stickers I do this stickers A few weeks back I rattled together a very quick sticker. I put it on Twitter. People seemed to like it. I’ve now done an asterisked, more “family friendly” version. So, I’ve sent that design off to the printers and got quite a few on the way. 5cm
Fight snub Earlier this year I wrote about “us versus them”. I am sort of revisiting that post. I don’t like the word ‘fight’ at work to describe getting stuff done. It’s the language of conflict. “You’ll have a fight on your hands for people to value in that.
Getting people together In the NHS beta team we try to do things openly. We publish little snippets on the #nhsbeta hashtag on Twitter We blog regularly. And we put our show and tells on YouTube. On Tuesday we hosted the first cross NHS design get-together from Leeds, as a brown bag lunchtime
My problem with “digital transformation” I was talking a friend recently. They advised me I was giving the impression of being angsty, almost against the idea of ‘digital transformation’. I’d been doing it on Twitter as well. I sighed. I could see their point. My problem isn’t with ‘digital transformation’. My issue: The
People are not crows For starters, a quick bit about some of the work the NHS.UK team in Leeds I am in is currently looking into. Time and time again in research sessions people say they go to their doctor because, as someone we spoke to put it succinctly: “My doctor is the
That’s not my home phone number, the area dial code is all wrong - Or, how I suddenly lost trust in my bank This morning I was walking the dog. The dog is happy walking around on her own, so I decide to do a little life admin. It’s a busy day ahead, not sure I’ll get the chance to do it all, I’ll steal a march now. I’ve
What is it I actually do? Matt Jukes recently wrote a brilliant, really brilliant piece on culture and hiring to supplement his Design Swansea talk. Put the time aside and read it. Matt also asked me if I could answer some questions for him, for a series called Who Do You Think You Are?. Easy peasy,
Typography, an example to learn from Spotted today at Leeds trains station. Anyway, here's the same idea with better execution. Thankfully.
USDS values The US Digital Service have published their values. > Because how we work is as important as what we do. And there's just six of these.
number number dash number number dash It's a bank holiday Monday. I've got that hour I never usually find in my weekend to do some life admin. Yes, on bank holidays I usually end up doing some bank stuff. That also means it is the time when the inconsistencies presented when filling
It’s how you display it Yesterday my wife received an email “from” Government Gateway reminding her she has do something by a specific date, activate her enrolment. Here’s the email. My wife shows me the email. “Why is the date shown like that?” she asks me. I say it’s a standard technical format,
stickers Stickers as a thank you Exactly a month back I posted on the brave and hard work being done by the team at Bradford council to create a new digital platform. After the team took the time to show me their progress, being done in the right way, I pulled together a quick sticker design
HMRC-ya Early this week I told my manager and my fellow designers at HMRC's digital delivery arm that I am leaving. I had an offer. It wasn't the first I have had over the past few months. But this time I wasn't going to say
Keeping things on track It's four in the morning. I've woken up in the middle of the night, can't get back to sleep, so I've got the NBA play-offs on. No idea why I can't get back off. Maybe it's because later
Mentor offer Hello. From early June I will be spending some time during the week "closer to home". This means I will be about Leeds and Bradford more than the past ten months – by actually being about. I'd like to use this chance to offer myself as a
Knowing what to expect A week of user research – and also a timely reminder that expectancy is something you can't take for granted, and legacy can be a burden whoever you are. That last bit is especially if you are government. We regularly encounter people in our sessions who would still prefer
A simpler, clearer, better bradford.gov.uk Yesterday it was my pleasure to spend time with the team at Bradford council who are working on their digital platform. It was especially a privilege as yesterday saw the latest version of their digital platform being available for the public. It was the mark of a very radical shift.
Always be in beta posters In yesterday's post on some new stickers, I included an image of some posters we've got up in the Newcastle HMRC office. For the people who have asked off the back of that post and others who have asked before, I've finally got round
stickers Some new stickers Hello there. Amongst everything else, I've been working on a service patch idea/design this week. If a government (digital) service passes an assessment, it tends to get a patch. Tends to as HMRC isn't very good at this. (Wanna know more on the patches? More
Start at the core A couple of days back on Medium, Atom is just “UX-ing” banking. Mondo is re-imagining it: > Disrupting finance shouldn’t be that difficult. All it takes is a ruthless focus on solving customers problems rather than selling them a product. 29 January 2016. Over on the a16z podcast When
Sunday design stuff in New York Lovely day in New York. Some fun design finds as well. This lovely little thing at the top of the bill we got, there to help whoever serves you. Quite commonplace on bills in the States. Once you notice it the first time you can't stop noticing it.
Visit to Cooper Hewitt in New York Met Tom Harrop for a trip to the Cooper Hewitt, an excellent museum of contemporary design. Despite having fun looking for UX/UI memes, the museum is excellent. The screens and pens provided some excellent engaging interactions. (More info here.) Monument Valley – or stills from it – were on display. Great
Getting stuff done (in gov) I bumped into a pal on the train last week. She, like me, “made the leap” to work for (a part) government. She’s got a bloody good track record, someone who has been there and worked hard to make some really good stuff. She’s smart, know her beans,
Invisible Chinatown 99% Invisible is a consistently brilliant podcast. The recent episode Pagodas and Dragon Gates is particularly recommended, a look at the history and relationship between Chinese immigrants and San Francisco, focused around the city’s Chinatown. Following on from the Great Fire, the city looked at how it could make
Codegirl at the Co-op A couple of days back I hot-footed across the country from Newcastle to Manchester, via Idle, to take the daughter to a showing of Codegirl at the Co-op’s HQ in Manchester. Codegirl is a documentary film centring on the all-girl teams taking part in the Technovation Challenge. Here’s
