Rob Whiting 📓

What went right this week: the good news that matters Biodiversity was brought into focus, Helsinki went a year without a road death, and investment in renewables surged, plus more good news

‘What went right this week: the good news that matters.’

“ #Biodiversity was brought into focus, #Helsinki went a year without a road death, and investment in #Renewables surged, plus more good news.”

www.positive.news/society/good...

Design books

Apple's design process. Creative Selection is a great description of the design process.

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

#Booksky #design #books #designbooks #Apple

Norwich Amiga Group Meet 56, Friday 19th September 17:00-22:00. Featuring classic & new games, creative & technical help, real hardware & emulation, chat with like-minded people. Free entry - all welcome. Albion Games Cafe, 21 St Benedicts St, Norwich, NR2 4PF.

COMING UP: #Norwich #Amiga Group meet at Albion Games Cafe on Friday 19th September, 5-10pm. As always, it's open to anybody so just pop in on the night for plenty of Amiga-related activities with our great community.

More examples of the Citizen facing Web we could have had. 😞

The visibility and transparency on Public Services people deserve.

… alongside things like Content Dashboards¹ for certain Departments which worked alongside the Info/Performance data published.

¹ webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/201408...

Your post had just reminded me of various URL modifiers/shortcuts I had to hand at the time GovUK used to publish this sort of data. 🙂

I seem to remember there being a few for things like User Needs (as you pointed out), Performance, API access (I think), etc.

I'm not sure how the process worked. I seem to remember that some of these pages were not dynamic and required regular updates via spreadsheet to the Performance Platform¹ but not sure of how any redirects/etc. worked for this.

¹ webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/202103...

LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN - Northern Broadsides

A free creative writing opportunity for 18–25 year olds in Yorkshire ✍

Applications are now open for Life in a Northern Town, a playwriting course led by Northern Broadsides.

1/3

GOV.UK User needs Register to vote Why is this page on GOV.UK? The user need for this page: As a UK resident I need to register to vote So that I can exercise my democratic rights The need is met when the user: understands who is allowed to vote know that you have to be registered in order to vote knows what support is available at polling stations (eg for disabled people) Understands their options if they going overseas temporarily Understand their options if they will be overseas long term This need is in proposition because: It's something only government does It's inherent to a person's or an organisation's rights and obligations

GOV.UK User needs and metrics Renew or replace your adult passport All metrics are recorded over the past 6 weeks. Why is this page on GOV.UK? The user need for this page: As a British person I need to apply for or renew a passport So that I can travel across borders The need is met when the user: the user knows the rules about passport photos the user knows how long it takes to get a passport the user knows the different ways they can apply for a passport, including Check and Send understands the eligibility criteria to get a passport the user knows the rules about when their passport may be taken away knows what to do if they are abroad knows how to get dual citizenship if they already have a passport from another country knows how to renew a passport as a British national born before 2 September 1929, knows how to get a free passport This need is in proposition because: It's something only government does There is clear demand for it from users It's something the government provides/does/pays for

You might not know:

There used to be a hidden page for many services on GOV.UK, which would display the underlying user need through a user story and its alignment with the platform proposition.

You just had to insert /info to any service landing page’s URL.

I still think it’s brilliant.

Performance data Analytics cookies help us understand how our website is being used.

Such a shame this default functionality was removed.

I've seen some Services being transparent with their data (e.g. GovUK Pay - www.payments.service.gov.uk/performance/) but a decline from what we did have available > webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/202103... - across 777 Services. 😞

This was such a great feature.

I remember that as well as /info/ - Service performance data could also be publicly viewed by adding /performance/ to the URL.

(an example of this from the Register To Vote link you shared > webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/202103...)

1984 Think British Campaign matchbox/matchbook with matches.(Bryant & May). | eBay UK Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1984 Think British Campaign matchbox/matchbook with matches.(Bryant & May). at the best online prices at eBay UK! Free delivery for many p...

An artefact from the 1984 'Think British' campaign mentioned in the episode.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26730279...

