In the last three days I went to the cinema to watch two films. Unrelated, but there were too many parallels to ignore... Both stories centred on a boy who drowned in a lake, and one of the main characters wore a giant cube on their head. My wife says she's not going to the cinema with me anymore...

After a fantastic book about disaster recovery by Lucy Easthope I progressed to the Humble Pi. Disasters, errors and failures seem to be main topics I've been reading on recently. Any other recommendations?

Weeknotes 14 August medium.com/user-centere...

Weeknotes 14 August

Just a year ago, UCD was a team of two. Now there’s six of us :)

medium.com

And how's your day going?

In the world where you can do everything... Think twice (even more if needed) if you actually should do it. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

How a Starbucks marketing stunt spiralled into mass boycotts in South Korea

A botched tumbler promotion on the anniversary of a pro-democracy massacre unleashed a boycott, police investigation and political firestorm

theguardian.com

Finally went to the @hayfestival.bsky.social Best festival ever! Listening to Carissa Veliz and later Mariana Mazzucato talking about their newest books was 💕 There are many reasons to practice service design in the public sector!

Sign up for our next HCD in health network online talk 🎉 www.onehealthtech.com/events-1/oht...

OHT Better HealthTech by Design: Better Together: Clinicians + Designers in the NHS | One HealthTech

onehealthtech.com

We’re recruiting a Senior User Researcher at Public Health Wales. This is an opportunity to help embed user research as a core part of how we design and deliver healthcare services, not an afterthought. Reach out if you'd like to know more about the role www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Cardi...

Great example of inclusive service design. www.thetimes.com/article/7071...

How the London Marathon is embracing new mothers

From mid-race breastfeeding stops to finish-line reunions, support is transforming how women experience the 26.2-mile challenge

thetimes.com

Fantastic sticker from my colleague, who's an epidemiologist 😂 It made my day!

Voters in Wales failed by inaccurate UK media reports on devolved issues, study finds

Voters in Wales failed by inaccurate UK media reports on devolved issues, study finds

Reports on English policies seen in Wales as relating to whole of UK contribute to widespread confusion, researchers say UK media is failing to report properly on devolved issues in Wales, leaving voters ill-informed about May’s Senedd elections, a report has found. A Cardiff University study of more than 3,000 news items found repeated patterns in coverage across different broadcasters and platforms, including not signposting whether an issue was relevant to England or England and Wales only, widespread references to “the government” rather than “the UK government”, and the use of “you” and “your” in contexts that apply only to people living in England. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Just yesterday at the service design community of practice meeting I was highlighting how important it is to push back when we get a brief with a solution ready to be delivered.

UK Gov Camp@ukgovcamp.com · 7mo ago

Fantastic to see this from @publicdigital.bsky.social . Bringing people together to create things like this is one of the main reasons Gov Camp exists. public.digital/pd-insights/...

At some point, working in the open becomes a lifestyle. medium.com/user-centere...

Working in the open. How and why it matters for public services in Wales

Working in the open is a practice commonly used in digital service teams, especially in government and public sector, of making work…

medium.com

Looking at my bsky feed I have real #ukgc26 FOMO 🥺

Interested in working in the open? Have a look at this new website showcasing great examples of working in the open in Wales. (Yes, I'm biased as I'm involved 🙃 but it's really a great resource and saves you time searching leading to most active practitioners)

Benjy Stanton@benjystanton.co.uk · 10mo ago

Inspired by attending @govcampcymru.bsky.social , me, @niacampbell.bsky.social and @monikasw.bsky.social have been working on this little website to help promote working in the open and digital resources in Wales… cymruddigidol.github.io

Cold water surfing is great! But taking the wetsuit off is like a torture requiring similar amount of energy as the whole surf session 🤣

Google maps is suggesting me today a time travel. Also did I say how much I love TfL which uses timetable as optional reference for drivers? End of rant. Thank you.

I may be geeking out a bit, but who doesn't like a good marginalia? I bought a box of bingo pencils to have a pencil in every book I read and around the house so I have it when needed. open.substack.com/pub/culturis...

How to Remember Everything You Read

Tips from an American philosopher

open.substack.com

I went, I pitched and... don't remember much from the session. I think I was completely in my element and have temporary amnesia 🤣 Thanks Benjy for sharing your notes! #ggcy25

Benjy Stanton@benjystanton.co.uk · 11mo ago

My notes and reflections from the 'working in the open' session yesterday at @govcampcymru.bsky.social #gccy25 www.benjystanton.co.uk/blog/govcamp...

It was quite a day! My first pitch and a truly active participation in every session 😅 Just a year ago (as usually in these kinds of events) I'd be just listening and dying of anxiety when I wanted to say a word... but something clicked! #GCcy25 thanks for that opportunity!

GovCamp Cymru@govcampcymru.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Diolch i bawb am ddiwrnod arbennig. Thanks everyone that joined us of Friday for #GCcy25

Frozen in time? "Last updated: January 2022" www.gov.uk/roadmap

Roadmap - GOV.UK

GOV.UK is the digital home for the UK government. It’s run by the Government Digital Service (GDS), and we’re always working to better meet user needs. This is our current roadmap, which takes us thro...

gov.uk

All central gov guidance in one place 😍 #ServiceDesign #DesignPatterns dev.reuselibrary.service.justice.gov.uk

There should be a place in hell for people sending their account details for payment as an image... 🤦🏼‍♀️

👀 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Test print of our book arrived today. Watch this space…

This time before bed when you need to check value of the Pi number... *Somehow I remembered it's about 3 🤯

Yes to that! publicpolicydesign.blog.gov.uk/2025/08/07/w...

Why public design is more important than ever

GDS reform expert, Alice Goldman, examines the value of public design to governments now.

publicpolicydesign.blog.gov.uk

Automated bias, here we go... "Artificial intelligence tools used by more than half of England’s councils are downplaying women’s physical and mental health issues and risk creating gender bias in care decisions, research has found" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

AI tools used by English councils downplay women’s health issues, study finds

Exclusive: LSE research finds risk of gender bias in care decisions made based on AI summaries of case notes

theguardian.com

And you? what are you reading now? Expand, stretching the future by design, starts pretty well. Cat takes it literally.

Knowing that information on the internet age fast, why 95% of pages do not have publication dates? So many times, looking for an up to date information, I started reading something to realize halfway that it's an update from five years ago... Add publication dates to your content, please!

Different digital transformation 😉 www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/a...

‘We can hear their saliva’: why are so many actors suddenly using microphones?

From Greek tragedy to Chekhov to Rosamund Pike in Inter Alia, handheld mics are everywhere on stage right now. Is this a thrilling innovation – or a pointless fad?

theguardian.com