Something special happens in a small corner of Edinburgh every year. When the comedy fans and culture vultures dissipate after the summer’s festival, a new mob comes to town. Instead of the echoes of laughter and applause, something else fills the air … and it feels remarkably like optimism.
For the last four years, we’ve been lucky enough to attend a conference called SDinGov (which roughly translates as Service Design in Government). It’s three days of talks from all kinds of different players in the government design space, and tackles emerging issues and opportunities. It’s such a valuable forum for hearing about inspiring work, as well as a healthy dose of networking and team bonding. There are also free massages and pastries. Massages and pastries. Work days don’t get any better.
The whole place starts to fizz with energy and enthusiasm for what we do, and everyone leaves feeling galvanised, ready to bring everything we have to our job of improving public services. It will take weeks to really unpack everything we learned, but we thought we’d start off by bringing together some highlights.
Claire, User Researcher
The prominent themes that I’ve picked up to bring home with me are round the value of putting humanity front and centre of what we do, and infusing all our work with true user-centred decisions. The keynote speeches all centred around this in their own way, bringing really unique perspectives to working for the public good, but I’m sure they’ll get plenty of airtime – they really were remarkable. The talk that resonated with me most deeply was a beautiful bit of storytelling, masterfully delivered by Ryan Haney, about designing for people with disabilities with the maintenance and preservation of their dignity leading the way. He talked about a man he’d known since he was a child, a wheelchair user who only had the use of one finger, and with that one finger, achieved more for himself and fellow wheelchair users than his civic services had managed to.
The story struck a loud chord with me. I’m currently working on a project designing a new IAG service for young people with SEND and I’ve heard from them how much of their interaction with public services is done with metaphorical boxing gloves on. The interplay between public services and these families is often described as a fight or a struggle, and it really doesn’t have to – and mustn’t – be that way. I’ll be moving forward with this project with Ryan’s talk in mind, making sure that we centre user needs and, importantly, user dignity in all our decision-making.
Caroline, Content Designer
It’s only the second time I’ve been to SDinGov, but this one was just as good as the last, perhaps even better. Not only is it a joy to spend 3 days in such a wonderful city as Edinburgh, but as a content designer I feel right at home, with my tribe. Such a lovely feeling to be around people who care about our users as much as we do. The chance to network with other like-minded professionals and learn about the challenges and opportunities working in a user-centred design team brings. What’s more it throws a spotlight on the changing world we live in, and how to navigate it in a sustainable, responsible and ethical way. I particularly enjoyed the three keynote sessions:
- The human alternative – and how design can help, James Plunkett
- Care for the public: trauma-informed service design, Rachel Dietkus
- AI in public services: realism, responsibility and the public good, Steph Wright
These were all very thought-provoking sessions by such eloquent and knowledgeable speakers. And I can’t wait for the slides to be distributed so I can start to read up on some of those resources they shared and expand my own understanding on these subjects.
Lorna, Head of Technology Strategy & Portfolio
I went to SDinGov as a bit of an outsider to service design- no jargon, no baggage, just curiosity and what I came back with was a head buzzing with possibility.
Here are the sessions that stood out to me.
Designing a Service Architecture for Dublin City
Using a service architecture approach to create a shared vocabulary across departments and reimagine how services connect and flow. What struck me most was their transparency: they didn’t just showcase polished outcomes, but revealed the messy, human work of aligning departments, navigating resistance, and building shared language. Using scale to create clarity and alignment across systems- particularly topical with LGR looming.
Systems Thinking in Public Sector Design
This challenged me to zoom out and see the forces that shape and sometimes sabotage our interventions. It wasn’t just about designing better services, but about understanding the economic, political, and relational dynamics that surround them. I left with two questions: Where are we intervening? and What forces might undo us? That kind of framing reminds us that no service exists in isolation.
Trauma-Informed Service Design
Rachael, a licensed social worker and showed how services (even well-intentioned ones) can replicate harm if they’re not designed with trauma awareness. From forms that interrogate to interactions that shame, she made visible the ways systems retraumatize. Her call to embed dignity, consent, and empathy into every touchpoint was powerful. I left asking: What if public services didn’t just aim to work, but to heal?
