HAKEA

HAKEA is a design consultancy founded by Giles Thackway. Research-led, AI-augmented, and expertize -led from start to finish — HAKEA partners with businesses to solve real problems, delivering products and experiences that are as strategic as they are intuitive. Every engagement is led by Giles directly and is deliberately lean. He brings the depth and craft of a larger agency without the overhead — expanding with trusted collaborators when a project demands it.

01 About

Product designer, researcher, and strategist with over 15 years of experience. Grounded in a Masters in Computational Arts (Goldsmiths, Distinction) and a background in digital media (Undergrad at UNSW, First Class Honors), Giles works hands-on from the smallest design desicions craft to C-suite strategy — integrating AI throughout, always in service of better outcomes for users and businesses.

Collaborators

HAKEA draws on a close network of trusted collaborators — researchers, strategists, developers, motion designers, and creative technologists — assembled as each project demands. Clients get exactly the right expertise for the work at hand, without agency overhead.

02 Clients

From life sciences and genomics to financial services, enterprise software, and consumer experience — HAKEA has worked with leading organizations at every scale. The common thread isn't the industry. It's the belief that the best design makes something people couldn't avoid — a clinical trial, a banking platform, an injury claim — genuinely better.

Recent Engagements

Partnership with LAB49

Hex: #FA9819

Engagement with LAB49

Hex: #B6C9CF

Engagement with LAB49

Hex: #000000

Director of Product Design

Hex: #C6EBF7

Past Clients

Lead Product Design Consultant

Hex: #1E3D59

Principle Product Design Consultant

Hex: #48749E

Lead Product Design Consultant

Hex: #DEEEFE

Principle Product Design Consultant

Hex: #E8EBEF

Icon Set for FOURSQUARE

Hex: #CD4900

Lead Product Design Consultant

Hex: #040404

Partnership with coalesce NYC

Hex: #A3A3A3

Engagement with coalesce NYC

Hex: #E5E5E5

In House Consulting

ION · Lead Product Designer

Medidata Solutions · Senior User Experience

KPMG · UX/UI Designer

UNSW AGSM · Designer

03 Testimonials

Design only works if the people it's built for say it does. Here's what clients and collaborators have said about working with HAKEA.

Financial Services, Lab49

Giles understands the complexity of financial services and translates it into design that actually works. Strategic, precise, and a pleasure to work with.

Type Sizes 24–55pt/px

120% Leading

-1% Tracking

Font: Rethink Sans

Weight: Medium

Health Industry, HLTH

Giles designed a product from scratch that generated millions in new revenue. The strategic thinking behind the design was as impressive as the craft itself.

Type Sizes 20–55pt/px

120% Leading

-1% Tracking

Font: Hedvig Letters Serif

Weight: Regular

Clinical AI, AICure

Before Giles, we had powerful technology with no experience to match. He changed that completely. The dashboard he designed became central to how we won new business.

Type Sizes > 15-30pt/px

100% Leading

-2% Tracking

Font: Rethink Sans

Weight: Bold

Life Sciences, Dassault Systèmes

Technically complex, industry-first work. He navigated it with real design leadership.

Type Sizes 24–30pt/px

100% Leading

-2% Tracking

Font: Hedvig Letters Serif

Weight: Regular

Legal Technology/Multi-domain, Mighty

He brought clarity to one of the most confusing experiences a consumer can face. The feedback from users said it all.

Type Sizes 24–55pt/px

120% Leading

-1% Tracking

Font: Rethink Sans

Weight: Semibold

Patient Engagement and Clinical Research, Medidata

The work was recognized industry-wide and still influences how we think about patient experience. His work on our patient engagement platform showed how good design can directly improve clinical outcomes.

Type Sizes 16-40pt/px

110% Leading

-2% Tracking

Font: Rethink Sans

Font style: Italics

Professional Services, KPMG

Giles raised the bar for how we engaged major clients. He brought design thinking and a strategic approach to a process that had never had either.

Type Sizes 0–24pt/px

130% Leading

0% Tracking

Font: Hedvig Letters Serif

Font style: Regular

04 Case Studies

Four engagements across healthcare, financial services, and legal technology — each requiring a distinct approach, deep domain knowledge, and design thinking at both the strategic and executional level.

4.1 Transaction Intelligence

Financial Services · AI Product Design · Dynamic UI

4.2 AI Clinical Adherence & Data Visualization

Healthcare · Research & Analytics · Mobile & Dashboard Design

4.3 Personal Injury Claims Platform

Legal Technology · Consumer UX · Multi-domain Product Design

4.4 Patient-Centric Strategy

Life Sciences · Mobile UX · Behavioral Research · Medidata

05 Services

Every HAKEA service connects — great UX informs better interfaces, better interfaces are sustained by strong design systems, and all of it is grounded in research. AI tools and methods are woven throughout, not as a shortcut, but to work smarter and arrive at better outcomes.

Specialty Services

AI Product Design

As AI reshapes what products can do, designing those experiences well has become one of the most important and least understood challenges in the industry. HAKEA designs AI-powered products that are transparent, trustworthy, and genuinely useful — where the intelligence serves the user, not the other way around.

Research & User Testing

Research isn't a step in the process — it's the backbone of everything HAKEA does. From generative research and user interviews through to usability testing and synthesis, HAKEA surfaces the insights that make design decisions defensible and outcomes predictable.

Healthcare & Clinical UX

With deep experience across genomics, clinical trials, patient engagement, and health marketplaces, HAKEA understands the unique demands of designing for healthcare — where accuracy, compliance, and human sensitivity are non-negotiable.

Enterprise & Financial UX

Complex systems, demanding users, and zero tolerance for error. HAKEA brings the discipline and experience to design enterprise and financial products that perform under pressure and scale with confidence.

Design Leadership & Sprints

For teams that need strategic design thinking fast, or fractional leadership to level up an existing design function, HAKEA offers focused engagements that build capability and momentum from the inside.

Data Visualization & Analytics

Data only creates value when people can understand it. HAKEA uses AI-powered analytics tools to surface signals quickly, then designs visual narratives built around how people actually think and decide. Applied across genomics, oncology, clinical trial adherence, and financial services — making the complex legible, regardless of the field.

Core Product Design Services

User Experience Design

UX is the backbone of every HAKEA engagement. Examining the full spectrum of how people experience a product — usefulness, usability, credibility, accessibility, and emotional resonance — across industries where the stakes are high. AI-assisted research and synthesis methods allow us to move faster and deeper without sacrificing the quality of insight.

UI / Interface Design

Great interfaces reduce friction, build trust, and make complex systems feel effortless. HAKEA treats every interface as a behavioral problem first — grounding decisions in rigorous research across contexts from enterprise financial platforms to clinical research tools to consumer health apps. We design for how AI is reshaping interaction, ensuring products stay intuitive as the technology evolves.

Prototyping & Interaction Design

Validating ideas before committing to them reduces risk and produces better products. HAKEA uses AI-powered prototyping tools to compress timelines and explore a broader range of solutions earlier — giving clients higher-fidelity thinking before development begins. Whether designing healthcare wearables or high-pressure financial interfaces, the discipline is the same.

Design Systems

Consistency is what separates a collection of screens from a coherent product. HAKEA builds design systems that scale — structured to support AI-generated UI, dynamic content, and adaptive interfaces. Particularly critical in enterprise environments: financial platforms, clinical data tools, and consumer health products scaling across markets.

Contact

HAKEA

01 About

Collaborators