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.

Service Design

It’s not a redesign

I don’t like talking about ‘redesign’. The challenge is to design services all the time. Not to redesign them. 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

The power of being informed and the problem of being uninformed

Working forwards and working backwards

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

Comparing service design and business analysis

How service design and business analyst roles have similar skill sets, but why they require different types of focus and mindsets. 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

Quality conversations over process

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

It depends. Every designer everywhere?

Option 1, do nothing

Vision or mission statement?

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

Attention-driven design versus connection-driven design

Why connection-driven design is important. Read more

Patterns should be obvious

Explaining what I describe as the curtains principle. Read more

Vertical lines and loose boundaries

The size and the shape of the problem is best served by vertical lines and loose boundaries. Read more

Designing better organisations

Why internal user experience matters to delivering better services. Read more

Things of the internet

Designing services for the digital age in response to raised expectations. Read more

Service design starts with user needs

An approach to understanding user needs. From Leading Service Design at UX London 2017. Read more

What is blocking your organisation from designing good services?

A retrospective from UX London 2017: Leading Service Design workshop with Kate Tarling. Read more

Digital Leaders Week 2017: Citizen Experience forum

A write up of the round table forum I was part of this afternoon for Digital Leaders week 2017. Read more

When is User Experience (UX) and Service Design the same thing?

I get asked this question a lot. My thoughts… Read more