continuous refinement over long planning cycles and assumptions.
Over the years I’ve worked with founders, startups, scale-ups, and global organisations across a wide variety of sectors and stages of growth. The common thread has usually been helping teams move from ambiguity and competing opinions toward clearer priorities, shared understanding, and products that work in the real world.
Take a look through my portfolio for a selection of projects, teams, and problems I’ve worked on over the years.
How I got here
If you are looking for a traditional CV, you can find that on LinkedIn.
If you are more interested in understanding how I think, where I’ve come from, and the path that led me here, the timeline below tells that story instead.
2000
“Learn HTML in a Weekend” changes everything
It’s the dawn of a new millennium. Yahoo rules supreme over the Internets. Before starting university I decided to teach myself HTML after a friend recommended a book called Learn HTML in a Weekend. I’d only been seriously using the web for a year or so, but quickly became fascinated by the idea that ordinary people could publish things globally from their bedrooms. I had no idea at the time how much that one book would shape the rest of my career.
My first side project: mylocalsites.co.uk
Excited by my new ability to put things on the web, I built a directory website organised around physical locations called mylocalsites.co.uk. It turned out the world didn’t really need such a service, but I learnt a huge amount about designing and building things from scratch. It also featured interactive imagemaps, because it was 2000 and that felt cutting edge.
I discover the Web Standards movement via zeldman.com and A List Apart — no more table layouts or non-standard markup.
2001
cheezepie.com
Having failed to do anything particularly useful with mylocalsites, I registered my second domain name and started building a personal website based on my Yahoo email nickname at the time. cheezepie.com became a rudimentary blog before I knew that blogs were blogs. Everything was hand-coded, manually updated, and regularly redesigned for no good reason other than curiosity.
A List Apart publishes Practical CSS Layout Tips, Tricks and Techniques — it changes how I code forever.
Computer Science & E-Business at Loughborough University
I started studying Computer Science & E-Business at Loughborough University, learning everything from databases and systems design to functional programming. I also discovered that maths was not my strongest skill.
I read Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug and started becoming more interested in whether websites were actually easy for people to use, not just whether they worked technically.
2002
My first client website goes live
Having figured out the basics of designing and building websites, I designed and built my first client site using the content management system Textpattern. Holiday cottage websites would never be the same again.
Apple launches the first iPod - all your music in your pocket? Wow.
Second year at Loughborough
My second year focused on requirements analysis, formal specification, systems design, and HCI - the part of the course I found myself most drawn to.
2003
Internship at PA Consulting
In the third year of my degree I took a sandwich-year internship at PA Consulting, working in their Training and Development department. I was hired to maintain and develop an intranet-based training website, but ended up learning just as much about consulting, stakeholders, training, and how large organisations work. I also delivered IT training in PA offices around the world, including London, Cambridge, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, and Sydney.
I buy and use my first (and only) PDA, a Dell Axim. It feels like I’m holding the future in my hands. No one else seems to agree.
2004
Final year at Loughborough University
I returned to Loughborough for my final year and designed and developed an online life-coaching application for my dissertation. As a Computer Science student, that meant designing and building software rather than writing a thesis. I graduated with a 2:1 and a Diploma in Professional Studies for completing my internship at PA Consulting.
Firefox 1.0 launches - Internet Explorer suddenly starts to feel very old.
My first client starts a new business
Having seen what a website could do for their first business, my first clients came back when they launched a new restaurant. I designed and built them a new site, this time using WordPress.
Facebook is born, but only for people with the right university email address.
2005
Back to PA Consulting as a graduate
After graduating I returned to PA Consulting as an Analyst in their ISI practice, getting more formal training in the ways of consulting and learning how technology projects are sold, shaped, and delivered inside large organisations.
TechCrunch launches and quickly becomes the place to follow startup technology news.
2006
Facebook opens up to everyone and seems to go global almost overnight.
Promoted to Consultant Analyst at PA Consulting
Within a year of rejoining PA I was promoted to Consultant Analyst and started spending more of my time working on PA Venture projects - essentially internally funded startups. These included Aegate, a drug authentication company; Adition, a mobile advertising company; Bullcox, a reverse auction site for heavy plant hire; and ProcServe, an online procurement company.
Twitter is unleashed on the world. Not everyone gets it.
2007
Front End Architect at ProcServe
After several years working with PA Ventures, I joined one of them full time. At ProcServe I became Front End Architect, responsible for the experience and interface design of their online procurement platform. It was the first role where I spent significant time working directly with customers and internal teams to understand how products were actually being used in practice.
Apple launches the iPhone. Mobile Safari gives the mobile web a very serious shot in the arm.