"Forty Minutes" 1984 Voices in a City (TV Episode 1984) | Documentary 1984 Voices in a City: Directed by Ted Clisby. Comparison between life in Orwell's novel and the reality of life in 1984.

www.imdb.com/title/tt1491...

YouTube video by BBC Archive Living in Britain in 1984 | Forty Minutes: Voices in a City | Classic BBC Documentary | BBC Archive

Forty Minutes: 1984 Voices in a City.

“[A] Comparison between life in #Orwell 's novel and the reality of life in #1984.”

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

Coming like a ghost town: The UK has lost a quarter of its clubs and late night venues since 2020 Towns are becoming “night-time deserts” warns Night Time Industries Association

“The UK has lost a quarter of its clubs and late night venues since 2020.”

www.musicradar.com/music-indust...

A notional design studio. — ethanmarcotte.com A design language, if you can keep it.

🦊

I wrote about the administration’s “national design studio,” and how its shoddy construction isn’t a mistake. It’s a clear signal of priorities, and ones we need to actively, urgently rebuke. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-noti...

Smart devices are turning out to be a poor investment Smart devices were supposed to make life better, but constant updates have made them worse

@dhruvbhutani.bsky.social on how ‘Smart devices are turning out to be a poor investment’.

“… we are left with the remains of a dream unfulfilled and electronics that respond to the whims, fancies, and ever-changing business decisions of corporations …”

www.androidpolice.com/smart-device...

A photo of two Japanese maple leaves with the light shining through illuminating the light green shape. You can see sunshine and blue sky in the background and other green leaves of trees

Light green leaves

👀 The TypeTogether Premier service/partnership is FREE, omg

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home2 | Festival of Commoning

Festival of Commoning

“A celebration of people acting together to build #Commons of all kinds.”

📆 12th-13th September 2025
📍 Stroud, Gloucestershire

🎟️ festival-of-commoning.org

^ via @acuity.design

From Airbnb to America’s ‘Chief Design Officer’

NYT: Joe Gebbia wants to make government services more “satisfying.” Some peers in the design industry are skeptical

Me: that's me, I'm one of the peers

“"It looks a little bit like a stunt hire,” Mr. Hon said."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/s...

The UK government will be carrying out a national test of the Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 7 September at 3pm.
Here you can find a variety of assets, including easy read, BSL & audio) to share on your channels and help amplify the campaign.
prepare.campaign.gov...

Updating to version 10 - NHS digital service manual In August 2025, we released version 10 of the design system and NHS.UK frontend library with new features, updates and bug fixes.

Something I and many others in the NHS have spent months working on has just gone live, a big update to design system and frontend! 🎉

See service-manual.nhs.uk/design-syste... for the changes.

Not super glamorous work, but it helps improve the foundations for our digital services.

Sonic Pi - Introduction

My gentle beginner-friendly introductory Sonic Pi course is currently discounted for only one more week.

Learn the basics of coding *and* music - no prior experience necessary.

Use code SUMMER_SALE to unlock a 33% discount - only valid during August.

sonic-pi-studio.teachable.com/p/sonic-pi-i...

An interesting looking new 📘 book.

Some great examples of #Architecture in this space. I'm a particular fan of the #SamScorer designed hyperbolic paraboloid roof structure used for Markham Moor petrol station (subsequently a Little Chef, then a Starbucks).

226 of the UK's most interesting service/petrol/gas stations. All bound in a new book from Philip Butler.
www.philipbutlerphotography.com/latest

I'm giving away the last few copies of my book, from the early print runs in 2021/22. Email me if you'd like one! Details here: gilest.org/notes/free-b...

With honourable mentions for:

🎸 #TheBeatles Anthology (1995)
🍏 Les glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000)
🏎️ Senna (2010)
📷 Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

Up (film series) - Wikipedia

The 'Up' Series - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(fil...

It has a lot of known limitations (e.g. around diversity of participation) but as a concept (and considering the logistics of running a longitudinal study since 1964) I'm in awe of the accomplishments and participation of the crew and the subjects.

+1 for the 🏎️ 'Senna' recommendation.

I'm not a great fan of F1 but found it to be a fascinating, moving view of his life.