Design community of practice, prototyping internal services and watching rugby in the valleys

A weeknote starting 13 October 2025.

Service design community of practice

I'm really enjoying spending time with the service design community of practice (COP) in The Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

It's nice to have a safe space to let off some steam, away from the pressure of delivery teams. It's also great to share ideas and experiences.

I've been part of COPs before where I've felt under pressure to prepare things before I attend, but the feeling here is relaxed and I think it leaves room for unplanned conversations and opportunities to emerge.

We meet twice a week and it doesn't feel like an obligation or chore.

The delivery teams also actively look to COPs for guidance on things, which is encouraging. For example, we are reviewing our team's definition of done (DOD) at the moment. So all professions are being encouraged to check in with their COPs.

This ensures any changes to ways of working are owned by the whole community, meaning they are more likely to be followed and will hopefully last the test of time.

Prototyping internal services

My main work focus this week has been setting up an unbranded prototype using the GOV.UK Prototype Kit.

It's possible to remove the GOV.UK branding, and then apply some CSS to make the components look like a different product or service. In our case, an off-the-shelf product with its own design system.

This page in the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) design system introduces this technique: remove GOV.UK branding.

I also put together some slides to help bring the team along. Not everyone on the team was familiar with prototyping in this way, and I also think there are some risks that I wanted to share before going too far.

We agreed that we would;

  • set any research participant's expectations carefully
  • make sure we are continually checking in with the product managers and software developers to ensure what we are designing is technically possible

I'm looking forward to trying out the technique to solve a real problem for users!

Watching rugby in the valleys

My youngest has started playing rugby and this weekend he had his first rainy away game. We had to get up early on Sunday and drive 45 minutes up the Swansea valley to the other team's rugby club.

When he first started rugby, I was dreading these kind of mornings, but I'm actually really enjoying watching him play. I was not into team sports or clubs at all when I was younger, but I can see that he loves it.

It's also nice to visit this part of the country. My mum's family was from this part of Wales. The landscape is pretty epic, and on a clear day you can see the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). My Grandad loved rugby too, so it feels like there is a strong family connection.

Stewart Lee

Lastly, I went to see Stewart Lee's latest stand-up show this week. I left feeling oddly optimistic. Despite that fact that his show's content, and his general persona, are mostly about despairing at the state of the world. It helps that he's incredibly funny.

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