Why we built a user research manual (and why it matters more than you think)

Jason Stockwell, Research Operations, reflects on the work done to develop a user research manual for Defra and the importance of consistency across user research.
Jason Stockwell, Research Operations, reflects on the work done to develop a user research manual for Defra and the importance of consistency across user research.
Suzy Robinson, Head of Delivery Management (interim), shares her experiences at Civil Service Live 2025 and what she's learned from attending Civil Service Live over the past few years.
Lucy Hartley, Head of Service Strategy, Ownership and Performance, and Lisa Jeffery, Design Manager, reflect on the work being done to build a shared understanding of services within Defra’s Digital, Data, Technology and Security teams.
Helen Eden, Programme Delivery Manager for Flood at Defra, celebrates the success of our Flood Digital Team, who have been recognised for their innovative work in delivering crucial flood risk information to help protect communities across the UK and plan for the future.
Tim Howard, Deputy Director for Major Projects, Cross-Cutting Technical Services, reflects on his experience of integrating generative AI into software development workflows.
Deputy Director for Digital Delivery Richard Baines reflects on designing environments for digital delivery. Moving away from hierarchical culture and change frameworks, he outlines Defra's emerging 'outcome delivery groups' model and how it's being rolled out across the group. If …
Ayesha Tinsley explains how her team improved the content community's resources board, in the last in our series on Defra content community projects.
Content designer Lauren Stopps writes about a project to improve the content team's internal review process.
Senior content designer Louisa Mallon describes how her team planned and created a Defra style guide.
Kaitlin D'Avella explains what content designers do in the alpha stage of a project.