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A whole UCD team. One accountable lead.

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The problem it's built to fix

Programmes stall when leadership and craft are split— and when AI is an accessory.

Most programmes lose momentum in one of two ways: a lead too far from the work to unblock it, or a maker too deep in the pixels to steer the programme.

AI tooling gets purchased and parked beside the process, so the double diamond still waits on handoffs. Research sits in a deck. Design waits for a brief. Delivery guesses at intent.

UCD Pilot is built to close both gaps at once: a lead that is in the work and above it, running an operating model where UCD bots carry the repetitive synthesis so the programme keeps moving.

Get the highlights

How it works

  1. Assign a user need

  2. The Lead scopes it

  3. The bots work in parallel

  4. You get an evidence pack

  5. The Lead signs it off and hands it to your build team

Nothing leaves the team without the Lead's sign-off. Work that isn't right goes back to the bots.

The team

One accountable UCD Lead and seven UCD bots. The Lead scopes work, directs the bots, and signs everything off.

  • UCD Lead (Human)

    Scopes the work, directs the bots, reviews everything, signs off, joins ceremonies and assessments.

  • Research bot

    Plans research, writes discussion guides and screeners, synthesises sessions into insights tied to user needs.

  • Service design bot

    Maps journeys and services end to end, including offline and staff steps.

  • Interaction design bot

    Builds working prototypes with GOV.UK Frontend or your design system.

  • Content design bot

    Writes and edits content to the GOV.UK style guide and plain English.

  • Accessibility bot

    Tests against WCAG 2.2 AA with automated and scripted checks.

  • Assessment bot

    Maps the work to the Service Standard and flags gaps before the panel.

  • Handoff bot

    Turns approved designs into developer-ready tickets and prompts for coding agents.

The evidence pack

Every piece of work comes with proof.

  • User need and research
  • Prototype link and walkthrough recording
  • Final content with readability scores
  • Accessibility results
  • Design decisions
  • Service Standard points supported
  • Lead sign-off

Led by experience

Your UCD Lead has 8 years on GOV.UK services, working with HM Revenue & Customs, the Home Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UK Export Finance, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ofgem, the NHS and the Scottish Government, and with commercial teams at BMW, Vodafone, Nationwide and British Airways.

The method

The double diamond, piloted

Each stage is held three ways at once: the UCD activity, the leadership work that keeps the programme moving, and the bot embedded in that loop.

  1. Discover

    Find the evidence.

    UCD
    UCD. Field research, interviews, contextual inquiry, and the evidence base that frames the problem.
    Leadership
    Leadership. Hold the policy or business question, align sponsors, and set what the programme is actually asking.
    Research bot
    Research bot. Transcript synthesis, theme clustering, and evidence tagging so findings surface in days, not weeks.

  2. Define

    Name the problem.

    UCD
    UCD. Synthesis, problem framing, opportunity definition, and the maps that make the problem shareable.
    Leadership
    Leadership. Prioritise the problem space, lock the outcome, and brief the next diamond with a decision, not a wish list.
    Service design bot
    Service design bot. Pattern extraction, journey clustering, and option comparison against the evidence already in hand.

  3. Develop

    Make and test the response.

    UCD
    UCD. Journeys, prototypes, critique, and iterative testing against real users and real constraints.
    Leadership
    Leadership. Sequence the work, unblock the team, and keep every artefact tied back to the policy or commercial intent.
    Interaction design bot and Content design bot
    Interaction design bot and Content design bot. Pattern-library support, documentation drafts, and variant exploration that the team can judge, not rubber-stamp.

  4. Deliver

    Ship a Beta that can be stood behind.

    UCD
    UCD. Interface specification, content, accessibility, and the Beta artefacts that can stand up to assurance.
    Leadership
    Leadership. Walk stakeholders through the line, close the gaps, and get the programme Beta-ready.
    Accessibility bot, Assessment bot and Handoff bot
    Accessibility bot, Assessment bot and Handoff bot. Spec drafting, checklist generation, and change logs that keep the evidence trail intact at ship speed.

The differentiator

An AI-first operating modelinside the double diamond — not beside it.

UCD Pilot treats UCD bots as embedded specialists in the research, synthesis, pattern, and documentation loop. They draft, cluster, extract, and prepare. The Lead judges, frames, and decides.

That split is the point. Velocity comes from removing the wait between a session and a usable finding, between a journey and a shareable map, between a decision and the spec that follows it. Rigour stays with the human who owns the line.

A weekly rhythm you can see

Each week runs brief, make, show, steer. You see real work every week, and every week ends with a decision.

Brief

Open the week with a question.

A framed problem, a named audience, and the decision the week is meant to unlock.

Make

Craft and leadership in the same week.

Research, synthesis, design, and the stakeholder work that keeps the line intact — with UCD bots carrying the repetitive pass.

Show

Put something in front of the room.

A journey, a prototype, a finding, a recommendation. Evidence the programme can react to, not a slide about activity. The evidence pack is what we show.

Steer

Close with a decision.

Lock the next question, drop what is not earning its place, and brief the following week before momentum leaks.

Tools & practice

Categories the pilot works in — not a personal kit list.

Design tooling

Interface, systems, and the files a team can inherit without a guided tour.

Prototyping kit

Fidelity matched to the question: from paper-fast to something a user can actually try.

GOV.UK-standard frameworks

Service-standard thinking, accessibility, and content patterns that stand up in regulated programmes.

UCD bots

Synthesis, clustering, pattern extraction and documentation, done inside the week, not after it.

Connects to Jira and GitHub. More tools coming.

Pricing

  • Free week

    One week, one real user need. The Lead and all seven bots, with a full evidence pack. No card needed. When the week ends, keep the team on a monthly subscription or walk away. Nothing is charged automatically.

    Start your free week

  • Subscription

    Monthly, priced for your team after a scoping call. Add Lead days (extra time with the Lead for workshops, show and tells or assessments), or add a second service.

    Book a scoping call

Talk to us

Tell us what you need help with. We'll reply by email within one working day. You can also reach us on 𝕏.