Before Apps Existed: How My Master’s Dissertation Became a Real Digital Tool for Young Offenders

In 1998, I completed my Master’s degree in graphic design.

At that stage, I had no idea that one piece of academic work would later open the door to one of the most important projects of my early career.

But life around that time was far from straightforward.

Shortly after finishing my Masters, my mum passed away at just 52 years old. I was 25.

That period changed everything.

Like many people starting out, I moved into employment, first taking a graphic design role for a year before being made redundant. After that, I found work within a marketing agency, continuing to build experience while trying to work out what direction life was taking.

In 2002, I got married. A year later, I made the decision to start my own business: Innersmile. At that stage, there was no big plan, no roadmap, just a strong feeling that I wanted to build something of my own and use design in a way that meant more than simply making things look good.

My first instinct was to revisit something I deeply believed had value:

My Master’s dissertation.

The project explored how digital design could help young offenders access important information more easily across Leicester, Derby and Nottinghamshire.

At the time, the chosen format was a DVD. Today that sounds dated, but back then it was a practical digital solution.

The challenge was to make information feel accessible, visual and familiar to engage young offenders who are near to the tend of their sentence. So I took the dissertation to Leicester Youth Offending Team and showed it to Head of Service Laurence Jones.

He immediately understood it. He loved the idea and commissioned me to produce it.

That moment is still vivid in my mind. Someone had seen value in my thinking.

Someone had faith in me. At that stage of life, after loss, uncertainty and starting a business, it felt huge.

Almost like someone above was quietly opening a door.

Then reality kicked in. The project required video. And I had almost no professional experience in video production. I had only used a small video camera myself, nothing more. So suddenly I had a commission, but also a problem to solve. Not long after,

I moved into Leicester’s LCB Depot. And this is where life took another unexpected turn.

Ironically, my neighbour there was a video production company run by Matt Holt at MGL Media.We instantly got on.

Very quickly we discovered something personal we both shared. Matt's dad had recently passed away from cancer, just as my mum had. There was an immediate understanding between us that went beyond business. It genuinely felt like life had somehow placed us side by side for a reason.

Almost as though our parents had quietly helped put the right people together at exactly the right moment.

Matt brought the production expertise I needed. I brought the concept, structure and audience understanding. Together, we turned an academic idea into a working digital resource designed to speak directly to young people.

What began in Leicester soon led to Nottinghamshire Youth Offending Team commissioning a version of their own (left DVD) Looking back now, what strikes me most is this:

The DVD itself was never the real innovation.

The real innovation was the thinking behind it.

Even then, the goal was behavioural:

• Reduce resistance

• Increase engagement

• Make support feel approachable

• Use familiar visual language

• Help young people absorb information that mattered

Today, people call this UX, behavioural design or digital engagement.

Back then, I simply saw it as designing something people would actually use.

And in many ways, that same thinking still drives my work now.

Technology changes.

Human behaviour doesn’t.

Long before I understood the phrase behavioural design, that project showed me how design quietly shapes attention, trust and decision-making.

And sometimes, one person saying yes at the right moment changes everything. Watch the DVD click here