Ivor Williams
Design that makes care better
If you're building products and services for health or death care and struggling to bring your vision to life, I'll help you create and something great that people actually want to use.I transform your ideas into practical solutions that balance business needs with genuine human connection – even in the most sensitive areas of care.
Recognise these struggles?
You have an ambitious vision for health and care transformation but lack a clear implementation path, especially in complex care environments.
You're developing digital offerings for sensitive domains – such as mental health, end-of-life care, mental health, funerals – and struggle to balance what is needed, with what works.
You need to align clinical or domain experts, technical teams, patients and customers while creating things people actually want to use over time.
What if you could...
See people engage with your product or service, even in difficult circumstances, proving that your approach works.
With Palliate, we reduced symptom response time from 100+ minutes to just 20 minutes, while maintaining 80% independent usage rates by lay carers, demonstrating both cost savings and improved care quality.
Present compelling evidence to investors or partners, securing the support needed to grow sustainably.
I created Cove - a pioneering music therapy app - from sketch to App Store in 12 weeks. As one of the first NHS-approved mental health apps, it was used across CAMHS and other national services, with over 270,000 users worldwide.
Launch something that transforms how people experience care, knowing that there's a viable path for it to sustain itself.
I've helped services achieve widespread adoption, such as ReSPECT's implementation across 55% of UK health services, improving patient outcomes while reducing clinical resources.
You may have already tried other design agencies that don't understand (or have the time to learn about) health and care complexities, or technical teams that miss the human dimension of sensitive domains.I can help you translate your vision, and practically implement something in a way that's both emotionally intelligent and technically viable, even if you're navigating complex environments.
Proven success stories
He has been my design therapist, guiding me wisely on a number of key design decisions we needed to make over the last years. I would say that Ivor is the wisest designer I know.
— Louis Weinstock, psychotherapist and co-founder of Bounce Works
Ivor is very thoughtful about how he hold his wisdom on a topic that wider society/others have considerably less comfort or experience talking about.
— Iona Lawrence, co-founder of The Decelerator and the Jo Cox Foundation
Ivor is an outstanding design leader. What sets him apart is his passion and deep expertise. He is highly innovative, extremely thoughtful, and a pleasure to work with... He was able to bring people on board with his vision and deliver exceptional outcomes.
— Gianluca Fontana, CEO of Prova Health
Let's talk about your challenges
I offer a free 30-minute consultation to explore how we might work together.We can discuss (with no strings attached) your current challenges, share relevant experiences and identify possible next steps. You can also get in touch via email.
Insights and updates
🙇 Ivor Williams
Based in London, working globally.
I'm Ivor, your design partner in health and death care innovation
I help people and organisations solve complex challenges through human-centred and systemic design.With over 15 years of experience across the UK, Italy and the Netherlands, I've created everything from mental health apps to national healthcare processes.
I've pioneered end-of-life care innovation at Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation and I've led design teams at healthtech scale-up Accurx.I'm a trained end-of-life doula and mental health expert by experience.
As an entrepreneur, my ventures have been funded by NHS England, SBRI Healthcare and Bethnal Green Ventures. They've focused on a wide range of health and death care areas such as digital music therapy, advance care planning and death awareness.
I speak globally at design and healthcare conferences, from IxDA and European Health Care Design conference to the Scottish and European Parliaments.I am an Honorary Practice Fellow at Imperial College London, with previous teaching roles at Design Academy Eindhoven and Università Iuav di Venezia and the Glasgow School of Art.
Case studies
Through careful research design, I've helped organisations understand complex needs and create innovative solutions - like developing a blueprint for children's hospice care that defined new operational models, increasing care capacity through four innovative service prototypes.
I helped Larger Us understand how communities grieve during crises. I co-authored an actionable report used widely during COVID-19.
I helped St Christopher's Hospice understand their nurses' needs for professional development, and prototyped key improvements for their new learning platform.
Who I've worked with
Proven success stories
Ivor is an outstanding design leader. What sets him apart is his passion and deep expertise. He is highly innovative, extremely thoughtful, and a pleasure to work with... He was able to bring people on board with his vision and deliver exceptional outcomes.
— Gianluca Fontana, CEO of Prova Health
His management style, allowing designers space to explore solutions, fosters a supportive and creative environment. His calm approach to busy schedules brings stability to the team, especially during periods of change.
— Veron Lai, Head of Design, Accurx
Ivor has boatloads of integrity, vision, and creativity – making him someone I love talking to and trust deeply.
— Casper ter Kuile, Sacred Design Lab
Let's talk
Book a free, no obligation 30-min chat to discuss the challenges you are facing, or get in touch via email.If you'd like me to speak at your conference or event, just let me know.