Ben Holliday
@benholliday.com
Design and digital transformation | Chief Design Officer at TPXimpact | UK Lake District
Reposted by Ben Holliday
Don’t worry gang, no one actually starts their New Year’s resolutions on the 1st. And you’d be silly to begin on a Friday, best save it for Monday. But Monday is the 5th so you’ve kind of missed the boat anyway and can safely put it off for next year.
January 1, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Don’t worry gang, no one actually starts their New Year’s resolutions on the 1st. And you’d be silly to begin on a Friday, best save it for Monday. But Monday is the 5th so you’ve kind of missed the boat anyway and can safely put it off for next year.
Happy New Year to everyone I know or have connected with here 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣🎆
I’m halfway through a much needed Christmas break from work… No reflection posts from me this year - I ran out of time and energy in 2025.
Here’s to doing our best and being our best selves in 2026 #keepgoing
I’m halfway through a much needed Christmas break from work… No reflection posts from me this year - I ran out of time and energy in 2025.
Here’s to doing our best and being our best selves in 2026 #keepgoing
December 31, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Happy New Year to everyone I know or have connected with here 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣🎆
I’m halfway through a much needed Christmas break from work… No reflection posts from me this year - I ran out of time and energy in 2025.
Here’s to doing our best and being our best selves in 2026 #keepgoing
I’m halfway through a much needed Christmas break from work… No reflection posts from me this year - I ran out of time and energy in 2025.
Here’s to doing our best and being our best selves in 2026 #keepgoing
Reposted by Ben Holliday
Meanwhile this is *machine learning* and what it is *good at*. Not generative AI bullshit, actual useful predictive statistical models. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter
Forecasting tool predicts when demand will be highest, allowing NHS trusts to better plan staffing and bed space
www.theguardian.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Meanwhile this is *machine learning* and what it is *good at*. Not generative AI bullshit, actual useful predictive statistical models. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Merry Christmas everyone 🎄 …with four children and a busy household we’re at the *falling over the line* stage of life on days like today. I’m just glad we made it and everyone seems healthy and happy this morning. Hope you all have a good one 🥂
December 25, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Merry Christmas everyone 🎄 …with four children and a busy household we’re at the *falling over the line* stage of life on days like today. I’m just glad we made it and everyone seems healthy and happy this morning. Hope you all have a good one 🥂
Reposted by Ben Holliday
The Top 10 (non job links) from my newsletter this year -
About the GOV Reuse Library
reuselibrary-dev.apps.cloud-platform.service.justice.gov.uk/about.html
...was top by a country mile.
About the GOV Reuse Library
reuselibrary-dev.apps.cloud-platform.service.justice.gov.uk/about.html
...was top by a country mile.
About the Reuse Library
reuselibrary-dev.apps.cloud-platform.service.justice.gov.uk
December 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The Top 10 (non job links) from my newsletter this year -
About the GOV Reuse Library
reuselibrary-dev.apps.cloud-platform.service.justice.gov.uk/about.html
...was top by a country mile.
About the GOV Reuse Library
reuselibrary-dev.apps.cloud-platform.service.justice.gov.uk/about.html
...was top by a country mile.
💡 New short read about false positives in user-centred design.
This is an analogy I find helpful when thinking about how user-centricity is really shaping, directing and impacting the work of digital teams
#digitaltransformation
benholliday.com/2025/11/27/f...
This is an analogy I find helpful when thinking about how user-centricity is really shaping, directing and impacting the work of digital teams
#digitaltransformation
benholliday.com/2025/11/27/f...
False positives and user-centricity
Are there false positives in the user-centricity of your team, programme, or organisation?
benholliday.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:42 PM
💡 New short read about false positives in user-centred design.
This is an analogy I find helpful when thinking about how user-centricity is really shaping, directing and impacting the work of digital teams
#digitaltransformation
benholliday.com/2025/11/27/f...
This is an analogy I find helpful when thinking about how user-centricity is really shaping, directing and impacting the work of digital teams
#digitaltransformation
benholliday.com/2025/11/27/f...
Reposted by Ben Holliday
I *love* the torn one that just has "you don't have to accept this future" written in regular handwriting. That's what I keep repeating to anyone who will listen to me at my institution. We don't have to participate in reinforcing this one possible future; there are others we can imagine and make.
Yesterday my partner and I counted all the ads along Chicago's Brown Line for "Friend," a company selling an AI chatbot pendant, and tallied how many of those ads were defaced.
Still working on a longer piece on this, but here's the quick and dirty: we counted 104 "Friend" ads total, 42 defaced.
