In September 2024 Drupal unveiled AI Assistants as part of its new Drupal CMS product. Recognising the potential of this new feature to help and support University staff with web-related tasks, I collaborated with Jamie Abrahams, Drupal AI expert to learn how the Assistants worked and to design a UX research approach to test them. 

In summer 2024, Chris O’Neill, Green Digital Design Intern, completed a digital sustainability audit of the UX Service website. He looked at carbon emissions and page weight but also examined usage of the site, with analytics data and user research. We acted on his findings to make the site greener and more user-centred.

We gave three interns three months to investigate, measure and identify strategies to reduce carbon emissions of the University’s web estate. Here are my reflections as the manager of the Green Digital Design internship

I was lucky to be invited to speak at DrupalCon, the annual European conference for Drupal. I delivered several sessions and attended others to learn more about advancements in Drupal.

Drupal is the open-source content management system used to power EdWeb and other important University digital systems. I’ve contributed UX knowledge to Drupal for several years and am involved in shaping Drupal CMS – Drupal’s new low-code product aimed at non-developers.

Since February 2024, we’ve trained more than 90 publishers in content design and have experimented with the ways we upskill University staff in content design techniques, to support them to produce good-quality, compliant online content that meets web visitors’ needs.

Last week I attended the Communications and Marketing (CAM) Conference for the first time. It’s a one-day event for University staff interested in communications and marketing, held at the John McIntyre Conference Centre and attended by around 200 people. You can find out more about the conference on the CAM Conference SharePoint (University login required […]

The first UCISA UX in Higher Education conference happened in September 2024. Reflecting on the day, there was much to take in and share, both as a UX practitioner and as lead of the team planning the conference.

UX24 was a big achievement – the first UCISA UX in Higher Education (HE) conference, sold-out to an audience of 80, and a personal career highlight. A few months after the event, I reflect on my experience leading the organising committee.

On 13 November the UX Service team attended the second Scottish Web Folk event hosted by the Web Services team at the University of Dundee. The conference included a day of sessions on varied web-related topics, with something for everyone in the team to take away.