Track 1
Keynote
Designing a new social contract
60 minutes
George Aye
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Greater Good Studio
23-25 September 2026
John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh
Programme 2026
Day 1 - Wednesday 23 September
08:45
Conference registration
09:35
Welcome to SDinGov Day 1 - Jen Thomson
09:45
10:45
Morning break
11:15
Track 1
Case Study
Policy and service design as one - how Germany skips the silos
45 minutes
Martin Jordan
Digital Service (German government)
Nina Birri
Digital Service (German government)
Track 2
Case Study
Accessibility full circle: embedding inclusion in service design
45 minutes
Chris Rourke
User Vision
Barry Mullan
Registers of Scotland
Track 3
Case Study
Creating safe spaces for vulnerable conversations: what Council Tax research taught us
45 minutes
Huzna Budaly
Cognizant
Track 4
Workshop
12 equity and justice questions about AI - a consequence scanning workshop
90 minutes
Clara Greo
Independent
Betty Mwema
Track 5
Workshop
Mediation skills for public sector pioneers
90 minutes
Ella Mae
UK Civil Service
Hardip Lawana
Home Office
12:00
Switchover
Switchover
Switchover
12:15
Track 1
Case Study
Participatory design principles to heal, not hinder: the importance of psychologically-informed environments
45 minutes
Jodie Chan
Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London
Sarah Hancock
The Marylebone Project
Track 2
Talk
Whose reality shapes public services?
45 minutes
Kola Wale
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Track 3
Talk
Evolution of a craft: a short history of service design
45 minutes
Ben Rose
GAIN
13:00
Lunch break
14:00
Track 1
Case Study
Homes for Ukraine: rapid design in crisis
60 minutes
Coco Chan
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Jo Frances
Made Tech
Track 2
Talk
Designing the decision: choice architecture in policy and service design
60 minutes
Hannah Zafiropoulos
TPXimpact
Abigail Needham
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Track 3
Talk
A trauma‑informed public sector: lessons from Northern Ireland
60 minutes
Helen McKenzie
Safeguarding Board for NI
Aileen McGuinness
Safeguarding Board for NI
Track 4
Other
Service Patterns UK live: building reusable patterns across the public sector
60 minutes
Kirsty Sinclair
The Scottish Government
Martin Ford-Downes
Ministry of Justice
Track 5
Case Study
Testing and learning a different way of doing design
60 minutes
Jemima Higgins
Test, Learn and Grow - Cabinet office
Hannah Jump
Test, Learn and Grow - Cabinet office
Track 6
Workshop
Architecture skills for non-technical people who want to vibe-code
60 minutes
Dug Falby
Independent
15:00
Afternoon break
15:30
Track 1
Talk
Democratising the systems of power: London’s new models for safety, accountability and prevention
60 minutes
Shagun Seth
EY Studio+
Aga Szypicyn
EY Studio+
Louise Capel-Cure
The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime
Track 2
Case Study
Whose AI is it anyway? What residents expect of AI in public services - and what we must do next
60 minutes
Louise Wheeler
Essex County Council
Claire Craig
Essex County Council
Track 3
Case Study
Power to the profession! What happens when users can vote to change your product
60 minutes
Antony Poveda
Government Digital Service
Track 4
Discussion
Design skills for democracy
60 minutes
Andrew Knight
Government School of Design, UK Civil Service
Track 5
Talk
Design rights: a human-rights based approach to digital design
60 minutes
Rachel Edwards
Methods
Track 6
Workshop
Designing public services from strengths, not deficits
60 minutes
Vedika Lall
Justice Digital (Ministry of Justice)
Jessica Kyriacou
Ministry of Justice
16:30
Switchover
16:45
Lightning Talks
Lightning Talks
40 minutes
End of day social
Day 2 - Thursday 24 September
09:35
Welcome to SDinGov Day 2 - Jen Thomson
09:45
Track 1
Keynote
Every promise has a shadow: how designers can shape the democratic future of public services
60 minutes
Laura Yarrow
Head of Design, GOV.UK
10:45
Morning break
11:15
Track 1
Talk
Design without designers: why democratising design is harder than we admit
45 minutes
Omar Idris
Perago
Andy Marsden
Nesta
Track 2
Talk
The GOV Reuse Library turns one: lessons from a year of growing reuse
45 minutes
Emma Nicol
Ministry of Justice
Nikola Goger
Ministry of Justice
Track 3
Talk
The art of decision making: prototyping public services in the age of AI
45 minutes
Ming Chan
dxw
Track 4
Workshop
Who gets to decide? Sharing power in public services
90 minutes
Sophie Horrocks
Helix Centre, Imperial College London
Track 5
Workshop
Expecting the unexpected: planning resilience for your services
90 minutes
Charles Weir
Lancaster University
12:00
Switchover
Switchover
Switchover
12:15
Track 1
Talk
Democratising design through community of practice and the NHS service standard
45 minutes
Joe Knowles
NHS England
Magdalena Mips
NHS England
Track 2
Talk
Personas without people: designing for organisations as complex users
45 minutes
Andrea Fiorini
Transform
Mark Smith
Department for Education
Track 3
Case Study
Co-designing the future: from youth hack to innovation studio
45 minutes
Judah Armani
Royal College of Art
Virginie Clarke
Ealing Borough Council
13:00
Lunch break
14:00
Track 1
Talk
The data and analytics ecosystem: the hidden layer of the service transformation
60 minutes
Angela Fernandez Orviz
Opencast
Track 2
Case Study
Living Well – designing an inclusive health service in rural Wales
60 minutes
Tim Smith
Powys Teaching Health Board
Track 3
Workshop
Mapping your career journey - what’s next for you?
