In the first week of October, Martin spent time contemplating brands and branding the German public sector and in the context of public service journeys. He looked at GOV.UK work for inspiration and reference. A member of his team went to speak at a meet-up about designing public services that work for all.

Martin spent week 22 mostly in trains across Europe. In between, he had exchanges with international colleagues in Paris and Edinburgh. He talked about his work at a seminar organised by the French government and co-ran a workshop on design maturity at a service design conference.

In week 21, Martin ran the design team’s first away day, packed with workshops, exercises and discussions. He also went to the Service Design Drinks Berlin, where his colleague Sabrina presented policy design work.

Martin spent his 20th week at the DigitalService entirely at home. He helped with a design sprint and tested a team’s latest work in the making.

At the end of his 19th week at the Digital Service, Martin shares what he’s been writing and talking about and what he learned about the implementation status for EU’s Single Digital Gateway regulation.

Ending week 18 and the summer months, Martin shares his reflections on the new digital strategy. He also put up some posters in the office.

In Martin’s notes for week 15, he mostly reflects on user research activities: written, observed, experienced.

In the first week of August, Martin met with Matt Jukes, who visited from the UK, pondered about the cultural value of visual communication, and did some longer-term thinking.

Finishing his first quarter at the German government’s Digital Service, Martin recaps week 13. He went out to help with some pop-up research, met several international colleagues and also reflects on his first 90 days in his role.