Last week at the Service Design in Government conference in Edinburgh, we tried a new format for this conference: Lightning Talks. Four speakers responded to my call: Can you say something SDinGOV needs to hear? and we had a livelyContinue reading… Lightning talks at Service Design in Government 2022
Category: Design
Book review: From Solo to Scaled by Natalie Marie Dunbar
If you’re building a user-centred design team, then you need Natalie Marie Dunbar’s book From Solo to Scaled: Building a Sustainable Content Strategy Practice. Of course, if you’re building a content strategy practice – maybe from solo, but also ifContinue reading… Book review: From Solo to Scaled by Natalie Marie Dunbar
How to research components and patterns: common challenges and how to overcome them
This is a joint post by Ignacia Orellana, Amy Hupe, and Caroline Jarrett In our previous joint blog post, we talked about how to share research in design systems. We explained why sharing research matters and what designers and developersContinue reading… How to research components and patterns: common challenges and how to overcome them
Can you say something that SDinGov 2022 needs to hear?
Updated 5th October 2022: we had a great session. Read the report on lightning talks at SDinGOV. I’ve kept this call-out here for context. Have you got something new or different to say to people who design services in government? Continue reading… Can you say something that SDinGov 2022 needs to hear?
Do not use “reading age” when thinking about adults
Let’s try a thought-experiment. We’re in a park. Three people are playing soccer. One of them, 20, yells “You kick like an 8 year old!” at the other two – but it’s not clear which one. The 4-year old beamsContinue reading… Do not use “reading age” when thinking about adults
Thank you Gerry Gaffney for UXpod
I’ve been an enthusiastic listener to Gerry Gaffney’s podcast, UXpod, and was honoured to be a guest more than once. I was sad when he mentioned that he had decided to stop doing it – but a bit happier whenContinue reading… Thank you Gerry Gaffney for UXpod
How to share research in design systems
This post is co-authored by Amy Hupe, Ignacia Orellana, and Caroline Jarrett. “Use this because we said so” is not a convincing strategy for building trust with designers and developers who want to, need to, or are told to, useContinue reading… How to share research in design systems
Use your plain language skills to improve your survey
Plain language skills are vital for surveys. If people can easily understand your questions, then that will help them to give accurate answers. And plain language specialists are constantly thinking about their audience and its needs – which is vitalContinue reading… Use your plain language skills to improve your survey
All projects (and services) start in the middle
I’m a big fan of the user-centred agile approach to service delivery that is gradually being adopted by most government departments in the UK, and many other organisations too. I mean – let’s turn those words around. Who would wantContinue reading… All projects (and services) start in the middle
Why plain language and Plain English are different
When a user says to you “why can’t they write in Plain English?”, that’s a very reasonable request for us to think harder about how we are writing content. What I’m going to discuss here is the difference between “plainContinue reading… Why plain language and Plain English are different