Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
Designer | Researcher | Making sense of complex systems | Director of Unwaste.io, using data to tackle global plastic waste
Environmental science
33%
Economics
14%
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Apr 25
Why the Post Office paid £600m to stay shackled to the faulty Horizon system
Not owning crucial code has meant it has been unable to replace the system that led to a scandal.
www.bbc.com
You couldn't make this up.
BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Apr 25
Why the Post Office paid £600m to stay shackled to the faulty Horizon system
Not owning crucial code has meant it has been unable to replace the system that led to a scandal.
www.bbc.com
You couldn't make this up.
BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Apr 8
I let my kids text certain friends from my WhatsApp. I can see their chats + they can't join groups. That's our policy until we're comfortable with them having their own phone. But now..f-ing Meta AI. They think it's their friend. I have muted, deleted repeatedly but you can't turn the fecker off
Reposted by Laura Smith
Unwaste.io published its monthly data report about #SingleUsePlastic and who produces it for July 2024
Although data is collected in real time, our data team typically spends a while validating and curating it
www.unwaste.io/data/2024-july
@tonyrwalker1.bsky.social @ronsteenblik.bsky.social
Although data is collected in real time, our data team typically spends a while validating and curating it
www.unwaste.io/data/2024-july
@tonyrwalker1.bsky.social @ronsteenblik.bsky.social
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Feb 28
That Zelenskyy Trump Vance video...wow. If those two had the capacity to feel shame they would be quivering in a corner right now. Talk about disrespect...just, wow.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Jan 15
How Saudi Arabia became the world’s plastic cheerleader
The rich oil state has built a team of silver-tongued U.N. negotiators with a simple mandate: keep plastic production growing.
www.politico.eu
Just in case people aren't aware - as the world slowly comes round to the idea that we should reduce use of fossil fuels, oil producers spare no expense to fill the gap in demand with other products, plastic being a biggy. This is grim.
www.politico.eu/article/saud...
www.politico.eu/article/saud...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Jan 13
The relentless focus on adoption seems to be putting the big AI cart before the human-shaped horse
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Jan 10
Just today, I've been asked to 'unwrap my year' by both @tescoofficial.bsky.social Clubcard and Miro.
No, I don't want to be reminded how you're capturing data on my every move and using it to sell your product.
Can we stop this now please
No, I don't want to be reminded how you're capturing data on my every move and using it to sell your product.
Can we stop this now please
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Jan 8
My daughter is learning about the Great Fire of London. This is basically what happened. IN 1666 FFS.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Jan 6
Interesting selection of options from Avanti West Coast Delay Repay service. There is no good reason why they need this information. It's also making me even more p*ssed off that I have to define my marital status to claim a refund. Obvs I chose 'Lady', as that's what I am. #BadUX
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 20
Our little team at Unwaste.io has grown quite big this year. We've got a fantastic bunch working across marketing, engineering, logistics, funding and UX. Great to get together today (though jealous of Moz team in the Maputo sunshine).
Thanks to @cameronordsmith.bsky.social for the language lesson!
Thanks to @cameronordsmith.bsky.social for the language lesson!
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 20
I also had 'do we have an citric acid and that really thick glue? No you can't help it's private I'm doing it all by myself. Just give me the glue.'
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 20
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
open.substack.com
Fantastic piece, read twice already. Relevant for anyone working in tech, service design, user research and, most importantly, AI. Thanks @lmsacasas.bsky.social
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Unwaste.io on LinkedIn: #merrycleanmas #litterpick #litterpicking #plasticwaste #plasticfree…
JOIN our Christmas Clean Up Campaign 2024! 🎄🧹
We’re hoping YOU will pledge to picking up and scanning one piece of plastic waste in your area this festive…
www.linkedin.com
I made a video of myself in a Santa hat to get people to sign our Christmas plastic pledge. Original, I know. I'm a geriatric millennial, I don't really get how to do this sort of thing.
www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 12
🪂📍
Did a movie emoji quiz last night. This one stumped people. Fairly recent, very famous movie. Anyone?
Did a movie emoji quiz last night. This one stumped people. Fairly recent, very famous movie. Anyone?
