To follow on from my last blog post about leading sideways, here’s an example of how I work best.
I’m naturally more comfortable having a conversation about design, or leading a design process, standing side by side with people, rather than face to face. Continue reading…
September 15th, 2019. Posted in Seniority in design
When thinking about seniority in design, how to manage or ask for feedback is important.
As a designer you’re only as good as your feedback loops
Feedback is something you have to find as a designer. It’s something you have to be proactive about. As a rule, I think that everyone should be looking for feedback all the time. Continue reading…
September 13th, 2019. Posted in Seniority in design
Some more thoughts on design leadership and positioning (where you lead from).
You can lead from the side, not just from the front
Sometimes the intention to lead is enough. You can hold yourself to that responsibility, even when you’re not seen as a leader by others in your organisation. Continue reading…
September 13th, 2019. Posted in Seniority in design

Inspired by the Twits – Roald Dahl
I’ve always believed that that working in the open is important.
This week I spoke on a panel about collaboration. My main reflection was that collaboration and learning works both ways. Progress is often the result of how we open up ideas, conversations and make new connections. Continue reading…
September 13th, 2019. Posted in design
A general observation from work I see happening across the public sector:
The quality of creative thinking, communication, visual and content design limits the effectiveness of the process or practice of designing services. There’s also a lack of implementation as the result of service design work.
Continue reading…
September 8th, 2019. Posted in design
The language we use and what we mean when we’re using a design-led or based approach is important. I recently shared my thinking about different types of design focus on Twitter.
These are my definitions. Continue reading…
September 6th, 2019. Posted in design, Service Design
It’s been a busy year so far and my intention of writing regular monthly updates hasn’t materialised (my last proper update was back in February). I’ve been prioritising other things, mostly real life and family.
I am still finding some time to write, especially as part of my role as Chief Design Officer at FutureGov, so I thought it would be useful to collect together everything that I’ve written this year. Continue reading…
August 6th, 2019. Posted in blogging, design, monthnotes
I’m encouraged by the number of people talking about how they are taking on more responsibility to lead design. Emma’s blog post was great about her decision to take on a new role, and Ale’s call out to bring together more people in lead design roles has had a great response. Continue reading…
June 8th, 2019. Posted in design, Seniority in design
More and more I feel like I’m stepping outside recognised design communities to have conversations about design.
I think that this is important. For me, the practice of design is secondary to being able to translate design into something more impactful. Continue reading…
June 8th, 2019. Posted in design
Just over a year ago, I wrote about comparing service design to business analysis. This was to highlight differences in skill sets, with an emphasis on how service design can bring a new set of approaches and focus to organisations.
In areas of government, and often in large or more enterprise IT-led organisations, service design is still seen at best as interchangeable with established business design functions. Continue reading…
June 7th, 2019. Posted in design, FutureGov, organisation design, Service Design