Repost of my review of Shuman and Presser "Questions and answers in attitude surveys", lightly updated today tl;dr - read my review to avoid having to read the whole book tips on open questions, don't know options, and more www.effortmark.co.uk/review-quest...

Last week I shared my 3 laws of form design. Here’s a breakdown of the first law which is perfectly captured by a question one of my subscribers asked me: “How can we bring joy to people who use enterprise applications for 40 hours a week?”

Just scrap BBC News 24 or whatever they call it now, restore the World Service COMPLETELY - we have lost way too much soft power - and allow anyone anywhere in the world to buy a TV License which allows them complete access to iPlayer for a year. And that also solves the financial constraints.

I can heartily recommend working with @juliaallum.bsky.social There’s something available for everyone, starting from very reasonably priced cards through to her creating something that’s bespoke and precisely right, such as the “live and live differently” macaws juliaallum.co.uk/product/live...

I’m really looking forward to a chance to listen to this episode. “Design for real life” is a favourite book - I’ve bought dozens to give away, and now I don’t have to because Eric Meyer and Sara Wachter-Boettcher made it free to read: abookdeparts-dfrl.netlify.app

To round off series 2 I have got the MOTHER of all guests for you: Speaker, coach, author of Technically Wrong and Design for real life, Sara Wachter-Boettcher. In this episode, Sara and I talk a lot about burnout… Apple: apple.co/47rrJTk RSS: bit.ly/43gtLkB

“But that’s a lot of clicks” I hear this from stakeholders (and even UI/UX designers) quite regularly when I share flows with multiple steps. But here’s the truth: Users don’t care about clicks, as long as each click takes them logically towards their goal. The real problem is...

Very pleased that I've won a ticket to #ukgc26, especially as this time it will be in Birmingham #BrummieByMarriage

Am watching #GameOfWool but not sure whether I can cope with a gentle, individual, reflective activity being turned into a sort of team working time stressed nightmare

I've written about the work we have done to make the NHS Design System fit for the future and to support the NHS 10-year plan to move from analogue to digital. Read more and be part of this change: digital.nhs.uk/blog/design-...

BBC running a film this morning about the widening availability of the morning after pill (EHC). In the commentary the voiceover says ' the morning after pill needs to be taken within five days of an unwanted pregnancy'. They should say after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure. 1/4

A little something I wrote on the language of digital in Wales for @transform.wales transform.wales/blog/2025/pr...

Today’s episode of #FixTheForms has @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social, cut off from digital by dodgy train WiFi, musing on the proposed UK digital identity scheme and why designing mainly for affluent people with good connectivity is a bad idea

In today's episode of #FixTheForms, a surprising twist on my series of workshops on #ErrorRates and #DataQuality. I thought I wrapped them up at #SDinGOV in Edinburgh, but no! Catch an online version at Virtual SDinGOV in March 26. virtual.sdingov.net

New blogpost on @elife.bsky.social's new Replication study type deevybee.blogspot.com/2025/10/prob.... tldr = I think it's doomed. #Replication #Publishing #Reproducibility

As a resident of Bedfordshire who had to travel to Luton and to Milton Keynes for emergency GP appointments this year, it’s sadly unsurprising to me that our area has the worst GP to patient ratio in England

Found this useful article about screen readers today via @swalt.bsky.social's newsletter. My favourite reason for using a screen reader: a research participant with a mental health disorder said the screen reader's voice drowned out other voices in her head and helped her to concentrate on text.

A Shot in the Park #Nothing2a+ #BlueHour #RedFilter #Snapseed

For anybody seeking context on this one: this policy on its face would result in the deportation of my wife, who has been living in Scotland for 17 years, is married to a Scot, shares the mortgage on a house, and works in a university. Lots of perfectly comfortable people earn < £38k.

Any #UserResearch folks out there with some ideas for us?

Launch day today!!! The second edition of the book, Service Design: From Insight To Implementation, that I co-wrote with Ben Reason and Lavrans Løvlie is officially published today. I hope you enjoy it! Please tell your friends and colleagues: rosenfeldmedia.com/books/servic... #servicedesign

Question for #UserResearch How do you phrase screener questions to identify participants who might need accessibility or communication adjustments? The aim is to ensure sessions are inclusive and comfortable, without making people feel singled out. Not finding much online

In today's episode of #FixTheForms, I've finished writing up the workshop on #ErrorRates and #DataQuality that I ran #SDinGOV Extra thanks to @pixlz.com for help with prep - sadly, she couldn't make it due to a family emergency www.effortmark.co.uk/garbage-in-g...

