Finally found a chair that is good for my back and my design eye 💛

You know when you think you’re a super organised person and you realise you put a full day, virtual conference in your diary for the wrong day and missed the whole thing 🤦🏼‍♀️ Really annoyed with myself, especially because I missed two sessions I specifically bought the ticket to attend!

Back on the office chair chat. Has anyone bought a refurbished office chair? Is that a good idea? Any reputable outfits anyone would recommend?

Journal: The line-up for UX London 2025 Three days of excellent talks and workshops in the heart of the city. 🔗https://adactio.com/journal/21763

Aww… I miss the randomness of stuff we used to talk about on Twitter. I haven’t been hanging out here much but in the last 10 mins I’ve talked to people about bookshelf walls, 9p buttons and ice creams on walks. Zero design or digital transformation. Winning. 💛

Well this is nice isn’t it ☀️🌼

Is there such a thing as an aesthetically pleasing office chair that also offers lower back support?!

Looking for people to join me in renting a cowork space anywhere between Worthing and Hove, East Sussex

Wow. In half a day I have read about 1 design agency closing and 2 being acquired. Little worried it’ll just be the big dogs left soon 😢 Is it time for that flower shop I’ve day dreamed about?!

Got 3 walk n talks with entry level UCD folk this afternoon so I’m actually going to walk and talk for once - not sit and eat a Kit Kat and talk.

Short but sweet hop back up to The Toon to run a co-design workshop for our Rape Crisis waiting lists work. Lovely to do in-person work like this. The humans were working with are exceptional 💛

When you’re at a 40th birthday in January and yours is in June and all you’re doing is making mental notes based on your ‘research findings’ 🤓

Well that blew up a bit! 13 bookings in a day for my free walk n talks and portfolio/CV reviews. People are struggling folks. Any other freelancers in UCD able to make similar offers? I can’t do this alone. Oh… jobs would be good too 🙏🏼 www.designforjoy.co.uk/entry-level-...

The lightning talks at #CampDigital are always something special, as is working with @sharonodea.com Excited to be bringing them back again this year 👏

2025 goals are official - because they are on post-its. Place your bets now on which 50% I won’t hit. That seems to be the average going rate 🤣

For the last 2 years I've been outspoken about how I think our industry needs to do more for entry-level folk and career changers. As a freelancer who runs a business of one there is only so much I can do so here's what I've landed on: 1/3

Not gonna lie, this is probably the best place I’ve swam yet. Hierva el agua in Oaxaca. It means boiling water. Spoiler: The water is not hot!

#ServicesWeek to return for its seventh year ✨ Please share and save the date: 17 to 21 March 2025 This event series aims to grow service literacy and is open to all UK public servants. Take part if you can! #ServiceDesign #GovDesign #LocalGov #LocalDigital services.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/19/s...

I wrote a Year Note. Now time for a mad dash round ‘the north’ before flying off to NYC 🗽 and Mexico 🌮 I have to say, ditching the family drama and spending Christmas together for the first and only time (except for when Boris locked us in) feels pretty good. 💛 open.substack.com/pub/emmaparn...

Do I like booking this particular Air BnB for my annual retreat because it has a perfect retro grid mirror?! Possibly…

Do I know anyone who lives in Birmingham and commutes near Snow Hill train station? I have a small sleuthing mission for you involving a stolen bag 💛

So, a lovely day at #charitycamp came to a sad end today when I found out my bag (including laptop) had been stolen from the hotel’s ‘secure’ storage room. They are yet to admit liability but I’m thinking they don’t have a leg right. This is the ‘secure room’ 😭

Oh god, I don’t have mine because I’ve left Twitter but it was definitely the time I casually tweeted on a Friday about the NHS work I did to make the Covid vaccination booking service inclusive. People (TERFs) thought I had the power to erase the sex data from their NHS record 🙄 Not a fun wkd!

I’m off to #charitycamp tomorrow, Joy are a sponsor. I’d love to do more co-design work in the charity sector next year. This sort of work has been my favourite since I went freelance. Who’s going to be there? 💛

Ok folk. What’s the plan for doing something about the lack of entry level roles in 2025? open.substack.com/pub/emmaparn...

