I’m Joe Ortenzi, a strategic UX leader with over 20 years of experience designing digital services that make complex systems usable, useful, and meaningful. I lead teams, shape design strategy, and help organisations create experiences that align user needs with policy and product goals.
My foundation is in communication and storytelling – I studied film and photography, running a successful practice in London, before moving into web development in the early days of the internet. After designing websites, I wanted to build them too, which led me to hand-code semantically-structured HTML and develop custom CMS solutions for SMEs across the UK.
That technical grounding evolved into a broader focus on UX research, service design, and systems thinking – driven by a desire to make digital services clearer, more humane, and more effective. I bring technical fluency, narrative structure, and human-centred strategy to every stage of the design process.
I’ve led award-winning work across health, government, and enterprise sectors. I focus on connecting research to execution, aligning business needs with user-derived insight, and building clarity in complex environments – because I’m energised by social benefit as well as organisational success.
Outside of work, you’ll find me experimenting in the kitchen, making glass art, torturing my bass, tending my garden, or tinkering with technology.
Resume available on request.