Walking out of the conference, I felt like someone had lent me a fresh set of glasses. I’m still unpacking, still digesting, and still excited (if a little overwhelmed).
Dani, Service Designer
SDinGov always leaves me with loads to think about, and this year was no different. I came away full of fresh ideas and excited to give some of them a go.
One session that really stuck with me was Prioritising Safety in Service Design by Ali Fawkes and Jenni Parker from Humanly. I’ve been to their talks the last couple of years and always come away feeling inspired. This year, they shared honest, real-life examples of how they’ve prepared for and handled tricky situations in research and design, and we had some really thoughtful group chats about how we’d deal with similar things. It was such a good reminder that spending a bit of time upfront to think through risks and prepare for what might come up makes research and design sessions safer for everyone. With my role shifting to include more user research, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m hoping to run something similar with our team soon, so we feel more confident and prepared to handle whatever comes up.
TPXimpact’s Pattern Spotting workshop was another highlight. We’ve done some great work on service patterns before, but it’s been sitting on a shelf for a while. This session gave me the nudge I needed to dust it off and get things moving again. With Local Government Reform coming up in Essex, it feels like the perfect time to pick that work back up. Service patterns give us consistent, reusable design approaches that can help us build joined-up, user-friendly services across the new unitary councils and make the whole transition a bit smoother for everyone.
And honestly, one of the best bits was just spending proper time together as a team. I left feeling really lucky to work with such a brilliant bunch of people.
Bianca, Design Operations Officer
As a first timer to the event I could not have been more impressed. The event itself is super well organised and set up inclusively, but I'm more impressed with how as a community everyone is willing to share, embrace the challenges and commit to evolving for the greater good. Although the focus is service design, is it so much deeper and wider than the title suggests. Refreshingly the talks, workshops and keynotes came from a multitude of backgrounds, roles, grades and experience. Even our very own service designers and user researchers took to the stage.
Here are my hot takeaways:
- AI is here to stay and can be useful to help us to evolve our roles. It can be scary, but if embraced and framed as a tool with curiosity, we can use it to economise time, create tools and save money.
- Data: Can be a mechanism to help tell the important stories to highlight to decision makers and stakeholders what the problem is and how a change could impact service users.
- Creativity needs to be harnessed to help councils and government agencies in times of austerity find alternatives to the ever-increasing shrinking budgets and red tape.
- Sustainability should have a seat at the table and feed into every conversation. Our resources are shrinking and at risk of being lost forever. Sustainable solutions don't need to be costly, but they do need to be thoughtful.
- Accessibility should not be an afterthought. When we build tools and processes for all with all at the table, we can make tools, processes and services that benefit all and not the minority of the majority.
- Killer Questions understanding the real root cause of a problem, not only saves time and money but gives those you serve the confidence that you understand them and their ever-evolving needs.
- Agile Principles. Councils and government agencies can be known for moving slowly. With an agile mind set of creating tools and processes along with a commitment to continually improving can help speed up change. Share your work (The good and the challenging) early to help detail the evolving story, so that working in the open becomes embedded in your culture.
- Multidisciplinary teams. whilst it can be challenging working across teams both internal and externally, the benefits supersede any challenges you may encounter. The skill, knowledge and passion that people have far outweighs any initial pain. Communication is key along the path of collaboration, iteration and keeping momentum spinning.
Louise, Content Designer
Drawing on real-world projects from NEC Digital Studio, Amber Polley and Tom White’s session on 'Making data human' was an honest reflection on the challenges of working in data-heavy environments as designers, especially the tension between technical priorities and human outcomes. They tackled that all-too-familiar disconnect between data and design - how, when kept apart, we risk building services that are technically sound but miss the mark for real people.
The session created some great conversations about how we work with data teams, and how we can make sure lived experience shapes what we measure and how we interpret it. There is a clear need for shared language and goals between designers, analysts and technologists.
That theme of bridging gaps between data and design, between systems and people, carried through from Steph Wright’s earlier keynote on 'AI in Public Services: Realism, responsibility and the public good'. Where Amber and Tom focused on humanising data, Steph took it further, challenging us to think about how we use AI responsibly, ethically and in service of the public good.
