How can we test our designs with Welsh-speaking users?
How can we test our designs with Welsh-speaking users?
How to add a Welsh language toggle to your prototypes so you can better test with Welsh users.
Good services are verbs, bad services are nouns
To a user, a service is simple. It’s something that helps them to do something - like learn to drive, buy a house, or become a childminder. It’s an activity that needs to be done. A verb that comes naturally …
Should I learn to code?
Yes. This is a question I get asked a lot by design students - should I learn to code? The answer is yes. Why wouldn't you? But there's nuance: you don't need to be a Ruby dev. Learning to code …
Prototyping tips
At the Government Digital Service, we do a lot of prototyping of our ideas. This is to discuss ideas more clearly amongst the team, and to test the ideas with real people. Here are some thoughts on prototyping from people …
Designing with data(bases)
Using data to understand the content is a useful guide when making design decisions. Knowing that, for example, page summaries don’t usually exceed a certain length, you can make a decision based on this and feel confident that the design …
Can I use the GOV.UK fonts?
We frequently get enquiries and requests about using the GOV.UK typeface (a variant of New Transport called GDS Transport) on other websites. For licensing reasons we have to be quite strict about what can use the typeface. The GDS Transport …
Epic win: identifying high-level user needs
Lately, Louise Downe and I have been working with the DVLA to think about what services and user journeys really are, and how we can build teams around them to design and make them. To do that, we have to …
Incorporating translation into the Home Office Visas exemplar
This is a guest post from Chris Atherton, a designer working on the Visit visa service for the Home Office. Since June 2014, we've had a fully-translated customer journey in live beta: customers in China applying for Visit visas have …
Spotted: clever and useful design patterns
I was looking at the Ikea website at the weekend and noticed this smart design pattern. Many websites tell you whether an item is in stock and many tell you whether a product is available in store. But this tells you …
How designers prototype at GDS
All of the designers at GDS can code or are learning to code. If you’re a designer who has used prototyping tools like Axure for a large part of your professional career, the idea of prototyping in code might be …
Designing for new and regular users at the same time
At the Rural Payments Agency, we’ve been thinking about how to design services that work well for both new and regular users. The users of the Rural Payments service fall into 2 broad groups: Farmers use the service each year …
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