Empowering bold transformation through tangible experimentation, delivering inclusive outcomes

Visualising the future of digital government

The client

A central government programme needed to communicate a bold, long-term vision for the future of digital public services.

The challenge

The challenge wasn't just about strategy — it was about making complexity visible, so teams could align, challenge, and build on it.

Our approach

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, we helped bring this vision to life through a series of artefacts designed to provoke conversation and shape thinking. We combined systems thinking, service design, and visual storytelling to explore how digital government might better serve people — particularly at the joins between services.

Through cycles of researching, sketching and prototyping, we illustrated what key components of a modern service landscape could look like. We made space for teams to interrogate assumptions, explore alternative futures, and identify the organisational and technical shifts required to get there.

Crucially, we didn't work in isolation. We co-created the work in a shared space where feedback flowed freely — from colleagues across departments to advisory groups and senior leaders. Visuals became tools for engagement — inviting discussion, fostering alignment, and making abstract concepts feel actionable.

The outcome

This work helped move strategic thinking from paper to practice, setting the stage for deeper conversations about delivery, capability, and the future shape of digital government.

Designing for inclusion in digital identity

The Client

A cross-government programme responsible for developing a secure digital identity platform to support access to public services.

The Challenge

Many people in the UK struggle to prove their identity online—especially those without a passport, driving licence, or fixed address. These aren't edge cases: at national scale, even a 1% exclusion rate leaves hundreds of thousands of people locked out of essential services. The team needed to understand who was being excluded and design ways to make the service more inclusive—without compromising on trust, usability or security.

Our Approach

We worked as part of a multidisciplinary team to explore identity inclusion through user research and rapid experimentation. Starting with a discovery, we focused on groups with low digital confidence or limited access to formal ID. We tested attitudes toward alternative documents like birth certificates and explored mental models of identity verification.

From this, we identified five promising areas to prototype—ranging from banking data and benefits records to digital vouching. Each was tested in time-boxed experiments designed to quickly assess feasibility, comfort, and risk.

The Solution

We developed three high-potential solutions:

• Digital vouching – enabling someone trusted to verify your identity
• Security questions – using personal questions tied to known data
• Joining up government data – creating more inclusive identity pathways

The Outcome

This work directly informed service design decisions and helped shape a more inclusive roadmap. It also supported proposals for legislative changes to unlock secure data-sharing—ensuring more people can access services online, while maintaining user consent and privacy at the core.