Asking Design Questions Ben Holliday / UX Bristol - 16th July 2021 @BenHolliday

Hello (virtual) UX Bristol @BenHolliday

3 ● Executive Director, Design at FutureGov. ● 20 years working in design: starting in graphic design, then digital and UX design, and later working with product, service, content, and org design teams. ● Last 8 years working in the public sector, mostly leading design teams and work as part of change and transformation programmes. ● ex-Government Digital Service and DWP Digital (Department for Work and Pensions). ● Private sector, working in education, finance (FreeAgent), and with arts, charity and not-for-profit organisations. ● Live in Kendal, Cumbria with my family and our large 5 month old puppy (left).

4 Why is design a good idea? ● Framing ● Visualising ● Creating ● Connecting ● Learning by doing ● Continuously improving @BenHolliday

5 Is everyone a designer? @BenHolliday

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9 Everyone can ask design questions @BenHolliday

10 Design questions introduce constraints, provide focus, and create shared understanding. The goal is good design. “ @BenHolliday

11 DWP Digital 2014-2017 @BenHolliday

My original design questions: Why are we here doing this work? And, how do we know we’re doing the right things? @BenHolliday

13 Why are we doing this work? or What is our motivation for building this product or service? Who are our users? or Who do we think would need to use this product or service? What outcome will users get from this service? or What problem will it solve for people? What outcome are we looking for? or What problem will it solve for our organisation? What are our key metrics? or What do we need to measure against these outcomes? hollidazed.co.uk/frame-the-problem

14 5 questions in a workshop format to reach a shared understanding. Take one question at a time, and ask the group to write one thing per post it note. Affinity sort and group themes. Then discuss and explore what you’ve captured.

15 Unverified world record, framing the problem workshop - UX Riga, Latvia 2015

16 What is the product? A digital solution or tools to do something e.g. a set of interactions or a transaction that supports users to achieve a goal. What is the service? Supporting people’s needs in real life scenarios e.g. a combination of online/offline touchpoints and support leading to an outcome. What is the system? Interdependencies that work/function together e.g. a complex network of organisations, parts of government/ policy all working together. @BenHolliday

17 What is the product? Apply for housing in a local area Council website transaction to join the Housing Register. What is the service? Local housing services Council team or partners providing advice and help to prevent homelessness– inc. services like emergency accommodation. What is the system? National housing system/policy UK housing and homelessness policy, regional strategies, multi-agency partnerships and service management. @BenHolliday

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19 Hounslow Council: A system map showing the different agencies involved in vulnerable children/pupils care, including data being collected and the systems used to collect and manage that data.

20 The map creates conversations: questioning the direction we’re taking, the spaces in between things, and what is now possible “ @BenHolliday

Through asking questions and getting new perspectives we can better understand user needs. If we can start to understand product/service/system contexts, then we will start to see the relationships between different types of need. @BenHolliday

22 hollidazed.co.uk/leading-service-design-user-needs @BenHolliday

23 Instead of accepting ‘the system’ at face value we can prise it open to reveal the human needs and choices that create and sustain it Matt Edgar (Transformation Director, NHSX) “

24 “…children have been driving themselves to theatre from DCU, in our super new electric car… This has given the patients a positive experience. Edie tried the car out first and loved it.” Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital twitter.com/NHSG_RACH

25 Tackling the fears and anxieties of children facing radiotherapy for cancer. “When the treatment is given, no one else can be in the room, so the child, of necessity, is separated from their parents to face a loud and intimidating machine alone.”

26 What other design questions should we be asking? @BenHolliday

27 Where do we need better questions? ● Direction ● Impact ● Inclusion/exclusion ● Breakpoints ● Design doing @BenHolliday

Design Question (Direction): What are we working towards, what is the ideal future for this [product/service/change]? @BenHolliday

29 theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/21/bristol-reveals-plan-to-pedestrianise-historic-centre-in-covid-19-reforms

Design Question (Impact): How is [this product/service/change] being experienced in the places, and with the people it’s impacting? @BenHolliday

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Design Question (Inclusion/Exclusion): Who is excluded by[this product/ service/change], or who doesn’t it reach? @BenHolliday

33 “…what we really need to do is look at the extremes …if we understand what the extremes are the middle will take care of itself” Dan Formosa Smart Design hustwit.com/objectified

34 bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-tyne-56325136

Design Question (Breakpoints): What will happens if and when [this product/service/change] breaks? @BenHolliday

36 theverge.com/2021/4/26/22404639/elon-musk-tesla-solar-roof-mistakes-cost-price-increase Elon Musk says Tesla made ‘significant mistakes’ with solar roof project Musk said Tesla has run into trouble “assessing the difficulty of certain roofs,” and said that the “complexity of roofs varies dramatically.” If an existing roof has protuberances, or problems with the underlying structure, or is not strong enough to hold Tesla’s solar tiles, then the cost can be two or three times higher than Tesla’s initial estimates.

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40 A question of design doing? @BenHolliday

41 Doing is a process of questioning: ● how could this work? ● how can it work better? ● what if I tried it this way? ● what if I made that adjustment? etc. @BenHolliday

42 Prototyping examples (lightweight, quick, iterative learning)

43 Frank Lloyd Wright The San Francisco Call Building Project Model (1940) Displayed at MoMA New York

44 How might we, and why are we? @BenHolliday

Thank you @BenHolliday benholliday.com wearefuturegov.com