Dan Howarth
@danhowarth.bsky.social
Ally in training. Generally curious. Rookie dad. Into hills, indy mags and #designjustice. Content design, strategy and IA in UK gov.
I didn’t even realise utopian fiction was a thing
November 28, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I didn’t even realise utopian fiction was a thing
Sandwich as super node
November 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Sandwich as super node
That press release looks to me like a breach of the GOV.UK proposition, which states content should not advertise or give commercial advantage to an organisation: www.gov.uk/government/p...
GOV.UK proposition
www.gov.uk
November 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
That press release looks to me like a breach of the GOV.UK proposition, which states content should not advertise or give commercial advantage to an organisation: www.gov.uk/government/p...
DBT published an evaluation of its use of Copilot, earlier this year. It found no evidence that time savings led to improvements in productivity: www.gov.uk/government/p...
Microsoft 365 Copilot pilot: DBT evaluation report
An evaluation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot pilot by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), which took place from October to December 2024.
www.gov.uk
November 14, 2025 at 3:50 PM
DBT published an evaluation of its use of Copilot, earlier this year. It found no evidence that time savings led to improvements in productivity: www.gov.uk/government/p...
There’s also the additional time needed to review automated notes and circulate any corrections
November 14, 2025 at 3:37 PM
There’s also the additional time needed to review automated notes and circulate any corrections
Nice, Ben. What do you mean by a ‘singular IA’ – sort of unified navigation schema?
November 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Nice, Ben. What do you mean by a ‘singular IA’ – sort of unified navigation schema?
ah “sludge is the barriers that make it difficult to find and use government services”. Nice: www.nsw.gov.au/departments-...
Sludge Toolkit
Learn about sludge and how to identify it in your customer journey. Use our resources to boost the customer's experience to make services more fair and inclusive.
www.nsw.gov.au
November 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
ah “sludge is the barriers that make it difficult to find and use government services”. Nice: www.nsw.gov.au/departments-...
Is sludge a metaphor for the problematic content blob? Or actual sludge?
November 8, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Is sludge a metaphor for the problematic content blob? Or actual sludge?
and for adding One Team Gov North!
October 30, 2025 at 5:34 PM
and for adding One Team Gov North!
What’s the difference between gentle and nice?
October 24, 2025 at 6:22 AM
What’s the difference between gentle and nice?
Service design: Here’s an as-is journey for 2 cows in Mural. Death of 1 cow is out-of-scope as we’re focusing on the happy path
October 23, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Service design: Here’s an as-is journey for 2 cows in Mural. Death of 1 cow is out-of-scope as we’re focusing on the happy path
Running is inherently foolish. But probably better than other forms of self-harm
September 9, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Running is inherently foolish. But probably better than other forms of self-harm
It’ll hurt but go for it 💪
September 9, 2025 at 8:10 AM
It’ll hurt but go for it 💪
Concept and functionality were superb. Actual documented needs: Not so much. Take-up was low from depts, governance was lacking. Real shame Maslow was decommissioned, but never lived up to its potential
August 28, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Concept and functionality were superb. Actual documented needs: Not so much. Take-up was low from depts, governance was lacking. Real shame Maslow was decommissioned, but never lived up to its potential
It’ll bag her a week on Celebrity Big Brother, though
August 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM
It’ll bag her a week on Celebrity Big Brother, though
Think these explorations you’re talking about would help a lot of people, me included
August 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Think these explorations you’re talking about would help a lot of people, me included
Nice! Would love to take a look if you’re up for sharing?
August 21, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Nice! Would love to take a look if you’re up for sharing?
Like you said in your post on Tuesday, content design is having an existential crisis. If there’s no rigour in the hiring process or how the discipline is practiced, it’s screwed. We need to demonstrate the value of good content design, and then properly assess people’s ability to do it
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Like you said in your post on Tuesday, content design is having an existential crisis. If there’s no rigour in the hiring process or how the discipline is practiced, it’s screwed. We need to demonstrate the value of good content design, and then properly assess people’s ability to do it
Depends what you mean by adhere to standards. In that sort of environment, it’s likely standards will be lacking
August 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Depends what you mean by adhere to standards. In that sort of environment, it’s likely standards will be lacking
Agree though we need to assess approaches to tackling problems and ways-of-working. In latest round of interviews at DBT, candidate led a crit on a piece of content. Felt like a much more natural and holistic way of observing their approach
August 21, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Agree though we need to assess approaches to tackling problems and ways-of-working. In latest round of interviews at DBT, candidate led a crit on a piece of content. Felt like a much more natural and holistic way of observing their approach