I appreciated the balanced tone Steph brought to her talk. Not anti-AI, but deeply critical of its unregulated or careless use. Her focus on ethics and inclusion stood out, especially in contrast to the more tech-centric narratives that often dominate these conversations. The talk sparked some great hallway discussions about how we can embed ethical checks into the design, delivery and procurement of AI-enabled services. And there were lots of sign-up for the free Living with AI course.
While data and AI offer efficiency and innovation, they are not a silver bullet. As public bodies, we have a duty of care when deploying technology to avoid embedding bias, exclusion or harm into automated systems.
These are conversations that feel more urgent than ever.
Steve, Senior Applications Analyst
When I arrived at the conference, I had no clue what to expect really. Our Service Design colleagues have always seemed so far away and speak their own language, and probably have the same opinion visa versa. I have often found it hard to connect the value they strive for and that which I am trying to deliver in any meaningful way. So I went with a blank canvas. So what stuck?
There was a workshop that I attended called 'Garbage in, Garbage out' that looked at form design primarily and was aimed at helping to design services to be AI-ready. It explored how forms that are poorly designed (or forms leading to poorly designed services) will often lead to gaming the system. It got me thinking about all the challenges I have faced over the years with data at ECC and left the question open in my mind: Is our data ready for AI? Could we be doing anything differently to get ourselves ready?
One group presented on testing complex scenarios as part of rolling out a new unemployment benefit system in an impoverished city in the US. In their case study, they looked at end-to-end testing of a process/user journey across four systems. Two main points came from this. Firstly, they talked about the importance of testing the various scenarios from the user's perspective. This included looking at the design of troublesome questions like 'Can you start work immediately?' — the answer to which might be 'yes', 'no because I have a job currently', 'no I have the flu', 'no I have a broken ankle'. All of which affect the process decisions (and users ability to claim) down the line in different ways. Secondly, they explained how they had streamlined the testing phase using automated testing, built in a modular way to consume the business area's test cases. They even provided the business with access to set the variables on their test case code for greater flexibility and self-service responsiveness.
Lastly, and I think more crucially, I got my first insight into my design colleagues — into how they think, what their aims and objectives are, and why it is important. I was able to link a few old, familiar definitions to their language. A user journey in design is very close to a service value chain in ITIL; co-design is co-creation; we both strive to deliver value to the service user through any means necessary. But how are we different? Often it is these differences within teams that provide the most opportunity for collaboration. Where the concepts of service design focus the lens on the end user, where IT Service Management side focuses on security, stability, consistency, technical innovation and automation. What was my main takeaway? Open questions like, 'How do we complement each other in our new combined service?', 'How do we teach each other?', 'How do we approach our processes to ensure they are delivering timely value to the people of Essex?', 'How do we embed some of the Service Design and Service Management principles on an enterprise scale?'.
Kerry, Senior Business Design & Continuous Improvement Consultant
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend my first SDinGov Conference, I’d heard good things, and it didn’t disappoint. Like everyone else, it left me with a head buzzing with all the possibilities and the overwhelm of how to put all this newfound knowledge into practice. Some of my top takeaway’s were:
- remembering to intentionally design services that care. Often we can get too focused on designing to deliver savings and efficiencies as that is what the focus always seems to be on, but it is equally important to ensure quality and care for our users is built in intentionally from the start. In most cases our users aren’t voluntary, and they are using our services because they must and at difficult times in their lives, therefore, we need to factor in how we deliver our services in simplistic but emphatic ways.
- our role as designers. Lots of the problems people encountered in their case studies were the same problems we all face in our work. Therefore, it’s important to think of our role in supporting and navigating our stakeholders through those problems. We have our playbooks and methodologies we can use but treat them as guidance tools, they can help you get there but it’s working together with people that will get you over the line. Therefore, relationships are greater than rules and investing time into building trusted relationships can sometimes be what makes the difference.
