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In this episode of This is HCD, Gerry Scullion is joined (again!) by service design pioneer Marc Stickdorn – recorded right after they both spoke at SD in Gov in Edinburgh.

We walk (literally) through the current state of service design, why so many teams feel stuck, and how journey management can help organisations move beyond one-off projects to achieve truly systemic change.

We talk about:

• How to scale service design beyond a single team and embed it organisation-wide
• Journey management, service architecture and “journey ops” – and why naming really matters
• Building scaffolding for long-term impact (using the Dublin City Council work as an example)
• How to speak the language of leadership and show measurable ROI
• Why stealth projects can be your best way to build credibility
• The role of AI and tooling – where it helps, and where it’s genuinely dangerous
• Why leaders can’t outsource understanding to an algorithm

If you’re trying to move service design from nice decks to real organisational change – in public services or the private sector – this episode is for you.

🔗 Links mentioned

– Marc’s upcoming book & community: https://www.thisisjourneymanagement.com

– Smaply blog & resources: https://www.smaply.com

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Sponsor links

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  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
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Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Gerry Scullion - Host

Marc Stickdorn - Guest

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

[00:00] How AI is changing search behaviours - users still defaulting to Google
[02:15] The return of the UX generalist - broad skills becoming more valuable
[03:45] New tools spotlight: Affinity Suite now free, Ordinary site builder
[05:30] Designer exposure and effectiveness connection
[06:45] Systems thinking and leadership responsibilities
[07:30] Interface patterns: Hamburger menu recognition study
[08:15] Disability tech innovations driving broader design solutions

Key Resources:
• AI Search Behaviour Research - Nielsen Norman Group study on changing user patterns
• Return of the Generalist - NNGroup video on AI's impact on UX careers  
• Affinity Suite - Free creative tools via Canva acquisition (from Dense Discovery)
• Ordinary - One-page site builder for quick concepts
• Hamburger Menu Study - Updated NNGroup research on icon recognition
• Disability Tech Innovations - Mashable roundup of breakthrough startups

Sources:
• Nielsen Norman Group Newsletter
• Dense Discovery #365
• Sidebar.io Daily Links
• Mashable

Links:
• How AI Is Changing Search Behaviors: https://link.nngroup.com/ai-changing-search-behaviors
• Return of the Generalist: https://link.nngroup.com/return-of-the-generalist  
• Hamburger Menu Recognition: https://link.nngroup.com/hamburger-menu-icon-recognizability
• Ordinary Site Builder: https://ordinary.website
• Affinity Suite: Referenced in Dense Discovery
• Exposure as a Designer: hvpandya.com
• Systems Leadership: hazelweakly.me
• Disability Tech Startups: mashable.com

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• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
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If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

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We’re on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh for a walking conversation with Lucy Kimbell — engineer-turned-artist-turned-academic, and one of the sharpest observers of how design actually lands in government.

Lucy has spent over 20 years moving between design, art, academia, and public administration. She’s worked with the UK Government’s Policy Lab, contributed to the recent Public Design Evidence Review, and now teaches and researches at the intersection of design, policy, and futures. We caught up whilst both of us were speaking at SD in Gov Conference in Edinburgh, in September 2025!

In this episode, we get real about three big themes:

1️⃣ Public design – what it actually is

Lucy untangles the messy overlap between policy design, service design, content design, digital, UX and more — and explains why public design centres' legitimacy and accountability to citizens, not just delivery metrics.

2️⃣ Conditions for good service design in tough times

We talk about inclusion, accessibility and co-creation, but also the hard stuff most conferences skip: politics, ideology, austerity, AI “silver bullets” and what scaffolding leaders need so design doesn’t get crushed by budget cuts or tech solutionism.

3️⃣ Careers with impact in uncertain worlds

From appropriate technology and feminist theatre to business schools, labs and policy work, Lucy shares the three habits that have shaped her path: curiosity, experimentalism and critical reflection — and how they help designers work further upstream with policy and senior leadership.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How “public design” emerged as a term and why legitimacy matters
• Why institutions are struggling — and what that means for designers
• The uncomfortable role of politics in design for the public sector
• How AI, venture capital and big tech are reshaping government expectations
• Practical advice for designers who want more impact in government and civic spaces
• A preview of Lucy’s upcoming book on futures for design

🏰 We recorded this while walking the Royal Mile up to Edinburgh Castle — if you’re listening on audio, jump over to YouTube to get the full sense of place and atmosphere (yes, including a bit of rain!).

Links
Cabinet Office (2025). Public Design Evidence Review

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-public-design-evidence-review

 

Service Innovation Handbook (2014) by Lucy Kimbell

https://www.bispublishers.com/the-service-innovation-handbook.html

 

Substack for upcoming book Futures for Design: Scenarios for Uncertain Worlds

https://substack.com/@lucykimbell

 

Academic publications (open access) - https://researchers.arts.ac.uk/1178-lucy-kimbell/

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
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• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Gerry Scullion - Host

Lucy Kimbell - Guest

Stef Murphy - Producer

Serdar Mele - Editor

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

When Chelsea Mauldin began bringing design thinking into the U.S. government, she was met with scepticism — design was still seen as “throw pillows and pretty fonts.”

In this deep and fascinating episode, Chelsea — Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab in New York — joins Gerry Scullion to share her journey from urban planning to pioneering human-centered design in federal and municipal agencies.

They discuss:

✅ How design entered the public sector during the Obama era.

✅ Why half the real work happens after the design phase.