Still working on a longer piece on this, but here's the quick and dirty: we counted 104 "Friend" ads total, 42 defaced.
November 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I *love* the torn one that just has "you don't have to accept this future" written in regular handwriting. That's what I keep repeating to anyone who will listen to me at my institution. We don't have to participate in reinforcing this one possible future; there are others we can imagine and make.
Kendal Mountain Festival has taken over our small town again this weekend - it’s wonderful seeing this international festival growing each year… busiest I’ve ever seen it around the town yesterday #UKLakeDistrict
November 23, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Kendal Mountain Festival has taken over our small town again this weekend - it’s wonderful seeing this international festival growing each year… busiest I’ve ever seen it around the town yesterday #UKLakeDistrict
Reposted by Ben Holliday
One brilliant thing about Twitter was that for a lot of us, it made networking not networking.
You posted about what you were passionate about it, and it had more of a chance to get in front of someone relevant. It wasn't networking, it was caring about something in public.
You posted about what you were passionate about it, and it had more of a chance to get in front of someone relevant. It wasn't networking, it was caring about something in public.
I made friends with game developers. I did my own work. And it happened. That’s all there is.
November 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
One brilliant thing about Twitter was that for a lot of us, it made networking not networking.
You posted about what you were passionate about it, and it had more of a chance to get in front of someone relevant. It wasn't networking, it was caring about something in public.
You posted about what you were passionate about it, and it had more of a chance to get in front of someone relevant. It wasn't networking, it was caring about something in public.
"…we need a discussion about the added value that admin teams bring to patients, particularly those that struggle to navigate the NHS."
Interesting ideas here: "Imagine if GPs, not admin staff, were the first point of contact for people wanting an appointment."
www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...
Interesting ideas here: "Imagine if GPs, not admin staff, were the first point of contact for people wanting an appointment."
www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...
Who Picks Up The Phone? Different Approaches To NHS Admin | The King's Fund
Improving NHS admin isn’t easy – but some solutions are surprisingly simple. Julia Cream looks at two real life examples of admin done differently.
www.kingsfund.org.uk
November 22, 2025 at 12:31 PM
"…we need a discussion about the added value that admin teams bring to patients, particularly those that struggle to navigate the NHS."
Interesting ideas here: "Imagine if GPs, not admin staff, were the first point of contact for people wanting an appointment."
www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...
Interesting ideas here: "Imagine if GPs, not admin staff, were the first point of contact for people wanting an appointment."
www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...
Nice short read: highlights the importance of thinking about audiences (senior leaders and stakeholders) when presenting the outputs of mapping work #servicedesign
medium.com/@katie.dicke...
medium.com/@katie.dicke...
How we can map services better
For service designers, maps are the things that we can point to and say, “Look, I contributed this to the project.” But here’s the thing…
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Nice short read: highlights the importance of thinking about audiences (senior leaders and stakeholders) when presenting the outputs of mapping work #servicedesign
medium.com/@katie.dicke...
medium.com/@katie.dicke...
💡 Good new TPX design blog by Weronika Tokaj (not on BSky)…
I'm often asked where the examples are of teams using design/research as part of policy spaces? Here's a great example with some practical insights
#ServiceDesign #UserResearch #UserCentredPolicyDesign
www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
I'm often asked where the examples are of teams using design/research as part of policy spaces? Here's a great example with some practical insights
#ServiceDesign #UserResearch #UserCentredPolicyDesign
www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
Designing for users who don’t exist (yet) - TPXimpact
How we approached building a new service alongside emerging policy at DESNZ, and working with proto-personas as living hypotheses.
www.tpximpact.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:23 AM
💡 Good new TPX design blog by Weronika Tokaj (not on BSky)…
I'm often asked where the examples are of teams using design/research as part of policy spaces? Here's a great example with some practical insights
#ServiceDesign #UserResearch #UserCentredPolicyDesign
www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
I'm often asked where the examples are of teams using design/research as part of policy spaces? Here's a great example with some practical insights
#ServiceDesign #UserResearch #UserCentredPolicyDesign
www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
Vendor lock in. The same obvious tactics in 2025, just increasingly applied to AI tooling, or being sold more explicitly as productivity solutions
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Microsoft has ‘ripped off the NHS’, says MP amid call for contracts with British firms
Samantha Niblett highlighted government’s multi-billion-pound deals with Microsoft and ‘getting locked in’
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Vendor lock in. The same obvious tactics in 2025, just increasingly applied to AI tooling, or being sold more explicitly as productivity solutions
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Ben Holliday
If people in your team or organisation are using AI notetakers as a way of coping with too many meetings and a culture of presenteeism, there's not a technological fix for this. The answer is to have fewer, better organised meetings www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 AM
If people in your team or organisation are using AI notetakers as a way of coping with too many meetings and a culture of presenteeism, there's not a technological fix for this. The answer is to have fewer, better organised meetings www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
I’ve been listening to @naomialderman.bsky.social’s new book this week - about living through an information crisis. It asks lots of important questions, which I’ve found really thought provoking #books
www.penguin.co.uk/books/469677...
www.penguin.co.uk/books/469677...
Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today
What’s the most useful thing you could know about your own life?
In this era-defining book, developed from her groundbreaking Radio 4 essay series, Naomi Alderman turns her boundless curiosity and in...
www.penguin.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I’ve been listening to @naomialderman.bsky.social’s new book this week - about living through an information crisis. It asks lots of important questions, which I’ve found really thought provoking #books
www.penguin.co.uk/books/469677...
www.penguin.co.uk/books/469677...
November 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Ben Holliday
⭐ New blog: I've been doing some writing about Service Design recently... In this post, I explain how importance of the shift from product to a "service mindset" …
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
From product to a service mindset
Exploring the need for a service mindset in product-focused organisations.
benholliday.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:37 AM
⭐ New blog: I've been doing some writing about Service Design recently... In this post, I explain how importance of the shift from product to a "service mindset" …
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
⭐ New blog: I've been doing some writing about Service Design recently... In this post, I explain how importance of the shift from product to a "service mindset" …
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
From product to a service mindset
Exploring the need for a service mindset in product-focused organisations.
benholliday.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:37 AM
⭐ New blog: I've been doing some writing about Service Design recently... In this post, I explain how importance of the shift from product to a "service mindset" …
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
Thanks to Mica Moore (not on BSky) who contributed to this and provided feedback.
benholliday.com/2025/11/18/f...
#ServiceDesign
Snow on the mountains in the distance this morning #UKLakeDistrict
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Snow on the mountains in the distance this morning #UKLakeDistrict
Working to the sound of the heavy rain outside today. We've reached the point of the year where we all need to find small things to lift our spirits. Soup for lunch today, and I might even put some lights up in my home office later
November 18, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Working to the sound of the heavy rain outside today. We've reached the point of the year where we all need to find small things to lift our spirits. Soup for lunch today, and I might even put some lights up in my home office later
Enjoyed this long-read post from Christine Browne
“What can be measured and calculated becomes all that matters. The most valuable things—trust, judgment, understanding what someone needs when they don’t know themselves—are the things that resist quantification.”
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
“What can be measured and calculated becomes all that matters. The most valuable things—trust, judgment, understanding what someone needs when they don’t know themselves—are the things that resist quantification.”
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
The Electronic Brain Will See You Now:
What Desk Set Taught Me About AI
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Enjoyed this long-read post from Christine Browne
“What can be measured and calculated becomes all that matters. The most valuable things—trust, judgment, understanding what someone needs when they don’t know themselves—are the things that resist quantification.”
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
“What can be measured and calculated becomes all that matters. The most valuable things—trust, judgment, understanding what someone needs when they don’t know themselves—are the things that resist quantification.”
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
Reposted by Ben Holliday
Quiet Stories 191: Stop Craft Negging, Thoughts on Responding to Change, Seeing Like a Software Company, and lots more!
mailchi.mp/aecf565f3683...
Includes work from @catt.design, @ames.world, Sean Goedecke, @grimalkina.bsky.social, @benholliday.com
& many others!
mailchi.mp/aecf565f3683...
Includes work from @catt.design, @ames.world, Sean Goedecke, @grimalkina.bsky.social, @benholliday.com
& many others!
Quiet Stories #191
Stop Craft Negging, Thoughts on Responding to Change, Seeing Like a Software Company, and lots more!
mailchi.mp
November 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Quiet Stories 191: Stop Craft Negging, Thoughts on Responding to Change, Seeing Like a Software Company, and lots more!
mailchi.mp/aecf565f3683...
Includes work from @catt.design, @ames.world, Sean Goedecke, @grimalkina.bsky.social, @benholliday.com
& many others!
mailchi.mp/aecf565f3683...
Includes work from @catt.design, @ames.world, Sean Goedecke, @grimalkina.bsky.social, @benholliday.com
& many others!
Good listen on BBC Radio 4 from earlier today - featuring three books now on my reading list. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Start the Week - Digital Futures and Information Crises - BBC Sounds
Cory Doctorow, Naomi Alderman and Oliver Moody with Tom Sutcliffe.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Good listen on BBC Radio 4 from earlier today - featuring three books now on my reading list. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...