- identifying root causes is embedded in systems thinking: Systems thinking is about thinking bigger than the presenting problems and understanding what other factors are contributing to these, so it really encourages you to ask questions, observe and think about identifying root causes. Once root causes have been identified, its about leveraging the capability, opportunity and motivations of people around you to help make behavioural change to drive improvements. This highlighted for me the links into our Continuous Improvement and Change Management practices.
I’m excited to begin seeing how I can embed some of this learning into my day-to-day practice and how I can challenge myself to do more of the right thing by our users.
Jo, Lead User Researcher
This was my second visit to SDinGov, and I was excited to see what I could learn this year. I left the conference feeling inspired, and more connected to both the EDS teams and the wider service design community.
For the first time I visited the TPX impact launch party straight from the train station. Alongside lots of amazing food, there was a facilitated conversation between Laura Yarrow, Head of Design at GDS and Jaskiran Kang, Head of Service Design at TPX. For the design world they are up there with the celebs. I was reassured to hear that they were struggling with the same challenges as we do in ECC. They chatted through problems around the changing role of service design and the impact of AI on these roles. My key learning is that no one has all the answers, and we are all navigating through these challenges, however the conversations and relationships we build all help us to find a path together and make sure we can keep user centred design at the heart of our activity. I realised we all had a shared challenge, but also a shared purpose in design.
I purposefully tried to avoid AI focused talks this year so I could focus on design tools and ideas. However, I loved the keynote from Steph Wright, Head of the Scottish AI Alliance. She spoke about AI in public services, realism, responsibility and the public good. The key theme that stuck in my head when she was talking about AI in public service was that we are in charge of AI… if we are worried about it then stop using the tool. Stop and understand what you are using and why, AI is not always the answer and it is our role in public service to stop and question the tools we choose to adopt.
The final talk on the Friday that I attended was focused on being the grown up in leadership, I was envious of the easy and confident way that Dan Healy from Made Tech was able to talk about his leadership challenges, especially in a hybrid world and I took away some great tips and tricks to remain the grown up even in challenging situations.
It was a great few days. However, the highlight for me was spending time with colleagues I don’t usually get to spend time with and building real life connections that matter. The few days ended in new relationships, offers of desk space in new areas and a building sense of team for our new EDS service.
May, Service Designer
This year marked my fourth year attending SD in Gov, and it did not disappoint! I always appreciate the time and opportunity to take a step out of the ECC bubble and listen to thought-provoking ideas from different government teams and organisations - while also feeling reassured that we’re all facing very similar challenges!
Something which made SDinGov extra special this year was having the opportunity to present alongside my brilliant colleagues Dani, Claire and Jo on our discovery work to design a new IAG service for young people with SEND: ‘Unnavigable navigation: making the unnavigable, navigable in complex systems’. It was great to share the learning from the work, where we felt humbled to receive some great feedback from those who attended.
I’m really proud that we created the space to reflect and share the journey of the work, where we shared our various ‘pearls of wisdom’ for ensuring the voices of young people with SEND and their families were at the heart of the work.
One of my personal takeaways this year was the importance of creating space for reflection as user centred design professionals – both in my own practice and in light of some the big conversations and challenges we are facing around the development of AI.
AI featured as a prominent theme again at this year, where Steph Wright’s keynote expertly brought to life service design’s role in ensuring responsible design and a continued focus on people. Steph articulated the perspective of not being anti-tech, but pro-people, where ethics and bias shouldn’t be an afterthought and that we need to design for the unintended consequences. Steph’s closing thoughts on how we all need to be active participants in shaping AI are something that I will continue to reflect on.
Another highlight was attending the ‘Co-creating the ‘Design in Local Government Playback’ workshop, facilitated by the Service Design in Local Government Network, with our very own Dani on the crew! This session provided a framework for discussing the different tools we use in our practices and contributing to the Network’s playbook. It was great to have the opportunity to talk through a recent discovery project and eye-opening to realise the different tools that we may use without acknowledging – also the importance of being able to document these to share good practice and different approaches with others. A particular highlight of mine was being part of a conversation with Caroline Jarret, who introduced us to a tool called the ‘anti-problem’. We gave it a go, and it sparked some great thinking! I really appreciated the time to hear about others’ approaches and practice.
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