120 minutes
Stéphanie Krus
Department for Work and Pensions
Charlie Kleboe-Rogers
Opencast
Bahana Saikia
Department for Work and Pensions
Track 4
Workshop
Let’s use the lens of poverty: bringing people living in poverty into service design
60 minutes
Caroline Jarrett
Effortmark Ltd
Clara Greo
Independent
Helen Spires
Department for Work and Pensions
Track 5
Workshop
Too many cooks: a game for designing across organisational boundaries when everyone owns a piece of the problem
120 minutes
Disha Mittal
London Borough of Camden
Shona Galt
London Borough of Camden
15:00
Afternoon break
15:30
Track 1
Case Study
Planning for democracy: co-designing public infrastructure with planners
45 minutes
Martyn Evans
Unboxed
Ed Arnold
Buckinghamshire Council
Track 2
Talk
Lost in translation: Policing, service design and speaking human
45 minutes
Connie Sinclair
Police Scotland
Sarah Taylor
Police Scotland
Chris Muir
Police Scotland
Workshop continued
Track 4
Case Study
Using service patterns as practical codesign tools for MyCare.scot
45 minutes
Seb Thorp
Public Services Delivery Scotland
Liam Donald
CGI partnered with NHS Education Scotland
Maxine Meighan
NHS Education Scotland
Workshop continued
16:15
Evening Social
Track 1
Social Event
Angry Hour™
60 minutes
George Aye
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Greater Good Studio
Day 3 - Friday 25 September
09:35
Welcome to SDinGov day 3 - Jen Thomson
09:45
Track 1
Keynote
What would it take? 'Gloriously Ordinary' as a starting point for design in public services and 'democratising life'
60 minutes
Tricia Nicoll
Director, Gloriously Ordinary Lives
10:45
Morning break
11:15
Track 1
Case Study
Social Presencing Theatre improving systems strategy in North Carolina
45 minutes
Victor Udoewa
Bloom Works
Track 2
Talk
Designing services that stay accessible over time
45 minutes
Calum Ryan
Government Digital Service
Track 3
Workshop
Building visualisations that adapt: a toolkit for complex stakeholder environments
90 minutes
Meha Hindocha
TPXimpact
Lucy Hartley
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Katie Dickerson
TPXimpact
Track 4
Workshop
Playing policy: using games to explore, engage, and create policy
90 minutes
Lewis Just
Andthen
Fionn Tynan-O'Mahony
Andthen
Dr. Jen Ballie
V&A Dundee
Track 5
Discussion
The role of service design amidst a mission approach to healthcare: challenges and opportunities for system change
90 minutes
Chanelle Corena
Imperial College Health Partners
Jessica Horne
Imperial College Health Partners
12:00
Switchover
Switchover
12:15
Track 1
Case Study
Embedding frontline design in local employability services
45 minutes
Kim Anderson
Service Design Academy
Katie Murrie
Service Design Academy
Kirsty Beattie
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Track 2
Talk
You can invite people in and still design them out: Practising truly accessible participation
45 minutes
Tracey Allen
Transform
Sean Gilroy
BBC
13:00
Lunch break
14:00
Track 1
Endnote
Imandeep's endnote details coming soon...
60 minutes
Imandeep Kaur
CIVIC SQUARE
15:00
Conference close - 10 minutes
15:10
Gather for post conference drinks in the bar