A world-leader in end-of-life care design
With a rare combination of palliative and end-of-life care domain knowledge and multi-disciplinary design expertise, I help health and death care organisations who need to bridge the gap between ambitious vision and practical implementation.
With nearly 20 years of experience across the UK, Italy and the Netherlands, I've designed and built everything from apps to national healthcare processes.
I've pioneered end-of-life care innovation at Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation and Helix Centre, and I've led design teams at healthtech scale-up Accurx.
As an entrepreneur, my ventures in mental health and end-of-life care have been funded by NHS England, SBRI Healthcare and Bethnal Green Ventures. In 2023, I founded my latest venture, Mortals, an evidence-based approach to mortality awareness for personal transformation.
Alongside my design practice, I am a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath and a trained End-of-Life Doula. I was previously Visiting Professor of Information Design at Università Iuav di Venezia in Italy and have taught design at Design Academy Eindhoven and the Glasgow School of Art.
I currently serve as a board advisor to Jewish Care, am a member of the End-of-Life Care Coalition and have previously held Fellowships with the Royal Society of Arts and Imperial College London.
Born and raised in Scotland, I studied design at the Glasgow School of Art. I now live in East London with my wife and two daughters.
Steady company in hard work
Work around death, dying and loss asks a lot of the people doing it. I bring honesty about who I am, an eye for how the pieces connect, and the courage to stay with people when things get difficult.
“Death care and end-of-life services are a specialist field. Finding a project developer who understands the sector, its challenges, and shared drive for best practice made all the difference. Ivor brought both experience and genuine alignment with the values behind the work.”
“Ivor is a dynamic, engaging and expert facilitator. He inspires people to think and act differently.”
“Ivor brings a rare combination of design thinking, compassion, and intellectual rigor to a field that deeply benefits from his perspective. He has an extraordinary ability to reimagine systems, environments, and experiences around dying and caregiving – always with humanity, dignity, and beauty at the center.”
“His experience of systems working enabled us to navigate a complex issue with a broad range of stakeholders and deliver tangible actionable outputs.”
“Ivor is very thoughtful about how he holds his wisdom on a topic that wider society has considerably less comfort talking about.”
“Ivor has boatloads of integrity, vision, and creativity, making him someone I love talking to and trust deeply.”
“His calm approach brings stability to the team, especially during periods of change.”
“He was able to bring people on board with his vision and deliver exceptional outcomes.”
A speaker who says what goes unsaid
I speak globally at design and healthcare conferences, from IxDA and the European Health Care Design conference to the Scottish and European Parliaments. I present regularly to hospice and end-of-life organisations – from MDTs to boards – shaping how care can be delivered.
A unique voice on death, dying and loss
I'm one of few designers committed to death, dying and loss. I know its complexity too well to flatten it. But my practice is generative, so I work to create and improve our culture. I explore this in writing, on podcasts and on Substack.
On Bryan Johnson’s illness, the myth of living forever, and why mortality is the active ingredient in living well.
Let’s talk about dyingOn The Art of Being Uncomfortable: the limits of labels, community in dying, and how facing mortality helps us live more fully.
Talking about death, not around itFrom Eric Dane’s final messages to the interview that changed my life: how honest proximity to death strips performance away.
How to die (and live) wellOn The Good Apocalypse: why we find it so hard to face death, and how unprocessed collective grief shows up in our politics.
Endings done well are generativeResponding to the FT on ‘endings practitioners’: closure isn’t decline management, it creates the conditions for what comes next.
Why we struggle to name deathA viral ‘Are You Dead?’ app in China reveals a universal fear of dying unnoticed, and our discomfort with the language of death.
Interested in my work? Let’s talk
Find a time that suits you and book 30 minutes to discuss your challenge or speaking opportunity.