Ben Holliday is an experienced design leader, writer and speaker. This is his blog (started in 2005). If you’re new to this site, Ben has published a playbook for design linking together many of his blog posts from the past 5 years. You can book him to speak at an event, get in touch or follow him on Twitter.
A mindset is how we respond to the world around us. It acts as a center of gravity. It goes with you. It shapes who you are and what you do, wherever you are.
Billy Joel wrote the song ‘New York State of Mind’ after returning to New York City from LA. Continue reading…
I’m going to keep writing monthly roundups again this year. Time is always tight, but it’s good to reflect and to be able to look back on what I’ve been working on, and the places I’ve visited.
It’s been a busy start to the year at FutureGov (FG) – I’m about to go away for a couple of days on a family break as we’ve reached school half-term. Continue reading…
I usually publish an end of year review (2015, 2016, 2017). This year I’ve been trying to write more regular monthly updates (all of which are here) so I’ll try to keep this shorter.
It’s been a year of change. From work (see November update), to family (see May update). Continue reading…
Ambiguity is a key part of design. It points us to the uncomfortable gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’ which is where I believe design adds most value.
As I described in my blog post ‘Seniority in design’ the more senior you get the more you will have to learn to handle ambiguity. Continue reading…
This is the first monthly roundup I’ve written since July. The summer, and moving into autumn, was an incredibly busy time with a new baby at home (see May 2018 update) and lots going on at work.
So let’s jump to November.
There has been a lot of change happening. Continue reading…
When working with product teams, the job of a design leader is to make quick and accurate assessments about the focus and quality of the work being presented back to them. Continue reading…
This site (hollidazed.co.uk) has been live for something like 13 years. It’s an often neglected WordPress installation that I’ve enjoyed tinkering with and updating during that time.
At the start of the year, I said I was going to try an experiment – only publishing new posts on my Medium account. Continue reading…
The purpose of defining something is to create a shared understanding of words, ideas, and processes with a wider group of people.
If you’re going to talk about ideas and ways of working such as ‘digital’, ‘agile’, or ‘service design’, then it’s important to first set out what these things mean. Continue reading…
There’s a lot of design education out there. I get asked sometimes what people should ‘study’?
If you want to be a good designer, my advice is to study broadly and follow your interests. A design degree is great but it’s how you spend the rest of your life learning and being open to new ideas that matters most. Continue reading…
A lot of digital agencies and technology companies talk about ‘digital service design’.
What I think they mean by this is that they’re designing experiences and digital interactions that happen on a screen.
Service design will never be effective if it’s only seen as ‘digital’ or given the remit to work as ‘digital’. Continue reading…