Duncan Stephen

Article — 3 July 2026 — 1,193 words

Restoring the elements of user experience

Business — Human-centred approaches — User experience

Some human-centred practitioners have been consigned to increasingly superficial considerations. Artificial intelligence presents an opportunity for us to bring the focus back to the fundamentals that make our work important and successful.

Article — 25 June 2026 — 167 words

Ethical personalisation of public services — Talk at Services Week

Digital — Information architecture — Service design

Work: Scottish Government

We have developed a set of ethical personalisation principles to guide our early work to deliver personalised public services. I will present about this work as part of Services Week 2026.

Article — 22 June 2026 — 1,837 words

Don’t make me thick

Information architecture — Society — User experience

We say “don’t make me think”, and “less is more”. But a naive application of these principles risks limiting our users when we should be helping them grow.

Article — 12 June 2026 — 8,340 words

Towering Inferno

Music

I don’t normally write about music any more, but I feel compelled to write about the new Boards of Canada album, Inferno. It has far exceeded my expectations. I can’t remember the last time I was so immediately hooked on an album — 15 or 20 years ago, or longer.

Article — 26 May 2026 — 3,473 words

Grounding AI the webby way — Taxonomy Boot Camp London 2026 takeaways

Business — Information architecture — Technology — Web

Work: Scottish Government

There was a heavy focus on artificial intelligence. But what really struck me was that the semantic approaches that are preparing us for our AI future are well-established web standards that have been around for decades.

Article — 21 May 2026 — 1,127 words

From answer engines to learning engines — Why fast answers are like fast food

Information architecture — Social science — Technology — User experience

People crave fast answers. But the purpose of information systems is to help people gain knowledge. So we should seek better questions.

Article — 26 April 2026 — 2,764 words

Working with custom content types in WordPress

Web

Different ways of working with custom content types in WordPress, and the pros and cons of each.

Article — 25 March 2026 — 459 words

Making connections with connected content

Content design — Information architecture — User experience

Work: Scottish Government

For the past month, we have been running events showcasing the opportunities of connected content and information architecture. The response to these sessions has far exceeded my expectations.

Article — 2 March 2026 — 212 words

Connected content learning sessions for public sector colleagues

Information architecture

Work: Scottish Government

I am pleased to be involved in organising a series of learning sessions about connected content and information architecture. This series is available to colleagues working in the public sector. The first sessions are this week.

Article — 25 February 2026 — 100 words

Speaking about the meaning of public services at World IA Day London 2026

Information architecture

Work: Scottish Government

I will be speaking at World IA Day London 2026, an online event about information architecture. This is for anyone who works with information or cares about about how it is organised and understood.

Article — 23 February 2026 — 3,133 words

Words and pictures in the history of user experience and the future of artificial intelligence

Society — Technology — User experience

Modern artificial intelligence tools are largely rooted in text-based interactions. But the history of user experience, information and even humanity shows us that AI will have to go beyond text if it’s going to become relevant.

Article — 19 January 2026 — 1,727 words

Perceiving relationships gives glue people the edge

Business — Information architecture — Social science — Web

Seeing what’s in between as well as what is — in information architecture and in the way organisations work.