Design
The horizon and the next steps
In a design process there are two immediate things that matter*: …
Learning to prototype is more important than learning to code
There’s still an ongoing debate about whether designers should learn to code. I think it’s more important that designers learn to prototype.
Prototyping doesn’t mean that you have to write code or build software.
A prototype should be the quickest, …
A design state of mind
What it means to move to a design mindset

…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
Ambiguity and design
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 …
Prompts for design leaders working with product teams
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.…
What makes a design education?
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 …
All design is strategic
All design is strategic unless you just see it as implementation.
Lingjing recently wrote about the importance of strategy.
I like this approach as a framework. It’s simply a way to think through and take forward a set of …
Service mapping and different types of maps
Written by Ben Holliday. Based on work developed with Kirsty Sinclair and feedback from the FutureGov design team.
There’s a question of why designers make so many maps. We love maps. But there can be confusion or misunderstandings about why …
Bias in design
Why all design is flawed when you’re looking for magic
I often get asked about bias in design. My answer:
…All design is flawed. But buried in each action, each small step that we take and every single decision — even when
Working forwards and working backwards
What we can learn from the military about ‘mapping backwards’ and how this applies to service design

In my previous blog post I wrote about the differences between service design and business analysis…
Working with design detail
Why prototypes can be more valuable than specifications or documentation
A good rule of thumb for designers:
If you need to get into a finite level of detail, make something.
Artefacts are most useful when they become the design, rather …
The strange becoming familiar
How we quickly adapt to unfamiliar service models
I spend a lot of time in London and Manchester at the moment. Over the past few months I’ve started to notice the trend of new bike rental services — like Mobike.
I …