We’ve all been there. Stuck with a “helpful” online chatbot when all you want to do is speak to a real person. It’s the modern equivalent of the 90s Windows paperclip… But while this seems to be an almost universal experience, chatbots are now popping up everywhere. From customer service and healthcare to banking and security – there’s a bot for that. How did we end up with such a disconnect between business expectation and user reality? A chatbot, for chatbot’s sake  The galloping excitement around AI means organisations are falling over themselves to add a chatbot as fast as possible. T ..read more

In the ever-changing landscape of public service delivery, the use of digital technology is a crucial way to meet citizens’ needs effectively. But after years of working in tech delivery, and driving positive change using digital services, I’ve found that while meeting user needs remains key, it’s equally important to make sure that digital products and services align with the original business case. This balance is particularly crucial in government, where budgets are shrinking and there’s a real need to achieve more with fewer resources.  In this blog I’d like to share some personal ins ..read more

We recently had the pleasure of having Ned Gartside, Senior Service Designer from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) join us in Bristol. He delivered a truly insightful talk on how we can design and deliver greener services. Off the back of Ned’s talk I’ve had some great conversations with the team around sustainability and organisational impact. It’s got me thinking.  In this post I’m going to share what the tech sector as a whole needs to do more of, and that includes us too. I’ll also touch on the steps we’re taking to make planet-centred design a priority ..read more

I’ve been talking to other members of the team recently about whether digital is becoming the new legacy. And by that I mean – is the dogmatic application of the Government Digital Service (GDS) Service Manual creating a new legacy in delivering digital services? Too often we’re seeing digital programmes stuck in endless cycles of discovery, delivered by teams that are simultaneously too big and not equipped to deliver services at pace.  The strategy should be delivery. I’m just not sure it is any longer.  A GDS revolution GDS started back in 2011, the same year The Lean Startup was ..read more

Katie, a 34-year-old, mother of one lives on the outskirts of King’s Lynn, Norfolk. She has limited mobility due to her illness and has relied on her social care allowance to pay for modifications to her home and transport to a weekly social club.  Yet, every six months she must print off reams of documentation and financial statements and present these in person at the local council offices; a trip that leaves her extremely exhausted and frustrated as other government services allow her to provide statements electronically. Katie is not alone.  Katie is one of the thousands of peopl ..read more

If you live in a council property you may be eligible for paid repair works when something breaks within your home or in a communal area. Similarly to private landlords, housing associations and social housing operators (such as local governments and councils) must repair parts of the property they are responsible for maintaining. In this blog, you’ll find answers to the most common questions asked about reporting housing repairs and the differing responsibilities of landlords and tenants.  Contents: How do I request a repair for a local council property? What is the best way to report a ..read more

A big part of making sure the workplace works for everyone, whether remote, in person or hybrid is offering reasonable adjustments. In this post we’re going to share what they are, why they’re important and what you can ask for as both an interviewee and a fully-fledged team member.  What are reasonable adjustments?  Reasonable adjustments are the changes an employer makes to remove or reduce barriers in the workplace. These adjustments are made so people living with disabilities or physical or mental health conditions can do their job well, and are not at a disadvantage compared to ..read more

It’s been a hot minute since we got into the really technical side of things over here, so let me take you through a recent chat with a colleague about managing complex software systems.  One of the recurring challenges is how to make sure they’re reliable and flexible, this got us talking about some of the tools behind microservice architectures. If you’re not familiar, microservice architectures are multiple smaller programmes that together deliver those big complex systems.  I’ve recently been working with a few of these tools, so in this post I’ll explain how they can work togeth ..read more

Imagine you’re a resident with low digital literacy, your kitchen tap has been leaking and you can’t find the number to log a repair. A family member visits and wants to help. They find the council’s online portal where you can log a repair in minutes. Sounds great. However, there’s a problem: you need to login and they don’t have an account… This is a familiar situation from our conversations and research with over 100 residents across multiple councils in the North and South of England. When we asked residents why they don’t use existing report-a-repair online services, it was often down to ..read more

Helping people learn new skills and build their careers in the tech sector is something we’re proud to support. From our very first Made Tech Academy way back in 2017 and many graduates later – today I’m delighted to share the next step in that journey. Made Tech is now an accredited apprenticeship provider!  If you’re looking to sharpen your programming skills and learn to ship high-quality code on projects that make a difference, we’re opening applications for our new Level 4 DevOps programme on 13 November 2023.  Why choose an apprenticeship? Modern apprenticeships have come ..read more