With a public holiday on Thursday, I turned this week into a shorter one, working only 2.5 days.
On Monday afternoon, Benjamin, Magdalena, Stefan and I welcomed a delegation from Jordan facilitated by GIZ, Germany’s 20,000-people-strong international development unit. The delegation included colleagues from Jordan’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, the Service and Public Administration Commission, and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
We spent some 80 minutes discussing digital service transformation in our countries. We heard how far Jordan is in various service areas where digital service delivery is the norm. Good internet coverage is given in most part of the country and the younger generation is mobile by default, expecting government services to be, too.
We shared how we are set up as a Federal government unit, support lawmakers in creating digital-ready legislation, and co-develop service quality standards with over 40 public and private organisations. In particular, the Service Standard work that Stefan presented gained our visitors’ interest. The Jordanian colleagues are working on more service standardisation on their side, so our input was timely for them. Our GIZ liaison colleagues were grateful to hear about some good ongoing work for the first time.
Continuing interviews on the umbrella brand
Almost exactly 3 years since my first visit to the Federal Press Office, I was back in the same room as in week 3. My colleague Lena led a formal research interview with the people in charge of government brand design on the history, current practice and vision for the umbrella brand and its visual elements. I did the notetaking.
After watching the work from the sideline and only engaging through a couple of workshops in 2023 and 2024, I enjoy moving closer to the operational, tactical and hopefully more strategic work now. I am grateful for the opportunity for us, as Digital Service, to get practically involved. In my evolving view, more conceptual work must be done, which is a standpoint mirrored by only people working on the project for some time.
This week, I also took notes in a second interview, which I found equally beneficial and insightful. More interviews will follow in the coming days.
Reflecting on our team development
In our monthly cross-government user research exchange, Sonja and I shared how our user-centred design team developed in the past 4.5 years.
Some other topics were originally on the agenda, but things changed. So, Sonja and I prepared a little overview deck that talked about our structure, setup, culture, rituals and ongoing pieces of organisational design work.
I made a short animated slide section on the growth of the discipline and further differentiation of roles and profiles. We also mentioned our level framework and skill matrix.
In the session, my colleague Sonja & I shared how the user-centred design discipline at @digitalservice.bund.de developed over the past few years. For that, I create a quick overview of how #UXDesign #UserResearcher #ContentDesign #CommunicationDesign & #LegalDesign as sub-disciplines evolved. 3/X
— Martin Jordan (@martinjordan.com) May 28, 2025 at 12:44 PM
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We had a dozen colleagues from 7 public sector organisations in the room, including German parliament.
I made a short animated slide section on the growth of the discipline and further differentiation of roles and profiles. We also mentioned our level framework and skill matrix. These rounds are for emotional support and mental health benefits as much as they are for information exchange and inspiration. We all struggle with our work and make good progress at times. The conversations in circles like these reassure us that it’s not us facing obstacles.
“Hoisting the flag for user-centred design” and “fighting for user research” were 2 of the phrases we heard in our monthly cross-government user research exchange. Even though design continues to grow in-house in the German public sector, the environment remains challenging.
During the session, the colleagues from Dataport told me about 1 more design role they opened this week. That makes it currently 5 open public sector design roles all across Germany: all the way from Kiel in the very north to Munich in the south.
And 1 more: We now have 5 open #design roles across the German public sector and also the entire country—from Kiel to Munich. Dataport, the IT house of 6 Federal states, opened up a #UX #UI design position related to police and fire brigade digital services 👇🏻 verwaltungsgestaltung.de#positionen
— Martin Jordan (@martinjordan.com) May 29, 2025 at 10:43 AM
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What’s next
Next week will be a little intense.
The Creative Bureaucracy Festival takes place on Thursday. On Friday, we will host the ‘Design for Policy’ international gathering and a little lunchtime gathering with folks around.
I will also be in a 1-day salary offsite to discuss performance and growth for people in my discipline.
And I might participate in the 5×5 company team run – if I manage to move from the extended list to the regular runner list.