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

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

The needs of government

Understanding user needs and understanding the needs of government isn’t a choice. You need to do both Read more

Mission statements: better, faster, super-duper

What do our long term goals mean, keeping the focus on outcomes? Read more

The hard line of complexity

We complicate things, and we do so most of the time. All progress depends on finding ways to side step the complexity we create at every opportunity. Read more

Creating better missions

Missions are built on words then actions. What helps define a great mission statement? Read more

What does a successful product or service look like?

Success looks like a product or service that solves a real problem for people Read more

Thinking about how we use evidence in user-centred design

The challenge of how to bring together traditional types of evidence-driven decision making and a new focus on delivering digital at the Department for Work and Pensions. Read more

Working towards zero

Content design for service design

Why it’s important to think differently about content formats and content ownership when designing a service. Read more

Supersized. Making design work in large organisations

Does your organisation have design leadership? Read more