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 12
https://unwaste.io
Unwaste.io
Do you like Christmas AND data? Of course you do!
How about signing up for the Unwaste.io Christmas campaign? Make a pledge to pick up and scan a few items of plastic waste and add to over 425k data points on our global monitoring portal.
More info in here: www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
How about signing up for the Unwaste.io Christmas campaign? Make a pledge to pick up and scan a few items of plastic waste and add to over 425k data points on our global monitoring portal.
More info in here: www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 10
A great response to this speech. When I read the example of WhatsApp, AirBnB and Spotify I was expecting another paragraph with some caveats. But...nothing. I mean, hello? Actual marches happening in Barcelona? Artist boycotts?
Thanks for calling this out.
Thanks for calling this out.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 10
Great to hear about the drive towards a 'test and learn' approach. I'll be interested to see how public procurements models change to support this and give government departments the tools and structures they need to work in this way.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 9
Missing Pieces: The Lesbian Mothers Scandal - BBC Sounds
An investigation into the legacy of court decisions separating children from lesbian mums.
www.bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... This is one of the most horrific stories of state-sponsored abuse I've heard in a long time. Very well produced. Hope these women and their children get a higher profile now.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 7
Sometimes I feel like I need to read a book because the person sitting beside me is a reading a book and may be silently judging me for looking at my phone, even though I read lots of books. i just need to get through my Tesco order but I still might actually get my book out wtf is wrong with me
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 7
I have a bit of an obsession with instructional signs. Just found this one in my 'archive'. So much said in so few words.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 7
"What’s more, the best designers I talk to don’t read method books or stick to a rigid flow when producing great work, they just do it." ➕
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 6
👋 Hello new followers from the last few days (mostly service design peeps from @louisrosenfeld.bsky.social 's Advancing Service Design conference) but also a sprinkling of people interested in plastic pollution.
Feeling a lot safer to post here than on X, hopefully will say something interesting...
Feeling a lot safer to post here than on X, hopefully will say something interesting...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 5
You and Yours - Gap Finders: Fiona Macrae - BBC Sounds
Fiona Macrae set up travel insurance brand InsuranceWith.
www.bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Fantastic episode - a founder who developed a specialist travel insurance company around the needs of people with health issues. 'User centred insurance' isn't a natural phrase...
Fantastic episode - a founder who developed a specialist travel insurance company around the needs of people with health issues. 'User centred insurance' isn't a natural phrase...
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 5
Getting my son an iPhone when I use Android was a big mistake. Apple do not make it easy to do anything at all if you are not fully immersed into Apple World.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 5
But govts still seem to favour the louder voices of food industry lobbyists. NO CHILD IN THIS COUNTRY SHOULD HAVE RICKETS FFS.
The orgs quoted in the article are doing great things but must be exhausted from banging their heads on that wall.
The orgs quoted in the article are doing great things but must be exhausted from banging their heads on that wall.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 5
"There are an estimated 2.9m people in England with malnutrition.
Hospital admissions resulting in nutrition-related diagnoses in England increased by more than 39% over the past decade. Malnourished children are being treated for scurvy, bow legs, rickets and heart murmurs."
Hospital admissions resulting in nutrition-related diagnoses in England increased by more than 39% over the past decade. Malnourished children are being treated for scurvy, bow legs, rickets and heart murmurs."
Who can afford longevity in a cost-of-living crisis?
We all need a healthy diet. So why are politicians normalising food banks and allowing malnutrition and associated illnesses to rise?
eastangliabylines.co.uk
This is depressing. When I studied food policy almost 15 years ago, food banks were not yet 'normalised' and there were many smart people and organisations proposing systemic solutions to the complex problem of food poverty. It needs holistic thinking, wide ranging solutions.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 4
I'm not sure why. Maybe it's a better way of talking about people in general and not putting all disabled people in this 'people with different needs' box which doesn't really exist.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 4
We talk about designing for blind people or people who are deaf or hearing impaired but there's something about this framing that made me think in a different way.
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
· Dec 4
"We tend to design for people with 5 senses." This sentence from @fastfinge.interfree.ca in his talk at #AdvancingServiceDesign really made me sit up.