2008
OTIS
While working closely with ProcServe customers, I started exploring whether there was a simpler way into the wider ProcServe ecosystem. That work eventually became OTIS - the first time I found myself thinking less about interfaces and more about product direction, adoption, and customer behaviour.
Apple launches the iPhone 3G - apps start taking over the world.
Google launches its browser - Chrome proves very speedy.
2009
Leaving the corporate world
After years of threatening to do so, I finally left the safety of corporate consulting to work independently. At the time it felt deeply risky. Looking back, it was one of the most important decisions I made.
2010
JMCQUARRIE Ltd launches
I officially launched JMCQUARRIE Ltd and returned to independent consulting and contracting, this time with several years of “capital C” Consulting and product experience behind me. Over the next few years I worked across startups, agencies, and larger organisations - helping teams improve products, validate ideas, and rethink customer experiences.
Apple launches the iPad - putting the web properly into people’s hands.
Apple also launches the iPhone 4, complete with antenna issues and a surprisingly funny video from my old employer.
Zoomatelo redesign
My first freelance client, Zoomatelo, was an award-winning student startup building a carpooling web application. I helped them redesign the product interface and was reminded how much I enjoyed working with small teams trying to make something new work.
The CV Nurse sets up her clinic
As the economic downturn continued to bite, The CV Nurse decided more people could benefit from her years of CV reviewing and interviewing experience. I designed and built the website and had a lot of fun doing it.
Contracting with Roxxor
I got my first real introduction to the world of design agencies working with the small team at Roxxor. The projects were short, sharp, and agile, for clients including Aiimi, Addison Lee, Bearing Partnership, and PayPerks. My game was officially upped.
2011
Flights of Nancy launches
A long-time friend and ex-colleague from PA also went freelance and needed a website. I designed, built, and maintained Flights of Nancy for her.
Apple launches the iPad 2 - the one with the swimming-pool-cover case.
Sweet & Maxwell
I returned to my corporate roots, working with the development team at Sweet & Maxwell, part of Thomson Reuters, as a UI designer and UX consultant on their online search product interface.
2012
Apple launches the iPad with Retina display.
Dream It Get IT
I was approached by one of the founders of a new startup called Dream It Get IT - later renamed Visii - and asked to work on the UI and interaction design for their new product. I jumped at the chance to work on an early-stage startup again.
Google joins the tablet market with the Nexus 7.
Goodbye Sweet & Maxwell
After 12 months with the Sweet & Maxwell team, and having extended the contract three times, I left the project in the safe hands of their in-house teams.
Apple launches the iPad Mini. No Retina screen yet.
The Union
The team I’d worked with at Aiimi brought me in to help with the interaction design and information architecture for a new product being created as part of a startup collaboration called The Union.
2013
JMCQUARRIE redesign
After months of tinkering, sweating the detail, and inevitably redesigning things more times than necessary, I finally launched a new version of JMCQUARRIE.co.uk.
Apple introduces iPad Air and brings fingerprint recognition to the iPhone with Touch ID.
2014
Head of UX at DIGIT
I joined DIGIT, later Visii, full time as Head of UX, helping the team turn a promising technology into a product people could actually understand and use. It was also the period where my work increasingly expanded beyond UX into product discovery.
2015
Apple announces the long-rumoured Apple Watch. Still no sign of a web browser.
So long DIGIT, hello contracting
After more than three years working with and for the DIGIT team, I felt it was time to return to contracting. I said my goodbyes and re-entered the world of being a gun for hire.
Consulting at DAD
I was hired to spend three days a week providing UX and product consultancy to DAD, a new startup founded by Ben from Roxxor. DAD aimed to give people instant access to home repair experts through face-to-face video calls.
I got married.
Work begins on NEXTFREE
Alongside my work with DAD, I started working on an idea I’d been sitting on for years: NEXTFREE, a way for freelancers to share their availability for new work.
Apple announces the iPad Pro - a huge iPad that might, apparently, replace laptops.
Back to my Training and Development roots
While juggling DAD and NEXTFREE, I helped an old friend from PA Consulting put together designs for an internal learning and development website at Arcadis.
2016
Joining DAD full time
After several months consulting with the DAD team, I joined full time as Head of Experience. The challenge was far bigger than designing interfaces. We were trying to redesign how people access home repair expertise using video calls, while simultaneously building the operational systems needed to make the service work in practice. It was one of the most formative product experiences of my career.
NEXTFREE grows
While working full time at DAD, my business partner Paul and I continued to grow NEXTFREE - learning how to find our audience, understand what worked for them, and what didn’t. We even sponsored the 2016 iOSDevUK conference in Wales.
Apple launches the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. The internet is divided over its usefulness.
