Martin Jordan

So many spellings!

Wonderful! All credit to Mark. Your memory is much better than mine. Thanks for the reminder.

Now, how do we put together some advice on when provokotypes (what’s the most legit spelling?) and visiontypes are most suitable? And what’s the difference? I have some thoughts.

ALT=„Artikelüberschrift über einen Schweizer Raser, der 95.500 Euro Strafe zahlen soll, mit unscharfem Foto eines schnellen grauen Sportwagens mit gelbem Akzent.“

I’m sorry you’re treated like that by your nation!

I see. With the DSIT and move away from Google infrastructure, that email might no longer be valid. But the last email received in that inbox is from late July. That’s something @karakane-kk.bsky.social and I can look into after her vacation.

I kind of like the redesign after a decade or so of stagnation.

Will it be enough to onboard a new generation of users, though?

What’s the email address?

Ah! I haven’t seen it.

I’ll add it to my list.

Thanks!

“Finally” — about 36 hours after the video was published. I consider that speedy! 💨

Great reflections! Thanks for the effort.

On the colours: They are derived from the Federal government style guide. See link below 👇🏻

I’ll share your thread with Simon, who isn't on this platform yet.

I, or rather we, will try!

If that's helpful, I can drop a few more points in this week’s weeknotes.

A term/abbreviation I learnt today: CODA

– child/children of deaf adults

(For more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_o...)

My grandmother was a CODA, as both her parents were deaf.

Thanks for teaching me, @tobiaswitt.bsky.social!

#InclusiveDesign #Accessibility

4. What we learnt in 4 years of building design libraries and why we no longer invest in our own #designSystem at @digitalservice.bund.de*

5. What we need to roll out the updated German #ServiceStandard across the country, w/ @simonecarrier.bsky.social *

* includes more co-authors not on Bluesky

For public accountability—so I deliver them—here are the blog posts I plan to finish by autumn:

1. Update on our int’l community work, w/ @karakane-kk.bsky.social

2. How we work on larger services, w/ @feuerherd.bsky.social

3. Why cross-disciplinary leadership matters, w/ @nfelger.bsky.social*

Two links under a German flag emoji: BMDS (Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization) - Service Standard BMJV (Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) - Rechtsinformationen des Bundes / Federal legal information

Delighted to see some of our work with open roadmaps listed on @rossferg.bsky.social’s growing reference page.

We couldn’t be in better company.

sites.google.com/view/public-...

That’s great!

We usually hire from B2 Level German, which is also mentioned in currently open engineering roles. A few UX/UI designers are roughly at that level and use some of their L&D budget to improve it.

However, B2 is tricky for service design roles, as much of the work is in policy space.

We work in both languages. The organisational default language is English, but a team‘s language is more commonly German.

Depending on who starts in a particular month, we may run an onboarding session in English or German.

I only made an English poster and didn’t even consider making a German one

YouTube video by Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin - Final Speech from The Great Dictator

But even more of this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY...

Delivery principles — Version 1.1 1 .Every project has a dedicated team 2. Each team has a clear and aligned task and problem definition. 3. Each team tries to understand their users and their context. 4. Each team finds suitable and scalable solutions for their problem. 5. Each team works with metrics that contribute to the company’s goals. 6. Each team is responsible for quality, risks, operating models, security and accessibility. 7. Each team tests and publishes its work frequently, continuously and with low effort. 8. Each team defines its roles, rules, and rituals and adjusts them for their circumstances. 9. Each team reuses existing patterns and components. 10. Each team works transparently and coherently internally and externally. 11. Each team understands the motivations and needs of their project partners. 12. Each team works with its project partners in a participatory manner and continuously discusses the project’s current status.

Updated on @digitalservice.bund.de’s GitHub repo:

Some months ago, we refreshed our #Delivery Principles after valuable feedback from teams & particularly our product management discipline.

We use them in our onboarding.

Only recently, I refreshed the poster. It’s here: github.com/digitalservi...

Happy to hear!

I think we still haven’t agreed on the exact term – or have we, @claragt.bsky.social?

“In Ireland, there are more than 80 data centres, gobbling up 50 per cent of the electricity in the Dublin region, and hoovering up more than 20 per cent nationally, as they work to process and distribute huge quantities of digital information.”

YouTube video by Verwaltungsgestaltung Verwaltung schneller digitalisieren: Greta Strutz & Simon Hesse • Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2025

In German:

Beim Creative Bureaucracy Festival sprachen Greta Strutz und Simon Hesse vom @itzbund.bsky.social darüber, wie sie ›Verwaltung schneller digitalisieren‹. Das beinhaltet ein #DesignSystem mit Fokus auf #Barrierefreiheit und neue menschzentrierte Prozesse.

Nun ist der Vortrag auf YouTube:

That’s more my type of type! Fresh take on Akzidenz-Grotesk—I like!

The numbers are so distinct.

That’s So Meta How a font once rejected by the German Post Office defined the digital age, Herman Miller, and type titan Erik Spiekermann.

The origin story, as recorded by @adrianshaughnessy.bsky.social for Herman Miller’s Idea Magazine, adds more to the picture of how the typeface came about—and how the commissioners at the German Federal Post Office received it at the time.

Great to read about the scientific legibility research, too

Credit where it’s due: Prototype shown by @joseernestorodriguez.com

Great nerdy knowledge. Thanks for sharing!

Week #171 at the Digital Service: Notes for 4–8 August 2025 In week 171, Martin helped sketch and prototype a unified service experience across touchpoints, including various basic components. He also worked on the first peer review report against the new Serv...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

In my week 171 at @digitalservice.bund.de, I helped sketch a unified service experience across touchpoints, including various basic components.

I also worked on the first peer review report against the new #ServiceStandard.

Four panels showing design sketches and variations of the ampersand symbol and Hausschrift typeface in different weights and styles, including lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters.

There is more about ‘PT 55’ – the predecessor of both ‘Fira Sans’ and ‘FF Meta’ – in this article from the magazine ‘Baseline’ from 1986. It describes the making of ‘PT 55’:

spiekermann.com/en/wp-conten...

Government services listed: Register a vehicle, Renew your passport, Apply for a student loan, Apply for a building permit, Calculate parental allowance, Apply for legal aid, Receive a police record, Become a German citizen

Using it for government communication and interaction with citizens and residents connects to the brief designer Erik Spiekermann received then.

Back then, the German Federal Post Office was a state-run postal service and telecommunications business.

The font was made for legibility.

Black-and-white sketches of typeface designs showing letters, numbers, and symbols with construction lines, measurements, and annotations for typography development; including a post horn, symbol of the German Federal Post Office

I’m not the greatest fan of ‘Fira Sans’ as a #typeface.

But as it is used now as font for Germany’s cross-government #designSystem, it brings things full circle.

‘Fira’ is based on ‘FF Meta’, commissioned initially for the German Federal Post Office in 1984 as a “neutral, space-saving typeface”.

It's time to get serious about design Design in government has lost its way. We’ve invested in discovery, compliance, and delivery, but not in creativity.

Let’s start re-designing how Governments works!

It's time to get serious about design cathydutton.co.uk/posts/its-ti...

Things aren’t measured, things are duplicated, and there’s little collaboration between parts of the public sector.

The German Federal Court of Auditors (BRH) publishes a harsh review of the state of digital.

It suggests 3 things covered in the #ServiceStandard: measure, collaborate and reuse

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