Duncan Stephen

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.

Article — 29 December 2025 — 4,552 words

I was hit from behind by a bus

Personal — Society

For me, 2024 was an extraordinary year of milestone moments and major achievements. It was all overshadowed by one negative event in the summer that I had not received closure on. A year and a half on, I have only just reached something resembling a resolution.

Article — 9 December 2025 — 1,844 words

Resisting Conway’s law through more thoughtful mapping

Business — Digital — Information architecture — User experience

Organisational structures and information architectures are both often visualised in artefacts described as “maps”. These constrained visualisations may embed siloed ways of working, and create problems for our users.

Article — 1 November 2025 — 797 words

How did we let the web get this bad?

User experience — Web

Recently I had to intensively research a couple of topics involving potential purchase decisions. My experience was utterly miserable.

Article — 2 October 2025 — 555 words

The forgotten purpose of agile — Empowered teams responding to change

Business — Technology — User research

The ideas behind agile tend to be squashed down to two words: “move fast”. But the Agile Manifesto says nothing about moving fast.

Article — 26 September 2025 — 1,247 words

Autonomy, independence, federation, WordPress and concrete

Personal — Web

I have had to make some behind-the-scenes changes to this website. In the process, I am planning to make it more interoperable with the fediverse and indieweb standards — and I am sticking with WordPress.