hey there! 👋

My name is Sära Furlong and I am a designer and sometimes illustrator living and working in London, United Kingdom.

Formally the Director of Product Design for Ada Health, Head of design for LendInvest and design lead at companies like IBM, Karmarama (Accenture Interactive) and Octopus Labs – I am currently designing safe spaces for women at Peanut 🥜. Apple’s Best Apps of 2021 and TIME’s Most Influential Companies of 2022 🏆🙌

Here I lead design as we build the next generation of social built on principles of care, empathy and collectivism.

My career spans a multitude of industries including government, healthcare, fintech, retail and much experience working in the area of cognitive solutions. With qualifications in UX and Design Thinking, I have an extensive knowledge and experience with driving and applying user-centred design processes. A qualified Accessibility champion, I also have an experience creating digital experiences that meet international web accessibility standards.

Detail driven, I have experience leading the creation and maintenance of UI Kits, Style Guides and Design Systems. When working for clients, I collaborate closely alongside development to ensure that all digital experiences delivered are to a high design standard – I pride myself on safeguarding my client’s brand and their users’ experience.

In my free time I am a rower, dog mom and mess about with illustration and paper crafts. I also work with Children’s Books Ireland (CBI), the national children’s books organisation of Ireland. Here I volunteer as a children’s picture book reviewer for Inis Magazine, the flagship publication of CBI, and before moving to the UK in 2017 was a Judge for the 2015 and 2016 Children's Book of the Year Awards.

I have a background in illustration and animation, graduating from the National College of Art and Design with a BDes Honours in Visual Communications. Later also gaining my masters qualifications in Human Computer Interaction from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology.