Jesmond Allen
@jesmonda.bsky.social
Human-Centred Designer. Mum. Sporadic knitter. Co-author 'Smashing UX Design' book. Not a suburb of Newcastle.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
In which @richardpope.org shares a very personal example of the problems GDS Local could help local council's to solve. richardpope.org/2025/11/26/a...
Aerated concrete and EHCPs
I was up until midnight last night trying to battle a local …
richardpope.org
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
In which @richardpope.org shares a very personal example of the problems GDS Local could help local council's to solve. richardpope.org/2025/11/26/a...
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
I've written up the findings from our work with people and organisations who have used AI notetakers in meetings, identified 9 risks and a bunch of mitigation strategies. www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
Nine risks caused by AI notetakers — Careful Industries
AI transcription tools are not currently mature or reliable enough to be regarded as an always on, single-source of truth for meeting notes. Nine common risks, and six possible mitigations.
www.careful.industries
November 21, 2025 at 7:09 AM
I've written up the findings from our work with people and organisations who have used AI notetakers in meetings, identified 9 risks and a bunch of mitigation strategies. www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
(3/3)
- the most radical point of the standard is that, unlike every other governance standard, it gives a voice to the real end user. Policy makers on their own, technologists on their own… are really bad at guessing what users do. User Research is the radical democratisation of service creation.
- the most radical point of the standard is that, unlike every other governance standard, it gives a voice to the real end user. Policy makers on their own, technologists on their own… are really bad at guessing what users do. User Research is the radical democratisation of service creation.
October 21, 2025 at 7:17 AM
(3/3)
- the most radical point of the standard is that, unlike every other governance standard, it gives a voice to the real end user. Policy makers on their own, technologists on their own… are really bad at guessing what users do. User Research is the radical democratisation of service creation.
- the most radical point of the standard is that, unlike every other governance standard, it gives a voice to the real end user. Policy makers on their own, technologists on their own… are really bad at guessing what users do. User Research is the radical democratisation of service creation.
🧵 gold
I need to write a long thing on this; time estimates sit at a confluence of:
- Managing the certainty of outputs (a foolish endeavor)
- Timeboxing and feedback loops (my jam)
- Wicked problem framing/solving (yay)
- Handoffs (boo)
- Folk Agile
- The feature factory
- Clarity/shared mental models
- Managing the certainty of outputs (a foolish endeavor)
- Timeboxing and feedback loops (my jam)
- Wicked problem framing/solving (yay)
- Handoffs (boo)
- Folk Agile
- The feature factory
- Clarity/shared mental models
No seriously @spavel.bsky.social please tell me how you think about estimating work it’s a big part of my life
October 21, 2025 at 6:37 PM
🧵 gold
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Do I know anyone (or anyone who knows anyone) who has had any joy in enforcement of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018?
The Equality Advisory Advice Service (EASS) who formally accept breach reports seem to be useless. Pls boost.
The Equality Advisory Advice Service (EASS) who formally accept breach reports seem to be useless. Pls boost.
October 20, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Do I know anyone (or anyone who knows anyone) who has had any joy in enforcement of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018?
The Equality Advisory Advice Service (EASS) who formally accept breach reports seem to be useless. Pls boost.
The Equality Advisory Advice Service (EASS) who formally accept breach reports seem to be useless. Pls boost.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Here I am in 2020 in the flimsiest, most pitful PPE - like so many other NHS staff, some of whom died from the Covid they caught in their hospitals.
Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.
What, Michelle? 🧵
Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.
What, Michelle? 🧵
October 1, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Here I am in 2020 in the flimsiest, most pitful PPE - like so many other NHS staff, some of whom died from the Covid they caught in their hospitals.
Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.
What, Michelle? 🧵
Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.
