I’m leaving my job at DWP Digital in August.
This will be just short of 4 years working in government, first at the Government Digital Service (GDS) and then at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for the past 3 years.
It feels like the right time for a change and the right time to move on. Continue reading…
I was part of a round table forum this afternoon for Digital Leaders week: North West Salon: Citizen Experience.
I was invited as one of the keynote speakers along with Stephen Morris, Director of Programmes at UKCloud.
The event was set up as an open discussion for everyone that attended and I spoke without notes. Continue reading…
I get asked this question a lot. My thoughts:
In my experience, most of the best ‘experience’ practitioners or agencies think about the full end to end experience of a product or service.
Whether they get to design the full user experience or find themselves in a position of any real influence over this when working with different organisations will vary. Continue reading…
At DWP Digital we hire specialists to help us deliver user-centred design. Up until now we’ve focussed on interaction design, content design, user research and front-end development. Continue reading…
I “own” the content.
I “own” the strategy.
I “own” the solution.
Swap all these things for I “own” the problem, and you just might succeed. Continue reading…
It’s okay for government to have needs. I always work with this presumption in mind:
Understanding user needs and understanding the needs of government isn’t a choice. You need to do both.
We start with user needs. Continue reading…
Design leaders are still designers, but they design different things. Teams, processes, and culture – Kim Goodwin, Leading Design conference, London (2016)
Design leadership is making sure that other people have as much space and time to do their best possible work. Continue reading…
I’ve been doing some more thinking about mission statements or setting long term goals for products and services.
When we’re thinking about the products and services we work on in government, many of our long term goals revert back to:
Be the simplest, fastest way [to do a thing]
What we mean is we want to make something that works well for people that’s better than the alternatives. Continue reading…
I’ve just been updating my speaking page. I’m looking forward to being part of a number of events this year.
My first talk of the year was for the cross-government design meeting 18. This is a regular event for all the designers working in UK government. Continue reading…
It’s the things you’re prepared to notice.
It’s a million small actions or the individual details that someone choose to care about.
Design at its best frames the unusual and celebrates diversity. Its mistakes make it human. Continue reading…