deborahamzil
Written 30 posts
Drawing is designing
6th October 2025
Guest blog post by Andy Robertson, Senior Content Designer in Social Security Scotland. In the age of shiny new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, I’m making the case for pen and paper. As a senior content designer in government, here’s how I use my drawing skills. I love to…
Refreshing Scotland’s Digital Strategy, part 4: collaboration and engagement
20th August 2025
Blog post by Becca Fairless, Head of Digital Strategy and Policy, Scottish Government Welcome to the fourth edition of our blog-along as we work with our colleagues in local government to refresh the Digital Strategy for Scotland. Last time Sam Hill, one of the designers who supported our engagement effort, blogged about the theory of…
Refreshing Scotland’s Digital Strategy, part 3: Using co-design in stakeholder engagement
23rd July 2025
Blog post by Sam Hill, Senior User Researcher in Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate. I’m a user researcher. This is a profession that specialises in running processes of learning together, testing things out, before reflecting on how well those changes went, or might go if we were to implement them. The Scottish Approach to Service Design is…
Writing for wellbeing: why we created a trauma and stress writing guide
18th June 2025
Guest blog from Sarah Waterfield, Senior Content Designer at Social Security Scotland. At Social Security Scotland, we know that language matters. The words we use in our communications and webpages shape how people experience our service. Many of our clients have faced difficult life events or negative experiences with benefits. If our language is complex…
Increasing the accuracy of identification of genetic test results
16th April 2025
Blog post by Laura Naismith, Data Management Officer, Public Health Scotland. The Data Science and Innovation Accelerator is a programme for public sector organisations in Scotland that supports the innovative use of data to solve business problems or discover new opportunities. In her blog, Laura Naismith, Data Management Officer in Public Health Scotland discusses her…
Paving the way to omnichannel
2nd April 2025
Guest blog from Emma Jones, Lead Content Designer at Social Security Scotland. An accessible, inclusive way to communicate At Social Security Scotland, we are at the start of a journey to move from ‘letters as default’ to a more inclusive, accessible approach. An approach where the method of communication meets the needs of the client….
Journey mapping as a content design tool
28th March 2025
Guest blog from Claire Robertson, Senior Content Designer at Social Security Scotland. “Journey mapping is completely fundamental to content design” (Sarah Winters and Rachel Edwards, Content Design, second edition) As content designers everything we do is based on user needs. User needs are the bread and butter of any user centred design (UCD) team. Every…
Refreshing Scotland’s Digital Strategy, part 2
24th March 2025
Guest blog post by Colin Birchenall, Chief Technology Officer, the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government. At the heart of Scotland’s Digital Strategy is the recognition that digital is a fundamental enabler for achieving the country’s priorities. Whether it is economic growth, social inclusion, or environmental sustainability, digital solutions play a crucial role in driving…
We made a content design system in 4 weeks
18th March 2025
Guest blog post from Andy Robertson, Senior Content Designer, Social Security Scotland. We built a design system for our intranet. It creates a consistent user experience for our colleagues processing benefit applications. The design system is a library of reusable content and patterns. Here is an overview of our approach to plan, write and build…
ScotAccount recognised for having significant impact on public services
21st February 2025
Blog post by Scottish Government’s ScotAccount team. The ScotAccount team were delighted to join colleagues from Disclosure Scotland at the Holyrood Connect Digital Health and Care Awards in Edinburgh on 18th February 2025. The teams were thrilled to be short-listed for the Digital Service Transformation Award for their collaborative delivery of ‘PVG Online’. The Digital…