Paul Smith

@paulmsmith.bsky.social

492 Followers 270 Following

Lead Interaction Designer at NHS England. Generally designing, prototyping, coding & problem solving. Often drinking a disproportionate amount of tea in rainy Manchester.

A picknick setting with a blanket and three hampers set out on the floor. The colour of the blank resembles the colours used by Slack chat/meeting software.
Wicked problem final boss. Image of the final boss from Streets of Rage holding a gun.
A tribute image of Tom Selleck, next to a waterfall with a Sandwich
Dog on the train seat beside me. A black coloured Dachshund called Dexter
How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert on the tablet next to my cup of cappuccino
Photo of the OHNO BOOK serious guide to irreverent type design.
Wyle E Coyote and Road Runner
Full Fibre is here. Image of a happy man sat in front of a computer.
Photo of a smiling Vicky.
Forrest of frost. ❄️🥶
Steve Bellerby presenting to the NHS Show and Tell. “Over 161 releases to the live service. That's means we release improvements on average every 1.5 days, around 3 times per week”
Photo of a wooden pole. "The 10 foot pole I'm not touch the designer's who code debate with"
Mobile phone chargers must not be used unless pat tested BY THE NHS.
Sticky notes. 1. A technology stack leaning perilessly. 2. A repeating pattern with the words “patterns repeat” 3. A confused person with the words internal language vs language user
Imagine that.
Moon over the aegean sea.
New Icons for Chrome, Edge, VSCode, Gitub, Outlook and Teams.
QS Think like a farmer • Don't shout at the crops • Don't blame the crop for not growing fast enough • Don't uproot crops before they've had a chance to grow • Choose the best plants for the soil • Irrigate and fertilise • Remove weeds • Remember you will have good seasons and bad seasons - you can't control the weather only be prepared for it
Large XL Bully dog behind a fence greeting my girls who are smiling
The rocky, craggy beach of Colwyn bay. A lone seagul sits on a man made concrete pipe duct. Dark skies over a calm sea.
Screenshot of the settings screen showing the choice
Screenshot of the design iteration. Shows the updated box as suggested and the update content to remove 'you should'
side by side page designs
Sticky notes on a wall. “Want to go fast. Go alone” “Want to go far. Go together”
German shepard stood behind a Polling Station sign.
Slide on the screen with 'Welcome to the NHS Pathways Training and Quality Forum 2024'
People make decisions, using information, provided by services, built on data, shaped by tools, defined by standards, designed from concerns.
Big Ben from below.
An elevated CCTV camera view of my backgarden with a conservatory to the left, a patio and the law which has fresh hole being dug in it with boards making out the plot for the base of the garden office.
Foot up in front of the tv which is showing the game between Manchester United and Liverpool. The fire is on beneath it.
Screenshot of the principle. Design for Trust.
Screenshot of my account stats. 111 Followers (highlighted). 141 Following with 70 Posts. Account says 'Lead Interaction Designer at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities'
A nice diagram explaining how it all works. The diagram is a decision tree to help people understand what might be the best option for them.
The microphone and camera buttons in Google Meet now has in-context device switching options. Screenshot highlighting that.
You do feel greater responsibility as you are effectively designing for the whole country. That is why it’s so important to get it right. Ben Terrett
A hot Greggs sausage roll - Image of Drake shying away from it hold up his hand to protect his face. A cold Greggs sausage roll - Image of Drake pointing to it happily and agreeably.
2. NO CAREER PROGRESSION OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPERIENCED INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS In most organizations, the only career progression available for designers is to become a manager. Designers who want to grow into a more senior position while staying involved in products and not people only have these options: • Move to a different (and normally bigger) company that has a career pathway toward staff or principal designer roles. • Stay in limbo as a senior designer, which may lead to frustration, burn-out, and career stagnation. • Force themselves into management. Over time, in design management, they will have less and less to do with design (what they enjoy doing) and more with people management. The latter option only fuels the next issue. 3. LACK OF (STRONG) DESIGN LEADERSHIP
Event cards with a visual representation of them, printed and stuck to a wall
Visual diagramming showing the life cycles of events within data programme at DLUHC.
Tomatoes, red pepper, onion and garlic with salt, pepper and olive oil on a baking tray.
An order number sign in a super market. Illegible white text on a maroon background.
Physical retail shop sign for Woolworths' faded on the front of a building
Posters lay out on the floor randomly