Judge: People’s Choice awards

Digital Experience Manager, Consumer NZ, Wellington, New Zealand

Ben started his career as a graphic designer. Working at large advertising agencies in the UK, he developed campaigns for clients such as Bentley Motors, Jaguar, and Marks & Spencer.  Early on in his career, he saw the importance of clear, concise communication. ‘Companies always want to tell you how clever they are, but this usually results in overcomplicated messages that fail to do exactly that!’

Ben moved to New Zealand 13 years ago and has had the privilege of working with some great Kiwi companies such as Air New Zealand and NZ Post, as well as a variety of government agencies. Since moving into digital he has transferred his approach to design and communication by developing digital and content strategies that put customer experience at the forefront.

Ben recently finished working with a team of literacy experts, educational designers, and developers to create an online game that simplifies the concept of health and safety.

‘New Zealand has one of the worst health and safety records in the world. We knew we couldn’t continue doing the same things — writing about risk management and hierarchy of controls was inaccessible and unnecessarily complicated.’

I helped develop the game for users with lower literacy levels and who had English as a second language. This meant I had to distil complex structures into simple modules of micro-learning. The game was recently recognised at the Webby Awards for Best Mobile Experience and People’s Choice Awards.’

Plain English Awards judges

How the judging process works