Lou Downe
@loudowne.bsky.social
Founder of @theschoolofgood Chief bean-wrangler @brodbox Ex-Design Director of the UK Gov. Proudly dyslexic & non-binary 🌈 they/he
Why is the old leadership trope of 'Don't get involved in the detail' bad for delivering good services? Our new episode of Bad Services podcast on materials is out now and why we need to care about the detail good.services/badservicespodcast/episode010
That is also why this slide/poster from @loudowne.bsky.social and @rufflemuffin.bsky.social resonated so much with me: bsky.app/profile/ruff... It’s such a burden if service designers have to do that all. That’s why having a transformation manager nearby as an ally is fantastic. 5/X
Sarah Drummond@rufflemuffin.bsky.social · last mo.@martinjordan.com I made sure this got produced just for you Service design is in A2 If you make it to UK soon we can give you in person 😉 good.services/shop/p/15-pr...
Sometimes, stopping bad decisions is as important as making good ones when it comes to designing good services
Why is it so hard to design services that meet our user’s needs? Not knowing who our users are or what they need is now so common in some organisations that we almost don't notice anymore. good.services/writing/you-are-not-your-user
Lets talk users, user needs and why bad services create bad relationships with users. Episode 9 of the Bad Services podcast is out! good.services/badservicesp...
Last week, we introduced chapter 1 of Bad Services: Purpose Every service has a purpose,but for every purpose, there are infinite possible services..how do you pick the right way of delivering that purpose if you’re starting from scratch? More on purpose/services: good.services/writing/ever...
15 billions hours are wasted each year dealing with broken services, but do we care enough to fix it? So we built a tracker to show across the year how much time has elapsed good.services/writing/15-billions-hours-are-wasted
You can't design a service if you don't know why you’re delivering it Whether your purpose is to help people get into cycling or get control over money, it's our purpose that tells us what services we might create to deliver that outcome and who our users might be good.services/writing/serv...
Episode 8 of the Bad Services Podcast is out. As the book, Bad Services is now out, we’re delving into each chapter, focusing on the causes of Bad Services. In episode 8, we’re talking about Chapter 1, Purpose. Why does a lack of purpose lead to Bad Services? good.services/badservicesp...
WOW!!! Tuesday night was absolutely incredible at our London Launch Party We were completely packed out with standing room only, and it was hotter than the sun but what an amazing evening with such good vibes all round.
Making the case for service design is a 1 day course for anyone wanting to learn how to pitch and bring people with you on investing the resources you need to design good services. Our next one day course is on the 14th July good.services/making-the-c...
Sometimes it's easier to spot a bad service, than it is a good one. As part of our new sister company, the Bad Service Corporation, we've launched a training video on the 15 Principles of Bad Services. good.services/writing/the-15-principles-of-bad-services
We’re really excited for the official London launch party tomorrow for Bad Services We’re welcoming Laura Hutchinson and Sarah Gold to join us to reflect on why bad services happen We are sold out, but, some returns are being done today, so do join the waitlist luma.com/bzermheg
Bad Services is out today and I'd like to take this opportunity to announce my unwavering support for services that don't work. So much so that I've launched a new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction. badservicescorp.com
It’s HEREEEEE!! Bad Services ships tomorrow but here’s a sneak peak of the long awaited sequel to Good Services. good.services/writing/bad-services-has-landed
Our new podcast on the 'Types of Service Design' is out today Is there a right way to do Service Design? Or one process you should follow? good.services/badservicespodcast/episode007
Designing services has many different starting points and reasons for it to take centre stage, or be initiated. Our new podcast episode, Starting Points in Service design is all about the reasons service design might happen and what starting points look like good.services/badservicesp...
We’re on a Bad Services UK Book Tour. Actually we’re on it right now, with Glasgow tonight. We’re doing a short Bad Services UK Book Tour over June and July. The link has tour dates listed, with a few more to be updated in the next few days. good.services/badservicesb...
You’ve reached the Bad Service Corporation Customer Help line Did you know we have a website? It’s much easier to do what you’re trying to do online than it is to wait in the queue to speak to one of our customer service representatives Press 1 for New Book
Super excited to be dropping into Bristol Service Design Meet up as part of the book tour for Bad Services 1st July, we'll be talking about the why of Bad Services Tickets: www.meetup.com/service-desi... Big thanks to James Reece for pulling it all together
Service Design Bristol #13 - Lou Downe 'Bad Services' book tour, Wed, Jul 1, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
Come along to a very special edition of Service Design Bristol! For this event, bestselling author, educator and service activist Lou Downe will be giving a special talk t
meetup.com
Bad Services, coming soon Ships on 25th June 2026 good.services/badservicesb...
Episode 5 of Bad Services is live, and this episode is on context of use. We talk designing boxes to move multi-million £ artwork, creating new volunteer services for older generations facing fraud, and an online service supporting people with divorce good.services/badservicesp...
Our Stakeholder Leadership course is coming up on the 25th June. Fed up of silo’s? Learn how to work with them rather than trying to tear them down. Come learn how to create effective relationships that enable good service design and delivery to happen good.services/stakeholder-...
Our Making the case for Service Design course is coming up on 14th July + it is (I think) the last time we will run it this year. Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for design good.services/making-the-c...
Designing Good Services Summer course is coming up on 23rd June Come work with us and learn about what makes a good service, how to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them. good.services/designing-go...
A new episode of Bad Services is live. Episode 4 is how to spot a bad service. There are lots of ways in which you can spot if something isn't working, we've put some of our initial go to data points down. good.services/badservicespodcast/episode004
Our summer semester trio of one day courses is coming up in June, led by me. If you’re looking to learn more about services and how to design good ones, Designing Good Services is a great introductory course. Designing Good Services - June 23 2026 (BST) good.services/courses
A new episode of Bad Services is live. Episode 3 is on What makes a Bad Service. From services that de-humanise people, to hidden rules in services, we lay it all out. What do you think makes a bad service? good.services/badservicespodcast/episode003