2017
The end of DAD
Funding for DAD was pulled at the end of 2016 after our backers decided to pursue other routes into the digital market. That meant disbanding the team and stopping work on validating the product and service. It was difficult, but it taught me a huge amount about startup risk, funding realities, and the importance of learning quickly.
Improving how people hire tradespeople at Aspect
Drawing on my experience at DAD, I helped the team at aspect.co.uk review and improve the customer experience of hiring tradespeople to fix and improve homes.
Defining Kynd’s first product
I helped the founding team at Kynd define the first version of their cybersecurity product and mapped the early customer onboarding experience.
2018
So long London, hello Bristol
After more than 13 years living and working in London, I moved out west to join Cookpad’s global product team in Bristol. Cookpad’s mission was to make everyday cooking fun, and working on products used by millions of people around the world taught me a huge amount about product leadership at scale, community dynamics, experimentation, and organisational alignment.
My wife and I had our first baby.
2019
Goodbye Cookpad
I said goodbye to Cookpad after leading three different product squads. During my time there we tripled the number of users having conversations on the platform, significantly increased recipe sharing activity, and redesigned internal admin and community management tools from the ground up. I left having learnt a huge amount about leading teams and delivering products on a global scale.
2020
Launching a contract projects board
After listening to feedback from NEXTFREE members about the contract market, and their concerns around incoming IR35 changes in the UK, I launched a contract projects board at nextfree.uk. Like a jobs board, but focused exclusively on contract opportunities.
Covid-19 spreads globally and the UK, like much of the world, goes into lockdown.
Teaching Monsters to read
With my Product Discovery hat on, I helped the team behind a BAFTA-nominated educational video game design and run an experiment to understand how they might charge players for their next game. The challenge was made more interesting by the fact that they were a non-profit, so the balance between accessibility, covering costs, and making money really mattered.
Tidy launches
I launched Tidy, a solid shampoo bar for men. Handmade, organic, vegan-friendly, plastic-free, and cruelty-free. The brand was aimed at men who wanted high-quality, lower-impact products without the usual eco-branding clichés. I wrote more about how the bar and brand came to be in Introducing Tidy - A new solid shampoo for Men.
Apple launches the M1 chip - Apple silicon is back in the Mac.
Joining eporta
I joined eporta as Senior Product Manager, helping the team evolve their platform for the interior design industry during a period of rapid growth and change. The role involved balancing product discovery, platform evolution, and delivery while navigating the complexity of a scaling business.
2021
Goodbye NEXTFREE, hello Fring
After six years running and growing NEXTFREE, we shut the service down. I then started advising the founders of Fring, a similar service from the Netherlands, to help them expand their membership globally.
Facebook, the company, changes its name to Meta.
eporta → Shopify
The eporta team was acquired by Shopify in November 2021. Building on our work helping manufacturers in the interior design industry sell their products online, we joined Shopify to help make commerce easier for everyone.
2022
My wife and I had our second baby.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT to the public - conversational AI reaches mainstream awareness.
2023
Shopify
Like around 2,000 other Shopifolk, I was let go from Shopify as part of an organisation-wide 20% reduction in the workforce.
Apple announces the Apple Vision Pro.
Twitter is rebranded as X. Everyone refers to it as “X, formerly known as Twitter.”
I migrated this website from WordPress to Jekyll. No database, no bloat, much faster.
Glad
I co-founded Glad with Ben, who I’d previously worked with at both Roxxor and DAD, to help businesses play a meaningful role in tackling climate change. The work combines many of the themes that have followed me throughout my career: systems thinking, behaviour change, product strategy, communication, and helping people navigate complexity and uncertainty.
2024
Glad’s employee Pollution Removal Plan launches in beta
After hundreds of hours of research, discovery, and design, we launched the Glad Pollution Removal Plan in beta. It was our first step in helping businesses play their part in addressing climate change.
Guest lecture at the University of Bath
I was invited to give a lecture to postgraduate students studying a Decarbonisation MSc at the University of Bath. The lecture covered the journey of founding Glad and our approach to building an impact-driven business.
SpaceX catches a Starship rocket booster for the first time as it returns to Earth after launch.
2025
Glad Tidings launches
To help our growing Climate Cleanup Community at Glad keep up with the progress we were making, Ben and I launched Glad Tidings: The Climate Cleanup Roundup podcast.
It’s a pizza party
I joined Slice as Product Lead within their R&D organisation, helping lead product work for the new In Store Appliances team. Slice helps independent pizza shops thrive. The In Store Appliances team cooks up physical products that help with that mission, bringing together software, hardware, operations, networking, and real-world customer behaviour.
2026
What’s next?
Who knows? I’m always interested in thoughtful conversations about product, teams, strategy, climate, and ideas that are still being figured out. If that sounds like something you’re working through, get in touch.