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Jesmond Allen

@jesmonda.bsky.social
187 followers 182 following 118 posts

Human-Centred Designer. Mum. Sporadic knitter. Co-author 'Smashing UX Design' book. Not a suburb of Newcastle.

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Reposted by Jesmond Allen
Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
and I think the main issue with the behaviour of frontier AI labs and assertive billionaires is they believe they can choose for everyone. But the wonder and brilliance of humanity is we are all different: some people are good at some things, some are good at others, that's what makes us amazing
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Ann Kempster @annkempster.com · 13/08/2026
We're so deep in ostrich head in sand territory. This is a whole of government response needed. This isn't the responsibility of one department either to own Net Zero or to deal with mitigations for climate change. It is impacting EVERYTHING.
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
A white piece of paper with the shadow of a colander showing the eclipse as crescent-shaped colander holes
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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Presumably if you select “Middle English”, your doctor immediately offers you bloodletting and a poultice made from frog blood
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Rain! Finally! More of this please! ☔️💧🌧️
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Someone had just emailed me on a Friday night to ask if I have any thoughts to share on AI in digital govt and I think my answer is that we should focus on making basic services work for everyone and stop worrying about AI
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Dean Vipond @deanvipond.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Any incoming minister for AI should be tasked with replacing a load-bearing spreadsheet from a critical service, to give them the insights into why no one has done it yet. The ministerial equivalent of breaking a horse.
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Cathy Dutton @cathydutton.co.uk · 10/07/2026
In a break from my usual Funding service posts, I’ve written about my other portfolio. And one of my favourite things, Portals! The portal trap cathydutton.co.uk/posts/the-po...
cathydutton.co.uk
The portal trap
No one likes portals, one-stop shops, single front doors or gateways, so why are they the go-to solution for so many large organisations?
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Erika Hall @erikahall.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A short blog post I want everyone with expertise to read www.muledesign.com/blog/curse-o....
muledesign.com
Lift This Curse (from your communication) — Mule Design
Common sense isn't common. Assuming your audience knows more than they do can wreck your ability to communicate. Don't blame ignorant people before examining your own biases for the curse of knowledge...
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I'm in the grip of about 10000 massive deadlines, so I've obviously spent this morning writing a newsletter about a topic that is completely and utterly tangential buttondown.com/justenoughin...
buttondown.com
The Sports Car Theory of LLM Adoption
If LLMs make decision makers feel stupid, maybe they'll stop using them?
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Rain!! 🎉
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Listening to Starmer, and wondering why (for the nth time) no govt has pressed for regulating algorithmic recs and "infinite scroll". Says they are taking "world-leading action" on gaming and video-streaming services and that they will "have to adapt their approach as technology changes".
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Regulating children is not the same thing as regulating social media platforms. Seems very important to distinguish between the two. However, social media platforms tend to be run by powerful billionaires, so easier to go after the kids instead.
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Sign up for our next HCD in health network online talk 🎉 www.onehealthtech.com/events-1/oht...
onehealthtech.com
OHT Better HealthTech by Design: Better Together: Clinicians + Designers in the NHS | One HealthTech
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Mike Gallagher @mikegallagher.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
a new post, the first in a two-parter, on the epistemology of design mikegallagher.org/posts/the-lo...
mikegallagher.org
Mike Gallagher: The logic of conjecture
On the epistemplogy of design and the importance of making things to think through problems
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The deadline to apply for student loans is on Friday. The Student Finance England website is down for maintenance 😬 #greattiming
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Dean Vipond @deanvipond.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
A characteristically inspiring talk yesterday from @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social at #CampDigital encouraging us all to recognise the power we have, particularly when used collectively. Join the Society of Hopeful Technologists if you’re down with that. buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Rachel Coldicutt stood on a theatre stage in front of a peach-coloured projection with the phrase “HOPE SPREADS” in bold white lettering. Rachel Coldicutt stood on a theatre stage in front of a peach-coloured projection with the phrase “Let’s use our power to make a difference for everyone” in bold blue lettering.
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I'm currently working on an AI safety review and the extent to which "tech bro makes car, the wheels fall off" is an extended metaphor for the last decade is not to be under-estimated
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/04/2026
The time between fossil fuel crises is just going to keep shrinking, until there's no discrete single "crisis" - just one unbroken prolonged state of global suffering due to fossil fuel unreliability The best time to ditch fossil fuels was 30 years ago. The second best time is now
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
See also: sketching and wireframing by hand for early stage prototypes
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Dean Vipond @deanvipond.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
I really don’t know how you square the “social value” part of public procurement bids with the stuff this prick regularly spouts. Is this why we had to give them the contracts without a competitive process?
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
It is extremely difficult to construct a practical case against this position. Net Zero is now as much about patriotism as it is about climate change.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
This is not a shitpost, I'm serious. Adding things is so easy that any computer can do it. Determining whether it improves the whole (and leaving the whole intact when removing the excess) is purely human, because it requires a point of view.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Vibe coding broke people's brains because they had a bad understanding of the software design process. The pop culture model goes something like this: start out with a sketch and then render that same idea in progressively finer detail. So when tools could "skip" to high detail, people went WOW.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