What, Michelle? 🧵
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
If I was a Labour politician who wanted to design a better right to work scheme, I'd (a) start by cracking down on employers who transfer the risk to their workers, (b) work with the unions to design a scheme that puts workers' rights front and centre, and (c) phase roll-out, like digital switchover
September 26, 2025 at 7:16 AM
If I was a Labour politician who wanted to design a better right to work scheme, I'd (a) start by cracking down on employers who transfer the risk to their workers, (b) work with the unions to design a scheme that puts workers' rights front and centre, and (c) phase roll-out, like digital switchover
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
I'd like to see UK data centre plan developed with net zero goals, community health and opportunity, and local renewal in mind. What is the upside of living and working near to a data centre? And if there isn't one, govt needs to *create* one.
September 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
I'd like to see UK data centre plan developed with net zero goals, community health and opportunity, and local renewal in mind. What is the upside of living and working near to a data centre? And if there isn't one, govt needs to *create* one.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Hospital wayfinding discussion and reminded of expert saying people need to remember they are architectural machines maintained by professionals for treating illness. They are structurally incomprehensible to visitors.
It’s the physicalisation of jargon
It’s the physicalisation of jargon
September 22, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Hospital wayfinding discussion and reminded of expert saying people need to remember they are architectural machines maintained by professionals for treating illness. They are structurally incomprehensible to visitors.
It’s the physicalisation of jargon
It’s the physicalisation of jargon
Excited for @sdingov.bsky.social ! (Less happy for the horribly early start…) #sdingov
September 17, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Excited for @sdingov.bsky.social ! (Less happy for the horribly early start…) #sdingov
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Pondering as a I listen to clinicians' hopes for how AI could transform their practice. What I hear is deep frustration with the terrible tools inflicted on them in previous waves of digitalisation, and a nostalgic yearning for the simplicity symbolised by a conversational interface
August 20, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Pondering as a I listen to clinicians' hopes for how AI could transform their practice. What I hear is deep frustration with the terrible tools inflicted on them in previous waves of digitalisation, and a nostalgic yearning for the simplicity symbolised by a conversational interface
Waiting for youngest to get up, go into college and report back on A level results…
August 14, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Waiting for youngest to get up, go into college and report back on A level results…
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Every Silicon Valley innovation in the consumer space has been "what if this software was my mom" which explains why ChatGPT's primary use is as a therapist, relationship substitute for lonely boys, and "personal operating system" to organize their life
August 7, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Every Silicon Valley innovation in the consumer space has been "what if this software was my mom" which explains why ChatGPT's primary use is as a therapist, relationship substitute for lonely boys, and "personal operating system" to organize their life
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Brandolini's law in the workplace: the amount of energy needed to understand that a request is bullshit is an order of magnitude higher than to shoot off bullshit requests in the first place.
AI saves a minute of time for the people sending out walls of text, at the cost of hours of deciphering it.
AI saves a minute of time for the people sending out walls of text, at the cost of hours of deciphering it.
What is the best (or at least appropriate) way to deal with "AI slop" messages, emails and requests?
For some reason, a culture has developed at my company where people are almost exclusively sending their requests, emails, instant messages and other communication using LLM generated text.
We are a
workplace.stackexchange.com
August 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Brandolini's law in the workplace: the amount of energy needed to understand that a request is bullshit is an order of magnitude higher than to shoot off bullshit requests in the first place.
AI saves a minute of time for the people sending out walls of text, at the cost of hours of deciphering it.
AI saves a minute of time for the people sending out walls of text, at the cost of hours of deciphering it.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
When we say "stop leaping to AI as the solution, start with user needs" what we mean is "start by understanding problems that real humans have, design so people can use technology easily, and put people first all the time - testing and iterating with real humans".
AI doesn't have a heart. You do.
AI doesn't have a heart. You do.
August 4, 2025 at 7:17 AM
When we say "stop leaping to AI as the solution, start with user needs" what we mean is "start by understanding problems that real humans have, design so people can use technology easily, and put people first all the time - testing and iterating with real humans".
AI doesn't have a heart. You do.
AI doesn't have a heart. You do.
So much this 🧵
A lot of the gov narrative today has been about the financial unsustainability of 1000 ppl a week / city size of Leicester a year extra people getting PIP. Not the horror that 1000 people a week are becoming sick/disabled enough to need it. 1/?
As it's in the news again - this is the post I wrote a few months ago on why the disability benefits bill has been going up.
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
June 25, 2025 at 10:11 AM
So much this 🧵
I’m sure most people I know have already read this, but it’s glorious, so reposting just in case 🧵
I keep catching strays from "technology is neutral" people, so let's set things straight.
1) Technology is not neutral, especially the subset of technology called "algorithms"
2) The form-factor that makes a technology into a tool is not neutral
3) How tools are productized is not neutral
[rant]
1) Technology is not neutral, especially the subset of technology called "algorithms"
2) The form-factor that makes a technology into a tool is not neutral
3) How tools are productized is not neutral
[rant]
April 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I’m sure most people I know have already read this, but it’s glorious, so reposting just in case 🧵
Do I know any first-language Welsh speakers who'd be happy to be interviewed in-person (Bristol/SE Wales area) in mid-May for a Linguistic student's dissertation on the sound system of contemporary Welsh...? I can provide more detail if you DM me :-)
April 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Do I know any first-language Welsh speakers who'd be happy to be interviewed in-person (Bristol/SE Wales area) in mid-May for a Linguistic student's dissertation on the sound system of contemporary Welsh...? I can provide more detail if you DM me :-)
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
I’m on my third gov dept/ALB now. The job requires you to be a detective, archaeologist, agony aunt, motivational speaker and diplomat, all while trying to complete a Rubiks Cube while walking through a corridor full of rakes. Even if I thought AI was the solution, you can’t turbocharge its use.
March 13, 2025 at 7:12 AM
I’m on my third gov dept/ALB now. The job requires you to be a detective, archaeologist, agony aunt, motivational speaker and diplomat, all while trying to complete a Rubiks Cube while walking through a corridor full of rakes. Even if I thought AI was the solution, you can’t turbocharge its use.
🧵
My small experience with the national audit office …
Years ago I worked on a project. A minister created a directive for nhs digital to build a specific service.
Discovery said no need. We got told to push ahead. Alpha showed even less of a need and how expensive it would be to do.
Years ago I worked on a project. A minister created a directive for nhs digital to build a specific service.
Discovery said no need. We got told to push ahead. Alpha showed even less of a need and how expensive it would be to do.
Since joining the NAO Board I’ve been keen we do not inhibit risk taking and innovation in public services:
‘the NAO will… proactively praise positive examples of innovation, including instances where failing initiatives have been dropped in favour of more auspicious ones.’
on.ft.com/3CwmRzD
‘the NAO will… proactively praise positive examples of innovation, including instances where failing initiatives have been dropped in favour of more auspicious ones.’
on.ft.com/3CwmRzD
February 4, 2025 at 9:52 AM
🧵
So. Much. This.
Generous, expansive, inclusive feminism that prioritises collective learning is not something that naturally thrives in tech culture, but it's a necessary counterweight to *waves arms* everything from the broligarchy down.
January 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
So. Much. This.
Reposted by Jesmond Allen
I wonder what it would look like to assert some kind of ... feminist leadership alliance that lifts up best practice and proposes more inclusive alternatives. God knows we need it in the UK right now.
This 👇🏻 - couldn’t agree more about team design and the fact that we really, really don’t need any more heroes who don’t have time (or inclination) to understand the system dynamics at play.
Lots of sensible experienced seem pleased by Pat McFadden's speech today so I'm assuming it was full of good stuff, but as well as rolling my eyes at the "start-up" stuff, I am here to be a Debbie Downer about "crack teams", because do you know who usually gets to be on crack teams?
Young men
Young men
December 9, 2024 at 6:33 PM
I wonder what it would look like to assert some kind of ... feminist leadership alliance that lifts up best practice and proposes more inclusive alternatives. God knows we need it in the UK right now.