Content types: Article
-
Speaking at UX Healthcare conference in April
—
I will be speaking at the UX Healthcare conference in London on Friday 12 April. Book now to learn about using Perception-Cognition-Action analysis to improve accessibility and outcomes in healthcare products.
-
Imogen Kit Oliver Stephen
In late January our second daughter Imogen was born.
-
Meeting up with Pulp in the years 2023 and 2024
—
I went to just two concerts in 2023, and they were both of Pulp’s performances in Scotland.
-
Busi-ness and blogging in 2024
—
A busier life, and recent events on the internet, mean a new direction for my blog.
-
-
-
Britpop, braindance and broken politics — How 1990s optimism became passé
Britpop has been having a moment again this summer, prompting investigations into why the scene fizzled out. The conventional explanations are unconvincing. Electronic music tells us why.
-
The gradual death of AM radio takes with it a curious part of Britain’s psyche
1215 AM. Not quarter past midnight, but a radio frequency familiar to generations (although perhaps not any of the younger ones). Today it has stopped broadcasting. As AM radio slowly disappears, a bit of British folklore goes with it.
-
12 years in higher education web and user experience management
—
Today I have started a new job. But while I’m looking forward, I have also been reflecting, as this moment marks my first real move away from higher education. Despite the differing natures of the three organisations I worked for, there were many parallels across them.
-
Ouch to 5k
Yesterday I completed my first 5k run since I broke my ankle exactly one year ago. It was on the first ever Holyrood parkrun.
-
Half a year on parental leave with a broken ankle
Becoming a parent is a huge privilege. But it’s no secret that it’s also hard work. You don’t plan to break your ankle during the first year of your child’s life.
-
List of things Google Assistant thinks I want to do instead of make oat milk
Occasionally I make my own oat milk. When I run out of oat milk, I ask Google Assistant to remind me later in the day to make oat milk. It normally misunderstands me. Interestingly, it misunderstands me in a variety of different ways.
-
Overlaps between user experience and other disciplines — a benefit, not a problem
Have you ever been told that by doing human-centred work you’re stepping on someone else’s toes? I have heard it a number of times. More and more people are exploring the apparent overlaps between human-centred approaches and other disciplines.
-
I’ve broken my ankle
At the weekend I broke my ankle while playing bubble football on a stag do.
-
-
Beginner’s guide to content design
—
Many people are intrigued by content design but unsure if it’s the right fit for them. So here is my beginner’s guide to being a content designer. Find out why it might be a better fit for you than you might think — and why it might not be.
-
Two months of parenthood
Isobel is our first baby, so it’s difficult to compare having a baby during coronavirus to other times. But it does seem like a strange time to have a baby. There are many disadvantages to the current situation. But there are also some interesting advantages, particularly for me as a father.
-
-
Sushi School
One year ago today, Alex and I went with our friends Lucy and Richard to a sushi-making class at Yo. Trigger warning: This blog post describes events preceding the coronavirus outbreak.
-
A service design approach to improving student experience
Slides from my UCD Gathering talk on Thursday 15 October 2020, about the work we’ve been doing at the University of Edinburgh to improve the experience of students and staff working with course materials digitally.
-
UX design’s UX design problem
How a chat at a conference underlined that user experience itself has a user experience problem — and what we can do about it.
-
Kid A at 20
—
Radiohead’s Kid A, released 20 years ago today, is my favourite album. There are two reasons why.
-
Speaking at UCD Gathering
I’m pleased to be speaking at UCD Gathering, a new virtual conference taking place on 15 and 16 October, about my team’s service design approach to improving the way staff use our virtual learning environment to better meet students’ needs.
-
Service design and the Mario complex
At Service Design in Government, I discovered that service designers see themselves as Mario. But that is an unrealistic model for what service design should be.
-
Lockdown projects — Month 2
—
As the lockdown continues, we’re continuing to find ways to keep ourselves busy.
-
Lockdown projects — Month 1
Each weekend during lockdown, we’re trying to make at least one new thing. These are the little projects giving us a reason to get up at the weekends.
-
Understanding what students really need from a virtual learning environment — presented at UX Glasgow virtual meetup
This week I presented to the UX Glasgow community about our user research into the needs of students and staff working with course materials digitally at the University of Edinburgh. It was my first real experience of presenting to a live audience remotely.
-
View from Service Design in Government 2020
—
Last week I attended the Service Design in Government conference, held here in Edinburgh. It was a hugely thought-provoking event. Almost every session I attended was excellent, sparking new ideas and thoughts that I am still getting to grips with almost a week on.
-
Hey Presto
—
Sometimes, when I think about my earliest days, I remember Presto. Even as a very young child, in the very early 90s, Presto seemed like a supermarket from a bygone age.
-
Our honeymoon in Mauritius (part 2)
—
After spending a few days in Réunion, the second part of our honeymoon saw us staying in Mauritius.
-
5k 6–X — The next five parkruns
In my blog post about my first five parkruns, I told the story of how I unexpectedly beat my 5k personal best at Highbury Fields parkrun. This post outlines what happened in my next five parkruns, where I got some unexpected personal bests and lost a whole run.
-
Why Verstappen’s Red Bull contract extension may drive Hamilton to McLaren
Of the three main teams, two of them have drivers fully committed for the next four seasons. What about Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes? The silence is deafening.
-
Ways forward for the Liberal Democrats? Why winning power is overrated
—
The last five years in politics show us you don’t need to gain power to achieve your objectives.