Start with the basics: What services do you have? Who are they for and what are the needs of those users? What are they trying to achieve and how? What are their intended policy outcomes? What aspects of their performance are measured? What are their costs and cost drivers? What…

This statistic — referenced quite often accessibility circle — is derived from a Deque case study. What the case study actually showed was that the team had been able to reduce defects detected in automated testing by 67%, by baking accessibility into their design practices. They created and rolled out…

This statistic, and various versions of it, is peppered all over design literature. In an earlier blog post, I pulled at the loose threads of this statistic and in doing so can hopefully discourage a few designers from using it uncritically in their arguments. But if it is true (though…

80% of a product’s environmental impact over its lifecycle is determined during the design phase. Decisions made in the early design phase lock in 70–80% of the total product cost. Design errors lead to 80–90% of failures in construction projects. More than 80% of the ecological costs are determined before…

Observations from the pre-reading for the Memorisely Design Systems course There are some interesting similarities and differences across the literature in our course pre-reading that I thought I’d draw out. First — most of the authors seem to identify a split between “foundations” and the components within a design system…

I’m gently and quietly looking for my next role among the wealth of opportunities generated by “The Great Resignation”. But so many of the organisations I’ve looked at clearly have a long way to go on gender and race equality, judging by the make-up of their top teams. I am…

I read this tweet this week and instantly felt torn. I agree — but also see most managers in Government trapped between a rock and a hard place. Let me explain. BAU in many people’s minds is an artificially binary model — it’s either a priority for investment or not…

The single most surprising thing about the last decade, to me, is how polarised public debate has become. It’s almost physical, as if there’s a law of magnetism in public spaces that demands I be either attracted to or repulsed by any given statement. I find it deeply distressing. I’ve…

Here’s an unordered list of things I’ve learned on the job: the names and descriptions of hundreds of single malts, as a barmaid for a famous Scottish golf course (since forgotten) that my skin is too dry to wash dishes 8hrs a day without developing painful eczema, learned as a…