Skip to main content
GOV.UK
Blog Digital health and social care
Organisations:
Department of Health and Social Care

How to do user research on a shoestring

Posted by: Chris Fleming, Posted on: 26 November 2015 - Categories: Services and products, User research
Image of shoe laces and shoes

User research is the bedrock of digital transformation, and without it we have no hope of developing great products and services. Ideally your team has a dedicated user researcher, you can access laboratory facilities when you want, and you have …

Read more of How to do user research on a shoestring - 1 comment

Digital capability plan - would we be better just to wait?

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 13 August 2014 - Categories: Capability

I am 38 and I have a 6 year old son. Pretty soon he'll be outscoring me at Flappy Bird.

Read more of Digital capability plan - would we be better just to wait? - 3 comments

Digital Champions – building capability across the department

Posted by: Dave Briggs, Posted on: 17 April 2014 - Categories: Capability

...that appropriate access and learning opportunities are provided Capability – confidence, comfort and skills throughout the organisation so that staff can make the most of the opportunities and avoid those...

Read more of Digital Champions – building capability across the department - 2 comments

Approaching the summit

Posted by: Dave Briggs, Posted on: 11 February 2014 - Categories: Capability

...that throwing traditional training at large numbers of people won't do it. Fine, it allows for a box to be ticked, but little actual learning takes place. Instead, the approach...

Read more of Approaching the summit

Explaining our work in pictures, captions and thought bubbles

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 27 June 2013 - Categories: Capability, Strategy

I grew up reading Tiger and Roy of the Rovers so when I noticed Susy mucking about with Stripgenerator I couldn't resist having a go. And then when I needed a slide to explain the work we're doing to develop …

Read more of Explaining our work in pictures, captions and thought bubbles - 1 comment

The DH digital strategy

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 20 December 2012 - Categories: Strategy

We've just published our digital strategy. It sets out how the Department of Health will give its staff the knowledge, skills, tools and confidence to embrace digital in an increasingly digital world. It's been quite a task to produce it and …

Read more of The DH digital strategy - 1 comment

PHP, cheese reviews, and getting your hands dirty

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 8 July 2011 - Categories: Capability

A long time ago I hand-coded a content management system from scratch using PHP and MySQL for a cheese reviews website. It wasn't a very good CMS, and it was a rubbish website. But I did it - it was …

Read more of PHP, cheese reviews, and getting your hands dirty - 3 comments

Digital engagement manager

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 13 June 2011 - Categories: Capability, Jobs

We're recruiting for a digital engagement manager at the moment. It's an internal recruitment exercise - the job is only available to current civil servants. The role is described in full on the Civil Service Jobs site (login required). Extract: …

Read more of Digital engagement manager

What will a government digital comms person do now?

Posted by: Stephen Hale, Posted on: 25 November 2010 - Categories: Capability, Content, Engagement

In a previous job, my line manager told me that if I wanted to get on I would be wise to clearly "position myself" within the organisation. He thought that I should either position myself as someone who delivered policy …

Read more of What will a government digital comms person do now? - 7 comments

Related content and links

Digital health and social care

A blog about digital work in the health and social care area within government and arm's length bodies.

Find out more.

Follow DHSC

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr

Recent Posts

  • NHSE Cohorting as a Service Alpha Assessment
  • DHSC Health Checks / Complete your NHS Health Check Alpha Assessment
  • A channel and domain strategy for adult social care content 
  • NHSE National Secure Data Environment (Get Access to Data) Alpha Reassessment
  • DHSC Implementing NHS login into NHS Active 10: a pilot for the Better Health mobile app portfolio Alpha Assessment

Categories

Recent Posts

  • NHSE Cohorting as a Service Alpha Assessment 9 June 2025
  • DHSC Health Checks / Complete your NHS Health Check Alpha Assessment 3 June 2025
  • A channel and domain strategy for adult social care content  21 May 2025
  • NHSE National Secure Data Environment (Get Access to Data) Alpha Reassessment 25 March 2025
  • DHSC Implementing NHS login into NHS Active 10: a pilot for the Better Health mobile app portfolio Alpha Assessment 11 March 2025

Useful links

  • All GOV.UK blogs
  • All GOV.UK blog posts
  • GOV.UK
  • All departments
  • Accessibility statement
  • Cookies
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright