Ben Holliday

This is my blog where I’ve been writing for 20 years. You will find posts about digital transformation, design and leadership. You can also find me on Bluesky and LinkedIn. In 2022 I published a book for TPXimpact, Multiplied.

Design

Prompts for design leaders working with product teams

Sharing prompts and questions I use when working with product teams. Read more

What makes a design education?

All design is strategic

All design is strategic unless you just see it as implementation. Read more

Service mapping and different types of maps

Understanding maps, why we’re making them, and how they’re useful to service teams. Read more

Bias in design

Thoughts about bias in design. Read more

The consultants fallacy

Working forwards and working backwards

What we can learn from the military about mapping backwards, and how this applies to service design. Read more

Working with design detail

Why artefacts are most useful when they become the design, rather than a plan for doing the design or building a product. Read more

Raise your expectations

The strange becoming familiar

How we quickly adapt to unfamiliar service models. Read more

Quality conversations over process

Why the quality of your conversations is as important as your process. Read more

Seniority in design

Are you a senior designer? Here are some of the things I think define seniority in design. Read more

You can’t start with an iteration, you can only start with an idea

The new King’s Cross station in London. A story about the importance of starting with an idea. Read more

Mistakes and cows on the path

Why the mistakes you make are sometimes your biggest opportunities. Read more

Digital as physical objects

How can we open up our public resources, data, and physical spaces in more meaningful and useful ways using technology? Read more

Estate agents. An example of a broken digital business model?

Sticks in the ground for public services

The civic architecture that reminds us about the bold vision needed for public services and spaces Read more

Is digital destroying a generation?

Attention-driven design is a choice, thinking about the alternative. Read more

Attention-driven design versus connection-driven design

Why connection-driven design is important. Read more

Digital expectations of physical spaces

The potential of digital is for your environment to be one step ahead of your experience. Read more