✅ Building trust, ethics, and change in complex systems.

✅ The People Say project — a groundbreaking, public repository for civic research.

✅ What AI means (and doesn’t mean) for the future of public services.

🎧 A must-listen for anyone working in service design, policy, or civic innovation.

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

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  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Creators & Guests

Gerry Scullion - Host

Chelsea Mauldin - Guest

Stef Murphy - Producer

Serdar Mele - Editor

Click here to view the episode transcript.

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

Design isn’t just creativity — it’s care. In this episode, Gerry sits down with Ali Fawkes, Head of Social Innovation at Humanly (founded by Jenni Parker) to unpack practical safeguarding and trauma-informed practice in design research. We trace Ali’s unconventional route from fine art and special education into service design, talk honestly about imposter feelings and labels, and get concrete about how to design safely — for participants and practitioners — especially on sensitive, high-stakes work.

You’ll learn

• How non-traditional backgrounds become real superpowers in design
• What “designing safely” actually looks like (policies, consent, escalation paths)
• How to prepare teams for disclosures (e.g., hopelessness/suicidality) without freezing the work
• Why safer practice reassures clients and improves outcomes

Guest: Ali Fawkes, Head of Social Innovation, Humanly (London)

Connect with Ali on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alifawkes

Shout-out to SDinGov for the spark.

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Gerry Scullion - Host

Ali Fawkes - Guest

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

Gerry Scullion talks with Johanna Lundqvist, a former hospice nurse turned designer, about the wisdom gathered from years of palliative care. They discuss the Swedish memento mori mindset, why Western culture hides death, and how acknowledging mortality helps us live more intentionally. Johanna shares bedside insights on non-verbal care, the power of simple touch, and the consistent themes in people’s final reflections. It’s a compassionate exploration of designing for endings—so we can live better now.

Learn more: https://sites.google.com/workplayexperience.com/johanna-lundqvist/home

🔑 3 Key Takeaways

1. Death teaches us how to live. End-of-life regrets center on time with loved ones—not titles or money.
2. Compassion is practical. Presence, touch, and careful listening often matter more than complex interventions.
3. Design the ending. Embracing endings—of services and of life—creates dignity, choice, and meaning.

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Creators & Guests

Gerry Scullion - Host

Johanna Lundqvist, - Guest

Serdar Mele - Editor

Click here to view the episode transcript.

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

In this episode of This is HCD, Gerry Scullion sits down with Thea Snow, Director at the Center for Public Impact, to explore the powerful intersection of systems, imagination, and justice in reimagining government.

We dive into why imagination matters in government, how systems shape agency, and the role of design in justice and social cohesion. Thea shares practical stories from Australia, New Zealand, and beyond—covering topics like:

• The hidden connections that make systems work
• Why government is not just about doing but also about being
• How physical spaces and design decisions influence justice and community wellbeing

Links
linkedin.com/in/thea-snow?originalSubdomain=au

If you care about systems change, design, and creating governments that truly serve people—this conversation is for you.

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

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  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Gerry Scullion - Host

Thea Snow - Guest

Serdar Mele - Editor

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.

What do you do when the external noise is too loud, and your system wants to shut down? This episode helps you stay open without getting overwhelmed.

This series is a starting point. Liminal Coaching works with individuals and organizations using guided relaxations, short-format coaching, and high-impact interventions to help people return to clarity and direction fast.

Explore more at: https://liminalcoaching.com
Try the free reset moment: https://bit.ly/limhawk
Get in touch: [email protected]

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Creators & Guests

Mike Parker - Host

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In this episode of This is HCD, Gerry Scullion talks with Steven Puri, who has lived in two extreme worlds: producing Oscar-winning visual effects for Hollywood blockbusters and raising $20 million in venture capital to run multiple startups. Steven opens up about the unsustainable grind of film culture, the pain of startup failures, and the practices that helped him rebuild with intention. From redefining productivity to finding clarity in yoga and flow states, this is a powerful conversation about designing a sustainable life.

Key takeaways:

✅ Hustle culture without intention leads to burnout and emptiness

✅ Productivity is about outcomes, not hours under fluorescent lights

✅ Well-being practices like yoga and flow states are survival tools, not luxuries

Links
https://www.thesukha.co/
Get 20% off with the code 'GETFOCUSED'
Note: I use The Sukha daily, so if you DO join, come and look for me inside :-)

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Creators & Guests

Gerry Scullion - Host

Steven Puri - Guest

Serdar Mele - Editor

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

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From solo consultant to scaling a design talent powerhouse—Sara Fortier (CEO of Outwitly) reveals what it really takes to grow, hire, and thrive in today’s design economy. Whether you’re a designer eyeing contracting or a leader scaling teams, this conversation is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, Gerry Scullion speaks with Sara Fortier, CEO and founder of Outwitly, about her journey from being a hands-on designer to leading a 20+ person team and connecting contractors with organisations across North America.

Sara shares lessons on contracting, client relationships, hiring, leadership growth, and how AI is reshaping the design industry. If you’re a designer considering contracting, or a leader thinking about scaling your practice, this conversation is full of insights.

Preorder Design Research Mastery:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Research-Mastery-Buy-Products/dp/9063699549

Learn more about Outwitly - Your Trusted UX Partners ™ for building high-impact teams.
http://outwitly.com/

Connect with Sara Fortier on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafortier/

• Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd
• Support the Ukrainian publishing of This is Service Design Doing (To make service design knowledge accessible in Ukrainian)

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Gerry Scullion - Host