Start Here
A clear introduction to the Member-First Method — what it is, who it's for and how to read the work.
What it is
The Member-First Method treats member experience as a strategic and commercial discipline - what it really means, how it’s felt, and why it matters more than is typically acknowledged.
Membership businesses talk about experience constantly, yet often struggle to define it clearly, design for it intentionally, or measure it meaningfully. The Member-First Method exists to think more rigorously about what it takes to build memberships that are commercially sustainable for businesses, and genuinely valuable, supportive, and worth belonging to for members.
It is intended as a living and evolving method for membership and subscription businesses seeking to become truly member-first. Written from inside the practice, it is grounded in lived experience and shaped by frameworks that have been tested in real membership environments.
Who it’s for
This work is for people interested in understanding what genuinely shapes member experience and how that understanding can be translated into a coherent, member-first approach to building membership businesses.
It will be most relevant if you are:
- A founder or owner of a subscription or membership business: From early-stage and solo operators to established, scaled organisations.
- A leader responsible for membership, subscription, or community strategy: With accountability for engagement, retention, and renewal over time.
- A creator or creative building a subscriber-based audience: Thinking beyond attention towards sustainability and depth of relationship.
- Anyone designing long-term relationships rather than one-off transactions: And interested in how experience, belonging, and alignment shape loyalty.
The aim of this work is to support the design of membership experiences that people choose to engage with and remain part of over time.
It’s also for readers interested in experience design, belonging, and long-term value - even where they are not directly responsible for them.
How the work is organised
The Method forms the backbone of this work - the foundation everything else builds from. It consists of long-form essays that articulate the principles informing how membership businesses can become more member-first. These essays represent the core thinking of The Method, and are intended as the primary point of reference. They are where I hope you start and continue coming back to.
Notes sit alongside the Method as thinking in motion. They are shorter observations and working thoughts, capturing patterns I’m noticing, theories I’m testing, and questions still forming. This includes stories and case studies from membership and subscription businesses, viewed through a Member-First lens. Some notes are available publicly; others are reserved for subscribers where ideas are more experimental or sensitive.
Frameworks form the practical application of the Method. They translate the principles and patterns set out in the essays into applied tools designed for use in real membership environments. Each framework reflects my own design work and intellectual property, developed through experience, iteration, and careful refinement. They will be made available to paid subscribers, in time.
Where to begin
If you’d like a starting point, I recommend beginning with:
→ What It Means to Be Truly Member-First
Philosophy
Through my work in membership businesses, it became clear to me how often member experience was misunderstood or treated as secondary - despite being one of the strongest drivers of long-term retention and commercial sustainability. This gap is what led to the creation of The Member-First Method.
My approach sits at the intersection of commercial strategy, emotion, and human belonging, combining data with close attention to how member experiences are actually felt. This site is where I develop and share my thinking on how designing meaningful member experiences becomes the foundation of renewal, retention, and long-term value.
Beyond the Method
Alongside my work on membership models and the subscription economy, I’m interested in business strategy, entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and how individuals and groups develop over extended periods of time. I’m particularly drawn to questions of inclusion, empathy, and belonging. A background in the entertainment industry also shapes how I explore membership and subscription models through creator culture and audience relationships. Together, these interests inform the Method, even when they’re not named explicitly.