New blogpost on my concerns about Wellcome LEAP new $50m program on autism/microbiome links. deevybee.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-le... #autism #microbiome #biomarkers #diagnostic

Extra episode of #FixTheForms today, this time from @jukes.ie Let’s hear it for timesheet and expenses systems, all of them painful for everyone. For those of us working in #GovDesign, it’s a familiar story. Believe it or not, but it’s generally even worse in academia.

While so many of the services we rely on are offline due to the AWS failure, you may have time to read this #FixTheForms tutorial on accessible form validation by Elle Smith It's got good quality advice alongside the code examples. blog.pope.tech/2025/09/30/a...

Diwali marks the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness, of knowledge over ignorance. Whoever, wherever you are, happy Diwali 🙏🏽🎆

A classic #FixTheForms episode from @pubstr.at today Pro tip: check that the validations match the labels

ADHD meds are treated like opioids. 28-day expiry. No repeats. No emergency refills. Rules meant to prevent misuse often do the opposite: stable patients fall off medication, relapse, and end up back in crisis care. 📅 Part of ADHD Awareness Month. Day 16 of 31

Had to do 3 payments today by phone/debit card for <reasons> In the lead: Westminster, 3.5mins and that was a more complex one as it was two payments. Runner up: Thames Water, 5 minutes. Disgracefully last: Ovo Energy, 45 minutes.

In contrast to 45 grim minutes to pay Ovo Energy, I was able to pay Thames Water in only 5 minutes! Thames Water! This seems much more reasonable to me.

Another 45 minute fight with Ovo Energy in order to *drumroll please* pay them some money I honestly am beginning to think that it would be less hassle to wait until the bailiffs come round and hand them the cash

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @sophiacollins.bsky.social melts down because of a badly-handled comma Pro tip: if you ask for addresses in more than one place (you do) your address data is absolutely riddled with addresses that are the same but have slightly different expressions when captured

Rules observed, and especially enjoyed in the context of learning the term #BoxBreakers today

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, meet the Box Breakers from @kevinguyan.bsky.social If you have ever found the answer options of a form are all wrong for you, you too are a Box Breaker. Pro tip for why people lie of forms: “Wrong answers only” - very common.

I originally thought this thread would take a few days, but it took me two weeks! If you're new to Developmental Language Disorder, then this is a good introduction. And if you're a #DevLangDis aficionado then please share. Everyone needs to know about DLD. #DLDday @radld.bsky.social

Something seasonal to celebrate the beautiful colours around at the moment 🍂

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, an example of how long it can take to roll out a fix in a complex organisation. The NHS improved the “Friends and Family” in 2020, but @blangry.bsky.social just got asked the previous bad version. 5 years later. Links in my reply to Alex.

Do you write and run training courses, but are never sure about how much time to give to each activity? Try "How to allocate time effectively in a training course" by me and @claragt.bsky.social Top tip: Don't talk too much! www.effortmark.co.uk/how-to-alloc...

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

Wish more doctors would upskill on ADHD so that many people (like myself) didn't have to spend years on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds that didn't actually improve things that much, and instead delayed the correct treatment of the issue. A decade of my life on bad meds was wasted time.

Thanks @rosenfeldmedia.com for your support and the opportunity to be part of the family as an author and reader over the last 20 years. Celebrate with us today only, 7 October 2025, with a lovely discount code BIRTHDAY20 - 20% off my book and all the other books too. Act quickly!

Unfortunately the billionaire funded online radicalisation of white people in the UK is growing and instead of getting to the root cause that endangers us all we’re being told they have legitimate concerns and government trying to give them what they want with every policy announcement

Correction: I missed that the new digital dot gov #PlainLanguage guides copied the section on testing from the now-deceased plainlanguage.gov My other two objections are still in force: - no definition of plain language - plain language is across all channels not only digital

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, post from NHS digital prevention services about one thing per page. Here, “one thing” is “show me enough possible appointments”. Previous version had enough = 5. Team found enough = 10 works better design-history.prevention-services.nhs.uk/book-a-vacci...

Welcome to BlueSky, @andypolaine.bsky.social

Business leader: Our user persona? Well we don't want to constrain our customer base, this product is for everyone Designer: That's great! Let's talk about accessibility Business leader: Oh, I didn't mean it like *that*

I just got another survey invitation from the same courier service about the same delivery. This time, even though I like our local delivery person, enough is enough.