This is a good principle for design in general: When users tell you there's a problem, they are usually right. When users tell you how to fix it, they are usually wrong. (bonus: if you replace "user" with "stakeholder" this still applies)
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Mark Dalgarno @markdalgarno.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Reminder that the Call for Sessions for September's @sdingov.bsky.social event is open: govservicedesign.net/call-sessions Conference theme: Democratising Design: sdingov.net/democratisin...
govservicedesign.net
Call for Sessions
Our SDinGov call for sessions is now open
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Jack Garfinkel @curiousscutter.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
If you know enough to say if it's true, you know too much to tell if it's clear (credit: @cjforms.bsky.social)
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
If the rumours are true and the kids and social media consultation opens today, here are two things I think should be banned from social media: 1) AI bots 2) recommendations algorithms that optimise for time on site Firm regulation of both of these things is possible and auditable
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
🧵
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James Plunkett @jamestplunkett.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
New post: Can we use 'test and learn' methods in the NHS? What would it take to do so? Long but important! I think this is one of the biiggest delivery questions facing the UK government. medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com
Can Test & Learn methods save the NHS?
On the challenge of using these methods here
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Alastair Somerville @acuity.design · 25/02/2026
Margaret Calvert book uk.bookshop.org/p/books/marg... #Design embedded across the UK for #Wayfinding
uk.bookshop.org
Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work
Check out Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work - <b>The first book dedicated to Margaret Calvert, pioneer of design for public service, a groundbreaking typographer and recipient of 2024’s New York Type Di...
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Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 24/02/2026
In September, I was asked to give some thoughts about the NHS 10-year plan based on some of the principles in Platformland. Here are the slides and speaker notes: www.rpp.works/ways-of-d…
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Commissioner for Human Rights @commissionerhr.coe.int · 23/02/2026
Several European countries are considering social media bans for children. We must regulate platforms, not children. I urge caution: ✅ Focus on "safety by design" ✅ Demand algorithmic transparency ✅ Enforce the #DSA & #HumanRights standards Read my Shout Out👇 www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
coe.int
Regulate platforms, not children – Commissioner urges caution over social media bans - Commissioner for Human Rights - www.coe.int
Strasbourg 23 February 2026
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
You often hear "software development is changing, and we must adapt" because of Claude Code. But for my entire career, code has been the *easiest* part of making shit people care about, and we still haven't adapted. The easier coding becomes, the less often we ask "do users actually NEED this?"
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
Research is leadership, and code can help (but only in the right places)
Code was never the blocker in delivering customer value — and the easier writing code becomes, the more it distracts from the work we must do to unblock productivity.
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Dean Vipond @deanvipond.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
This is ace. An NHS video that explains what user research is, aimed at mammographers, to recruit more research participants to a redesigned breast screening service. A brilliant way of explaining UR to people wary of unusable IT systems forced upon them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zM9...
youtube.com
Digital Screening explainers: What is ‘user research’?
YouTube video by Digitalscreening
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I can’t make this year, but I had a great time at the NHS hack day last year
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Another day, another Ipsos survey that uses gender as a lens on public attitudes to science without taking into consideration that 1 in 8 British men think they could win a tennis point against Serena Williams www.britishscienceassociation.org/News/public-...
Some historic challenges persist, such as women feeling less informed, but representation in science is important to the public:
• 35% of women feel informed about science, compared with 51% of men, while scientists being ethical, having the right intentions, and being representative of the UK population were higher priorities for women than men.
• 64% believed that scientists should be required to involve all groups of the population in their research, but there is a lot of uncertainty over whether scientists "consider people like me" when designing their research.
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Martin Jordan @martinjordan.com · 31/01/2026
One of the best takes on non-sensical product and service developments: “Protobot is very simple: it generates a product idea by matching a random product category with a random constraint.” — by the great Molly Claire Wilson: protobot.org#en
protobot.org
Protobot: randomly generated design challenges
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Inevitable Christmas post 🎄https://www.instagram.com/p/DSp5-m4Cs3H/?igsh=MTh1NzNvNXZkbDdmYg==
instagram.com
jesmonda on Instagram: "Merry Christmas one and all!"
Merry Christmas one and all!
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
A long read but a really interesting one
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Tom Loosemore @tomski.com · 26/11/2025
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...
richardpope.org
Aerated concrete and EHCPs
I was up until midnight last night trying to battle a local …
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
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...
careful.industries
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.
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Matt Knight @mattinwales.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
(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.
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Jesmond Allen @jesmonda.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
🧵 gold
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Natalya D @natalyad.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
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.
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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
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.
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Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
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*
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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 01/10/2025
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? 🧵
Rachel wearing very flimsy looking apron, mask and visor in NHS setting
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
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
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
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.
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