Duncan Stephen

Article — 14 June 2020 — 3,435 words

Service design and the Mario complex

Service design — User experience — User research

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.

Article — 19 May 2020 — 1,069 words

Lockdown projects — Month 2

Personal

As the lockdown continues, we’re continuing to find ways to keep ourselves busy.

Article — 21 April 2020 — 1,175 words

Lockdown projects — Month 1

Personal

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.

Article — 3 April 2020 — 100 words

Understanding what students really need from a virtual learning environment — presented at UX Glasgow virtual meetup

Service design — User experience — User research

Work: Learn Foundations

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.

Article — 1 April 2020 — 10 words

How to build a bad design system — Robin Rendle — CSS-Tricks

Digital — Human-centred approaches

What’s worse than design by committee? Design system by committee.

Article — 1 April 2020 — 2,180 words

Adapting to the new normal

Current affairs — Personal — Politics — Society

One of the (many) strange features of the coronavirus outbreak is that in many ways I feel busier than I have ever been. It is almost three weeks since I was last in my office, yet I haven’t had the time to commit my thoughts to writing.

Article — 11 March 2020 — 2,196 words

View from Service Design in Government 2020

Service design — User research

Work: The University of Edinburgh

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.

Article — 26 February 2020 — 478 words

Hey Presto

Personal

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.

Article — 23 February 2020 — 2,748 words

Our honeymoon in Mauritius (part 2)

Personal — Travel

After spending a few days in Réunion, the second part of our honeymoon saw us staying in Mauritius.

Article — 9 February 2020 — 2,737 words

Our honeymoon in Mauritius and Réunion (part 1)

Personal — Travel

In September, Alex and I had our “big” honeymoon, in Mauritius and Réunion. It was a holiday that perfectly balanced adventure and chill.

Article — 18 January 2020 — 1,656 words

5k 6–X — The next five parkruns

Uncategorised

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.

Article — 4 January 2020 — 1,626 words

2019/2020

Personal

Christmas and new year is a time for reflection for most people. It never seems to work that way for me.