MAFSUK time - I’ll see you all in nine weeks

Self care queen

Had my first Gousto experience tonight and I don’t mind telling you I am a convert

Right now I am job hunting, getting divorced, having to move out of the flat I’m living in as the landlord is selling it, trying to wrap up my work at the BBC, and planning a trip to Switzerland. My plate is OVERFLOWING and my body decided today was a good day for a migraine.

Having the time of my life trying to track down details of my pension from the civil service. All phone numbers on the CSP website are not working. Have any other old civil servants figured out how to get in touch with them?

A wee reminder that I am looking for my next client. I’m a design systems and content design consultant, specialising in design systems management, documentation, general content design, and consultancy. I’ve worked with the BBC, GOV.UK, Springer Nature, NHS, The Wellcome Trust, BT and more 1/2

Friends I need travel advice for Switzerland. We’re going by car in October, staying in a hotel in Ennetburgen. Where’s good to visit before or after?

Accidentally went to a sound bath tonight. Not for me I don’t think.

What’s the best documentary you’ve ever seen?

Just hire Amy. She is ANNOYINGLY GOOD at content design and design system strategy #designSystems

Am also open to smaller freelance projects if that’s of interest 😊

Friends! I’m going to be looking for new clients from 1 October. If you know of any projects or teams that need (outside IR35) contract support with any of the following, please get in touch: - Content Design - Content Strategy - Design systems management - Design systems strategy - Documentation

Show me your gateway vehicle

Shout out to my mental health for humbling me this past fortnight. Was just starting to feel functional but I can always count on you to put me back in my box babes.

I’d love to see any research on the net benefit of “streaks” - it seems like every app is hell bent on establishing streaks nowadays, whether I want it or not. I imagine for some people they’re helpful, for me, they feed perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking and often cause me to give up. 1/2

A reminder that we're kicking off @amyhupe.bsky.social's amazing talk about jargon on DS Live in TWENTY MINUTES webinars.zeroheight.com/register/zer...

Clara is GOOD at this - this will be great

Are you looking to develop your workshop planning and facilitation skills? Do you have a workshop coming up soon that you're not sure about, or you'd like some help with? Come to my new, short, online workshop facilitation training and clinic! www.tickettailor.com/events/clara...

If you work on a public-facing multi-platform design system that supports iOS and Android could you send me a link so I can gawk at your taxonomy for inspiration?

Collected some feedback from my client team today and sorry to tell you external validation works

No but sorry, crisps on trains are a hate crime

Resting is actually a skill they should teach you. I would honestly pay someone to teach me how to rest properly

Every UK petition is like this

What a lovely end to a horrible week 🍾

Has anyone done a fear of flying course that they’d recommend?

I have, not through my own volition, ended up on FungalToenailTok and please someone get me out of there. I do not have a fungal toenail. Why is this happening to me.

Always disable the spellcheck attribute on email address inputs except for when I write “gnail.com”

Props to @lurkmoophy.bsky.social and @zeroheight.com - today I had to do something I’ve never done and pull out of a talk hours beforehand. My mum is super poorly and in the ICU in Portugal. I’m scared and sad. Sorry to everyone who booked on, and thank you to Luke and ZH for being humans about it ❤️

One of the really nice things about getting older is realising you have free will and can have friends of all ages. It’s so much nicer and more grounding than all of your friends being the same kind of age as you.

While, primarily, this podcast is about design systems. It is also about empathy accessibility and inclusion. It’s also my favourite podcast ever and I hear from @amyhupe.bsky.social that there’s a new series coming soon. pods.link/gb/i/1687682... #a11y #empathy #inclusion #superstar

Go and follow this man for the love of god, he is wise and entertaining and has a colossal collection of red hats

Managed to convince @amyhupe.bsky.social to come and give her awesome jargon talk for DS Live tomorrow! There's still time to sign up to watch this one - webinars.zeroheight.com/register/zer...

I’ve had quite a stressful couple of years, to put it mildly. Now life is far less stressful but I’m exhausted all the time. Like could cry exhausted. Have had all the blood tests and everything seems fine. Can anyone reassure me that this is normal?

Oh I like this. I wanna join in!

Do you ever find yourself positively haunted by the thought that you might have been on a slide for the last time?

Hello new followers! I'm a design director from Toronto, working on design systems. I also host a podcast called Design Downtime, where I talk to design professionals about a hobby or interest of theirs that has nothing to do with work, because it's ok to not be about productivity 24/7!

I wrote a haiku. It’s called PMS: My womb is screaming Stop breathing so loud you prick Bring me a biscuit

Anytime I eat a yoghurt I remember when my beloved grandmother was dying and we were all called to go and say goodbye. Tears were shed, hands squeezed, last words quietly spoken. 8 hours later, apropos of nothing, she sat up and demanded a petit filous, ate it, and then continued with her passing.

And that’s a wrap on this season of Design Downtime! Last week I wrapped up season three with another great run of 16 episodes. A huge thank you to all the amazing guests! I’m taking a bit of a pause before season 4, but have no fear, DESIGN DOWNTIME WILL RETURN. designdowntime.com

Had a blast at #FrontEndNorth yesterday. A lovely, friendly crowd, the other speakers were interesting and the organisers planned a brilliant mix of thought-provoking, uplifting, and inspiring creative talks, with a good dose of silliness. 📸 by @joshtumath.uk 1/4

Night before a talk and I skipped dinner with the speakers for the first time EVER to finish some work, slap on a face mask, inhale a pho, and read my book in my PJs. I bloody love me a speakers dinner but my god I needed this tonight.

A huge theme coming through in this series of Systems of Harm is managing burnout in design system team members. Feels like we’re all in need of some serious TLC. Big design system community spa day anyone?

Get yourself a ticket for Thursday and share with your friends! www.tickettailor.com/events/front...

Everyone who replied to my request for design system folks with ADHD thank you SO much. I subsequently realised that was a bit like asking for a Taylor Swift fan at an Eras concert - turns out we are quite the neurodiverse bunch! I’ve got someone I’m super excited to talk to 🙌🏻 Watch this space…

take my money beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

Spent 6 hours simmering a chicken stock. Burnt it. Ruined a pan. Bon appetit

1. Systems of Harm - @amyhupe.bsky.social 2. Unwrapping Web Design: Why Our Design Tools Are Holding Us Back - @ichimnetz.com 3. Get the core right and the resilient code will follow - @bell.bz 4. Building Better Webs: One web, spawning many webs - @olu.online ...and more...

I cannot stress enough how much I hate this heat

There are still a few free diversity tickets available for next week's Front End North conference. They're available to anyone from an under-represented group or in a financial situation which makes buying a ticket normally difficult. Full details: frontendnorth.com/blog/2025/06...