Make things open: it makes things better. We really like this design principle from gov.uk. We use it a lot, especially when it comes to iterating upon our beta Design System.

Collaborative sketching workshops are a quick and effective way to get design decisions moving forward as a team. In this post I go through the benefits, provide the materials needed and give a step-by-step guide so that you can run your own session.

Having developed a detailed picture of users’ needs when working with APIs, we used workshops to bring focus to the findings and prioritise next steps for the API Service.

Last week I supported colleague Ross Ward, part of our Educational Design & Engagement team, in running a session that introduced UX concepts to students, and enabled him to explore new opportunities for technology-enhanced learning.

I’ve developed a new training package combining in-person and online materials for the University that pulls together important user experience and collaboration techniques. In this post I’ll cover what’s coming and why, and how you can begin ‘design thinking’ through online provision at Lynda.com.

Reaching consensus on the ideal user experience can be challenging. It’s even harder when the product doesn’t exist yet. I’ve been helping the Cityscope development team focus their attentions to deliver something that’s both useful and easy to use.

I’ve just returned from delivering 2 days of UX training for the University of Aberdeen. We covered usability testing and review, workshops and prototyping.

Last month I led a workshop session on collaborative sketching where over 60 colleagues explored potential design approaches and generated around 300 ideas in an hour.

In the process of redesigning the website’s search results page, I tried out rapid collaborative prototyping and found it dramatically speeded up my design development and helped to build consensus with stakeholders in the team.