Skip to main content
GOV.UK
Blog Public Policy Design
Organisations:
Civil Service

What is user-centred design without user research?

Posted by: Bhupinder Kaur Mann, Posted on: 27 July 2023 - Categories: Case study, PublicPolicyDesign
A photo of a civil servant discussing public services.

Designer Bhupinder Kaur Mann writes about how HMRC Policy Lab flexed their approach to work with policymaking constraints.

Read more of What is user-centred design without user research? - 1 comment

Multidisciplinary course is a hit

Posted by: Susan Acland-Hood, Posted on: 18 May 2023 - Categories: Case study, Events, PublicPolicyDesign
A person taking part in a design exercise

Permanent Secretary Susan Acland-Hood writes about Department for Education's succesful new multidisciplinary course.

Read more of Multidisciplinary course is a hit

What join-up across government makes possible

Posted by: Amelia Stewart, Posted on: 20 April 2023 - Categories: PublicPolicyDesign, Thought leadership
A photo of an official working on a public policy or service.

HM Tresury's Amelia Stewart writes about the power of joining-up work across government departments.

Read more of What join-up across government makes possible

Back to the future: policy memory at the heart of reform

Posted by: Jonathan Mitchell, Posted on: 20 October 2022 - Categories: PublicPolicyDesign, Thought leadership
A photo of people discussing policymaking at an event

Jonathan Mitchell from Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education writes about the importance of maintaining a link to the past for making great policies and services.

Read more of Back to the future: policy memory at the heart of reform

Making better policies and services

Posted by: Jeffrey Allen, Posted on: 6 October 2022 - Categories: Case study, PublicPolicyDesign, Thought leadership
A section of a poster advocating for team members to observe 2 hours of user research every 6 weeks.

Jeffrey Allen from the Ministry of Justice shares his advice on developing policies and services that deliver long-term positive change.

Read more of Making better policies and services - 2 comments

Better services: consigning silos to the bin

Posted by: Alec Steel, Posted on: 28 July 2022 - Categories: PublicPolicyDesign, Research, Thought leadership
A photo of a Civil Servant understanding the needs of a public service user.

Alec Steel from the UK's National Audit Office writes about how important it is to join up policy with the delivery of public services.

Read more of Better services: consigning silos to the bin - 1 comment

Using doughnuts to deliver shared prosperity

Posted by: Claire Spencer, Posted on: 17 March 2022 - Categories: Case study, PublicPolicyDesign
A photo of people discussiong public services at a conference

Claire Spencer from West Midlands Combined Authority writes about how they have adopted a radical new way of delivering meaningful outcomes for citizens.

Read more of Using doughnuts to deliver shared prosperity

The Well-Being Sweet-Spot

Posted by: Sophie Howe, Posted on: 3 March 2022 - Categories: PublicPolicyDesign, Thought leadership
A photo of a person taking part in an event about public services.

Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, writes about how Wales is leading the world on delivering public value to citizens.

Read more of The Well-Being Sweet-Spot - 1 comment

Making a service map ...in a policy department

Posted by: Alice Goldman, Posted on: 24 February 2022 - Categories: Case study, PublicPolicyDesign
A photo of person writing sticky notes and adding them to an office wall.

Alice Whitehead writes about how the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities produced created a service map.

Read more of Making a service map ...in a policy department

Four things I’ve learnt as a Policy Designer

Posted by: Matt Nicol, Posted on: 3 February 2022 - Categories: PublicPolicyDesign, Thought leadership
A photo of people sat on the floor at an event about public services

Matt Nicol from the Department for Education reflects on his experience of working in public policy design.

Read more of Four things I’ve learnt as a Policy Designer - 3 comments
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
Next page

Related content and links

About this blog

Multidisciplinary policy design teams are changing how public policy is made. This blog is for anyone who is interested in how policymaking is being modernised.

Find out more

Events library

We hold monthly events about policy design. Book your place at future events and watch past events…

Find out more

Sign up and manage updates

  • Email
  • Atom

Categories

Events library

We hold monthly events about policy design. Book your place at future events and watch past events…

Find out more

Recent posts

  • Join our first global public design conference July 14, 2025
  • Taking policy design to a global public audience July 7, 2025
  • Design helps governments work with people, not just for them June 19, 2025

Comments and moderation

Read our guidelines

Useful links

  • All GOV.UK blogs
  • All GOV.UK blog posts
  • GOV.UK
  • All departments
  • Accessibility statement
  • Cookies
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright