Tag: design

“No one’s laughing at the lenses”, or the service-dominant logic of my new pair of specs

I'm typing this on the sofa. Across the living room, the laptop display is mirrored to the television. I can comfortably read them both. Unremarkable to you, maybe. To me it seems like magic because just before Christmas I picked up my first pair of varifocals. While people have been complimenting me on the frames … Continue reading “No one’s laughing at the lenses”, or the service-dominant logic of my new pair of specs →

Levelling up: Two and a half years into my work at NHS Digital – part 1

I’m starting to write this on a sleepy Friday evening train back to Leeds, two and a half years and one day since I started at NHS Digital. I won’t publish it for a week or so now, out of deference to the pre-election period. This morning at Leeds Station I popped my postal vote … Continue reading Levelling up: Two and a half years into my work at NHS Digital – part 1 →

Worlds colliding – reflections 2 years into my work at NHS Digital

In a breakout room to the side of the Service Design in Government conference in Edinburgh, with a floor to ceiling view of Arthur’s Seat and a lawn where alpacas were led to graze, I chatted about service maps with a small group of my brilliant NHS Digital colleagues. I felt a little guilty keeping … Continue reading Worlds colliding – reflections 2 years into my work at NHS Digital →

Challenges and changes – some notes for a panel session on delivering services

I was on a panel at the Digital Urgent & Emergency Care Conference, brilliantly chaired by Emma Mulqueeny. I wrote these notes as prompts for my contribution. Not everything here came up in the discussion but I thought the notes worth sharing anyway... The NHS Long Term Plan reflects society’s expectations of technology in all … Continue reading Challenges and changes – some notes for a panel session on delivering services →

Stop disempowering people – a talk at Health Product People

I was honoured to be invited to talk at Health Product People at the Department of Health and Social Care this week, especially so because I was on the same bill as Hadley, Ian and Kassandra, all of whom were brilliant. I loosely titled my talk “Stop disempowering people.” (Thanks to Ian for photo of me … Continue reading Stop disempowering people – a talk at Health Product People →

The promise of understanding – a talk at Interact 2018

Video of the talk... https://youtu.be/kMCyNztqj2s Opening video: Abridged version of Your very good health, Public info film (NHS) 1948 I wanted you to see that film - 70 years old this year - because its promise, of universal healthcare, free at the point of need, is as relevant today as in 1948. But much has changed in … Continue reading The promise of understanding – a talk at Interact 2018 →

AI, black boxes, and designerly machines

On my holiday, I started reading into some topics I ought to know more about: artificial intelligence, genomics, healthcare, and the fast approaching intersection of the above. Here follow some half-baked reckons for your critical appraisal. Please tell me what’s worth digging into more. Also where I’m wrong and what I might be missing. 1. … Continue reading AI, black boxes, and designerly machines →

“Look after the water” – reflections 1 year into my work at NHS Digital

Other people's jobs are endlessly fascinating. At a birthday celebration a couple of years ago I got talking to Johnny, a family friend who works as an aquarium curator. He told me a surprising thing about his work: how little of his time he spends actually looking after the fish. Johnny's job is to look … Continue reading “Look after the water” – reflections 1 year into my work at NHS Digital →

Electric woks or eating together? Time for human-centred designers to care about the community

Mick Ward is sick of people trying to sell him electric woks. As chief officer leading transformation and innovation for social care in Leeds, he sees a never-ending procession of providers claiming to solve enduring human problems with expensive, complicated, isolated, digital solutions. Mick believes we'd do better to start with people and their communities, … Continue reading Electric woks or eating together? Time for human-centred designers to care about the community →

In shared light: why making thing visible makes things better

“In Elizabethan amphitheatres, like the 1599 Globe Theatre, performances took place in ‘shared light’. Under such conditions, actors and audiences would be able to see each other... This attention to a key original playing condition of Shakespeare's theatre enables the actors to play 'with' rather than 'to' or 'at' audiences. Actors therefore develop their ability … Continue reading In shared light: why making thing visible makes things better →

Up the school! Or, a passive-aggressive letter to the headteacher on the occasion of the unveiling of a new logo

Dear headteacher, Welcome to your new role! As a parent of two children at the school with another still in primary school, I’m delighted to see your commitment to making ours an outstanding school in line with your new motto and values. The problem is the new logo. In the course of my annual visits … Continue reading Up the school! Or, a passive-aggressive letter to the headteacher on the occasion of the unveiling of a new logo →

Most of government is mostly service design most of the time. Discuss.

Without exception, everyone I meet in the public sector wants to help make their service better. Most of them are in some way frustrated. The domain is massive and the activities disjointed. People engaged in any given service - from users and frontline workers down to managers and policymakers - can go for months on end … Continue reading Most of government is mostly service design most of the time. Discuss. →

90% archaeology: my notes and reflections on Service Design in Government 2015

There's never been a more exciting time to be designing services in the public sector. But it can still be a lonely existence - in any organisation, a small number of advocates may find themselves trying to shift a large mass with plenty of inertia. The Service Design in Government conference that I attended last week has an … Continue reading 90% archaeology: my notes and reflections on Service Design in Government 2015 →

The Last Target Operating Model You’ll Ever Need™

I first wrote this as a comment on Joel Bailey's excellent blog post titled 'This thing called agile might kill us all' but thought it worth re-hashing and expanding here. For context, Joel writes about "working for a big high street bank. The brief is to redesign the ‘end to end mortgage experience’. The timescale is to reach … Continue reading The Last Target Operating Model You’ll Ever Need™ →

Seeing over the next hill – a service design pattern

Over the years I've worked with digital services in different spaces, from sports performance to house buying to students on campus and training in the workplace. And there's this one picture that resurfaces in service after service. I need to get it out of my head and into the world, where I hope others will help me develop … Continue reading Seeing over the next hill – a service design pattern →