About

How I work

I work on complex product problems where clarity, constraints, and system-level thinking are important. I enjoy collaborating closely with engineering and product partners to shape solutions that are both usable and implementable, particularly in technically demanding environments.

This is John Raper

I’m a product designer based in London, with a background in computing visualisation and 2D/3D graphics. My work often sits at the intersection of product design, design systems, and engineering, where understanding constraints and trade-offs is as important as visual craft.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked across startups, scaleups, and established organisations on technically complex products, including collaborations with Microsoft, CloudNC, Rafinex, Knight Frank, and The Premier League. I bring a pragmatic, detail-oriented approach, combining strong design judgement with an understanding of how design decisions translate into real, maintainable code.

In recent years, my focus has been on designing and evolving product interfaces and systems for engineering-led teams, supporting feature delivery, system consistency, and effective design-to-engineering collaboration.

Approach

My approach adapts to the problem at hand rather than following a fixed process. I tend to work on complex or ambiguous problems, starting by understanding the constraints, goals, and technical context in collaboration with product and engineering partners.

Where requirements are unclear or evolving, I focus on framing the problem, exploring options, and iterating toward clarity through design exploration, feedback, and validation. This often involves balancing user needs with system constraints and refining solutions as they move closer to implementation.

I place particular emphasis on clear communication and shared understanding, ensuring that design intent translates effectively into buildable, maintainable solutions and supports smooth delivery across teams.

Areas of focus

My work typically focuses on the following areas:

  • Product design for complex systems
  • Design systems and component libraries
  • Design-to-engineering collaboration
  • Design-to-code handoff and parity
  • UX for technical products
  • Frontend-aware interface design
  • Problem framing and ambiguity reduction
  • Rapid prototyping and iteration
  • Usability testing and validation
  • Mentoring and design leadership