Government modernisation

Scaling UX Across a High-Risk Portfolio

Introducing and scaling UX across a large government modernisation portfolio where internal services had historically been delivered without dedicated UX.

Role: Senior UX and Service Design Lead
Context: Large government modernisation portfolio
Impact: 2,600-3,000 internal screens redesigned

2,600-3,000 screens redesigned across the portfolio

Earlier UX input introduced before key delivery decisions were locked in

Shared patterns used to scale consistency across teams and journeys

The challenge

The portfolio involved high-risk internal systems with thousands of screens, long-standing usability issues, and significant operational complexity. Without UX embedded early, there was a real risk of locking old problems into modern platforms: training burden, workarounds, inefficiencies, and poor user experiences rebuilt at scale. The challenge was not just improving individual screens, but helping teams understand the wider service, the operational impact of poor interaction design, and where design decisions needed to be made before delivery gathered too much momentum.

My role

Operating under the Capgemini umbrella, I provided senior UX leadership across service and interaction design. I set direction, established standards, and helped ensure UX was credible, consistent, and aligned to GDS and accessibility expectations. That meant working with delivery leads, stakeholders, and wider teams to move UX from something consulted late to something used as part of how delivery risk was managed.

What I did

Introduced UX earlier in delivery so concepts, flows, and interaction decisions could be validated before development effort was committed, reducing costly late-stage redesign.
Used service design artefacts, including blueprints, journeys, and service models, to make operational complexity legible for teams and stakeholders and to connect interface decisions back to service impact.
Established reusable interaction patterns and shared ways of working so design quality could scale across teams rather than relying on one-off fixes.
Helped frame UX in practical delivery terms, making it easier for programme stakeholders to see its value in reducing risk, improving usability, and supporting more consistent implementation.

Outcomes

UX became embedded across multiple teams rather than introduced late as a delivery add-on, improving design influence at the point where key decisions were still changeable.
Approximately 2,600-3,000 internal screens were redesigned as part of the modernisation effort, with greater consistency across journeys and interaction patterns.
Reuse and earlier validation reduced delivery friction, supported better conversations with stakeholders, and increased confidence in design-led decisions across the portfolio.