Services that work for users and the people who run them
posted 21st October 2026
I map how your service actually works, from what users see to what happens behind the scenes. Then I redesign it so it works for the people who use it and the people who deliver it.
I often work on complex data services. I map what users need and where they make critical decisions. Then I identify which decisions can be automated or supported by AI, and where a person needs to stay in the loop.
Small changes in one place often cause problems somewhere else. I look at the whole system before changing any part of it.
When to bring me in
- A service works on paper but frustrates the people using it or delivering it
- You're planning a change and want to know what else it will affect
- You need to balance what users need with what the business can afford and the technology can do
- Several teams, suppliers or organisations share one service and nobody sees the whole of it
- You want to add AI to a service and need to decide where it helps and where people stay in control
How I work
I look at the whole system before changing a part
User research shows what one group needs. Systems thinking shows how that group connects to everyone else. I use both.
An online subscription business moved support to self-serve and cut front-line staff. Customers started calling their account managers instead, and product teams lost the quick feedback they used to get from support. The cost showed up months later, at renewal time.
So I look at more than cost. I also look at what front-line teams know, the trust they've built with customers, and the informal ways people work together.
I design front to back
A service blueprint shows what users see and everything behind it: the people, processes, data and systems that make it work. Problems usually sit in the handovers between them.
I balance what users want with what the organisation can deliver
Every design has to pass three tests. Do users want it? Can the organisation afford to run it? Can it be built with the technology and skills available? I make the trade-offs visible so the right people can decide.
I test small before building big
I start with manual or paper-based pilots to prove value before anyone writes code. Each test has success measures the team agrees up front, for example "at least 65% of users complete the task with the prototype".
The results tell us whether to continue, change direction or stop.
I separate what we saw from what we think it means
Teams usually agree on what they observed. They often disagree on what it means. Naming the difference brings blind spots into the open and leads to better decisions.
Tools I use
• User journey maps and service blueprints
• System and stakeholder maps, built in Miro
• Capability scans across people, process, data and technology
• Success measures, including a North Star metric
• Prototypes, from paper to AI-assisted rapid prototyping in Figma Make and Claude Design
Bringing people with me
Sales, technology and design teams each see the same goal differently. I bring them together early, so the design works for all of them and they support it.
Before design starts
- Workshops where stakeholders agree what success looks like for users and for the organisation
- Stakeholder mapping to find the people most likely to act, and helping them make the case to others
While we design
- Co-design sessions with engineers, operations and legal teams, so real constraints surface early
- Design sprints. At a global energy company, I ran a 4-day sprint that took teams from user problems to ideas they could test.
- Show and tells with senior stakeholders, using before-and-after journey maps
After I leave
- Pairing with internal staff on live work, so skills stay in the team
- Weekly or fortnightly reviews that keep the team testing and learning
What you get
- A map of how your service works today, from the user's view to what happens behind the scenes
- A future design that users, delivery teams and budget holders can all support
- Prioritised changes, each with an agreed measure of success
- Prototypes tested with real users before you invest in building