At the 2025 User Needs First Amsterdam conference, Kara and Martin reflected on current events and discussed what the government design community can do to protect its practice. Their talk has been recorded and is available on YouTube.
Kategorie: English
Week #161 at the Digital Service: Notes for 26–30 May 2025
Working week 161 at Digital Service was a bit short for Martin. He welcomed a delegation from Jordan, who were interested in good public service development. Together with his colleague Sonja, he also shared how the user-centred design discipline grew in the past few years at Digital Service in a cross-government exchange format.
Conference: Amsterdam User Needs First 2025
Colleagues from the Digital Service were very much present at the Amsterdam User Needs First 2025 Conference, giving keynotes and talks and participating in panel discussions and podcast recordings. Various talks were recorded and are now available on YouTube.
Meetup: Accessible for everyone
On 15 May, the ongoing ‘Öffentliches Gestalten’ series discussed ‘Accessible for everyone’ on Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Speakers included Danny Koppenhagen from DB Systel and Marion Couesnon and Susanne Henatschel from Digital Service. They demonstrated the German public sector’s efforts to design and develop the most inclusive products and services.
Week #159 at the Digital Service: Notes for 12–16 May 2025
Week 159 at DigitalService included Global Accessibility Awareness Day, for which Martin and colleagues set up the first version of an accessibility awareness and testing lab. Martin also co-ran 2 related events, internationally and locally.
Meetup: Checks & balances
On 2 April, the ongoing ‘Öffentliches Gestalten’ series discussed ‘Checks & balances’ – how we apply healthy scrutiny to strengthen trust in democracy and our current form of government. Speakers included Dr Niklas Kossow from CityLAB Berlin and Ann Cathrin Riedel from NExT.
Week #158 at the Digital Service: Notes for 5–9 May 2025
In week 158, the new government took over, and the first-ever Ministry for Digitalisation and State Reform was created. The minister was appointed and got a significant remit. Martin participated in roll-out and kick-off workshops for design systems and a cross-government brand. He also prepared events for the upcoming Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
Week #156 at the Digital Service: Notes for 21–25 April 2025
Martin recorded a podcast conversation on service design and the Service Standard in his week 156 at Digital Service. He also helped make a prototype for the new Service Standard home and planned the next peer reviews as well as forthcoming community events.
Week #155 at the Digital Service: Notes for 14–18 April 2025
Martin had a shorter week 155 at Digital Service. He participated in various content workshops, led a cross-government community event on automation and AI, and opened up new design roles.
Week #154 at the Digital Service: Notes for 7–11 April 2025
In week 154 at Digital Service, Martin travelled to Amsterdam for the 3-day User Needs First International Design in Government conference. He spoke, contributed to a podcast, recorded his colleagues’ sessions, had many conversations, and distributed the latest edition of The Service Gazette.