I had such a fab time delivering my ‘Designing inclusive healthcare services’ talk to The Health Foundation last week. One of the most joyful afternoons I’ve had in a while 💛 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Bold offer in the co-working space today ❄️

Wow, what a week! I’ve hit 1k followers so time to hello. 👋🏼 I’m Emma & I’m a freelance service designer. 💛 I work with charities and public sector to co-design services via my company Design for Joy. I love relational service design. I also: ✏️Write on Substack 💬 Mentor 🎤 Public speaking

What a lovely project by @amymcnichol.bsky.social and team. If you’re looking for an alternative approach to advent then look no further. They also have an event and you can buy the book! 💛 ithoughtaboutthatalot.com

Is BlueSky having a major surge in signups or am I just being followed by lots of bots all of a sudden?! I’ve said nothing for weeks yet the people keep on coming 🤔

5 x Senior (G7) Service Designer roles now live in DfE Digital, Data and Technology £56,353 (National) / £60,373 (London) With up to an allowance of up to £19,400 capability-based pay. See advert for more information. Closes 30th October 2024 www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...

Can anyone recommend a Bluetooth keyboard that will work with a MacBook Air? My current one takes about 10 attempts to get it to connect and I’m losing the will to live with it.

Here is a booking link tidycal.com/21cmindset/a...

If like me you've been struggling to carve out time to follow along with the various threads about the digital advisory panel, @timpaul.co.uk has done god's work and summarised it all 🙏: www.timpaul.co.uk/posts/what-d...

I was disappointed to miss out on @ukcharitycamp.bsky.social last year so this year I decided to be a sponsor! I’m excited to talk about co-design and how this can be better integrated into the design and delivery of digital products and services. Hopefully see you there if you work in the sector?

Sheffield folks! This Sunday a project I’ve been doing with Brian Eno’s charity Earth Percent is coming to Sheffield Come sing new futures and worlds with us. 2 hours of some joy and restbite from the world with brilliant singer Genevieve Dawson gutlevel.co.uk/whatson/eart...

Public service announcement:

So… I have Covid 😭 which means I will likely not make SDinGov. In light of this, I’d love to still catch up with some of you lovely humans I would have seen. If you fancy spending your break with me on a walk and talk, book a slot here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... TL;DR Calendly is shit!

Ok I’m turning to ‘New Twitter’ for help with this. My partner and I are planning our wedding. Finding a venue that doesn’t cost the earth feels like an impossible task. Does anyone know how to find all the ‘cheap but still nice’ wedding venues?! 🙏🏼

Ok friends… who’s going to SDinGov this year? Just so I can be ready for my fake approach to networking where I mainly talk to people I already know and make zero business connections but have a bloody lovely time 💛

The real test of Bluesky as the new old twitter - Can I find a new contract? I'm available soon for content design and strategy work with accessibility and service design sprinkled on top. Re (tweets?) appreciated!

On a more serious note. Can we talk about the price of pints in central London 😮 Is it over £7 as standard now?! My inner northerner is struggling to come to terms with this.

Have you read my writing before? I’d love your thoughts and feedback via this very quick survey. Thanks friends. 💛 forms.gle/wCtfPcocV9YG...

Every year I wonder if I should grow Joy into a design agency. And then I realise I don’t want to! I’ve found myself spending a lot of the last decade trying to untangle what I want from what is expected of me. A few thoughts for ‘back-to-school’ week: open.substack.com/pub/emmaparn...

Enjoyed a good game of ‘find the sunny but not the windy’ spots today while reading all day long and securing a great new project for next month. It’s alright this freelance lark.

…and just like that <blows on fingers> my current contract has ended. Taking a week or two to take stock, read some things, rejig my website. But if anyone knows of any contract service design or design leadership roles happening, please do drop me a line.

You know what the main difference between here and LinkedIn is. People are funny here! Just had a good old giggle while also browsing informative content and article reshares. It’s the funnies and the crowdsourced advice I’ve missed the most I think 💛

🍦 Did you know design research comes in more than one flavour? Senior UX Consultant Elizabeth Buie defines the three types of design research: research into design, research through design, and research for design — and explains how each fits into UX practice: www.nexerdigital.com/news-and-tho...

OMG this is so fun. It's so nice to see so many familiar faces. Can we get back to the 'real talk' now and leave the strange formality of LinkedIn behind?! Thanks for the nudge @rufflemuffin.bsky.social