Dave Birss

For this month's Problems Worth Solving podcast, I spoke to Rochelle Gold, Head of User Research and User-Centred Design at NHS England. She has been working quietly behind the scenes to build up a user centred focus across the NHS's digital work. We framed the discussion around how to make the digital side of the NHS more human. I loved this example that she shared when we were discussing the value of integrating research with technology investments: “One example I give is observing someone using a hospital system. They asked for a ‘print’ button on a screen, but by watching their behaviour, we realised the real issue wasn’t printing—it was integrating that information into another system. User research isn’t about what people say they need; it’s about understanding the outcomes they’re trying to achieve.” We also talked about how NHS England is tackling one of the biggest challenges in research—breaking down silos. They have over 130 user researchers now in their team and have developed an AI-powered tool to organise and surface insights across the organisation. “We want to allow anyone in the NHS to query what we already know about a topic. It’s transforming how we manage and share research knowledge.” We discussed the importance of collaboration between policy and service delivery and how transformative this was during the the pandemic, when teams from digital, policy, and operations came together under intense pressure. “The pandemic showed how collaboration could deliver faster, more effective solutions. That’s how we should be working across the NHS—not just in emergencies, but every day.” Rochelle talked about a her vision for the future where barriers to excluded groups are removed to ensure health services are truly inclusive. “If we address the barriers faced by the most excluded, we make services better for everyone.” Link to listen to the podcast in the first comment below. #servicedesign #ai #ucd #userresearch #nhs #healthtech #healthcare

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Remember - your timescales aren't necessarily everyone else's. That's especially true of PR. When we talk to clients about pitching a press release out on a certain day, that doesn't mean it will be published on that day. Or even the following day. There are so many factors at play when journalists and publications are considering featuring your news. Here's a chart of coverage achieved by day, from a release we pitched last Tuesday. Just as many articles were published a week on, as during that first week. And we still have two journalists considering the story. It's not something you can rush - if it's newsworthy and your pitching strategy is right, definitely give it some time. #PRTips #PRAdvice #PRPitching

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Here's a handy reminder of what's expected of a Creative Director. My A to Z guide is not comprehensive; I cover more details when coaching people, but this is a good start. ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ My 'HOW TO BE A CREATIVE DIRECTOR WITHOUT SUCKING AT IT' Coaching Course starts on June 26 - there are 2 spots left. Sign up before the end of June 17 for a 10% discount. Message me or comment for more details. #creativedirector #creativecoach #advertising

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💥 We’re getting our sh*t together (pun fully intended!)💥 I am over the moon to share that we’ve WON the Innovate UK Creative Growth Grant! 🎉🥳 After 6 months of hearing "NO" on repeat: ❌ NO, we don’t fund consumer products. ❌ NO, it’s not “deep-tech” enough. ❌ NO, it’s not “life-science” enough. ❌ NO, you’re not Forbes Under Whatever and, oh yeah, you don’t have a p3nis. ❌ NO, you’re just a mum making products for other mums. ❌ NO, you don’t have enough traction. ❌ NO, you’re pre-sales, it’s too risky. ❌ NO, come back when you’ve got an MVP (spoiler alert: we will! 😉), and… ... 👻‘ghosted👻….. The good thing about rejection is it makes you better than ever before. Because of those “no’s”, we finally got the YES ✅ that matters. 🙌 And that's what counts! 💪 A MASSIVE shoutout to Asadullah Khan (more on him below) for his incredible work in helping us develop our Proof-of-Concept, which has been instrumental in securing funding 🎉 The grant will fund research that informs product development while proving that our game-changing, innovative product is exactly what parents need—and, crucially, something they’re willing to buy. 💥 🔍 We’re diving into some seriously cool stuff—working alongside the brilliant Isabel Lydall and Allyson Binnie from Curious to Clear Collective to kick-start ethnography studies. 👉 What’s that you ask? We’ll be listening to lots of parents (mums AND dads!) diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and with babies aged 3-30 months to understand their priorities on health, sustainability, convenience and affordability. We’ll be giving them an exclusive first look at our current design during focus groups and backing up insights with a significantly large quantitative study. We’ll learn exactly what functionality to prioritise in development, and—most importantly—why👏. Basically… we’re getting some SERIOUS traction🚀. And traction means more investment 💰. Stay tuned for what we’re working on because who doesn’t "love a good change®"? 😉 ===================================================== Before I wrap up: ✅ If you’re looking for a biomedical device design engineer with razor-sharp CAD skills and a can-do attitude, look this way. Asad interned with us over the last 6 months through our collaboration with the University of Southampton. His contributions have been nothing short of brilliant. Asad is a total gem 💎, and I highly recommend him. ✅ If you’re an expecting parent, or have a baby under 3 and want to be involved in the development of one of the most exciting products of our generation, DM me! ====================================================== Please like, comment, and share to celebrate this huge win with us AND boost visibility for Asad as he sets off on his next exciting adventure.🚀 #Onwards and #Upwards!!  🔥

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Impactful insight doesn't always mean doing a fresh research project. Sometimes it's about communicating existing assets differently and re-activating them across a business. Myself, Mark and Judith at EXPLNERS have seen explainer videos become such an effective way to do this - but I'm curious to know what other tools people are using? Drop a comment below 👇

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A report on AI adoption in UK agencies shows what good looks like - and how agencies need to adapt in today's world. But I'm most interested in what people are using AI for today... Yes, all the things in the image below, "efficiency, ideation, content creation, creative collaboration..." but also measurement and optimisation, surely? Later in the report (link in comments) it does mention AI & Strategic Planning... "uncovering consumer trends, streamlining research process, identifying market opportunities, informing strategic decisions with data-driven insights"... it's that last one my colleagues and I spend most of our time in, but we're sitting inside WPP's media team, GroupM, not the creative side. I wonder if media agencies are streets ahead of creative? I doubt it, but this research suggests it might be. (Research by Jules Love & Emma Wharton Love)

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A useful read for anyone creating documents in PDF format or sharing information in PPT. Accessibility in documents and websites has significantly improved over the last decade. However, with the rise of AI-generated content, ensuring accessibility is now more crucial than ever. #PDF #PPT #Accessibility #AI #nhscomms #creative #communications

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Well that’s one way to get paid! I’ve been very fortunate to work with clients who understand the importance of paying freelancers on time, but not everyone is so lucky. This may be extreme, but sometimes when reminders and messages fall on deaf ears, you just have to ramp it up. Fair play to whoever did this (assuming it’s real!). How do you feel about naming and shaming non-payers? #freelance #payyourfreelancers #invoices #selfemployed

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What if e-commerce websites put the messaging that really helps people and planet above the fold instead of hiding it away in the footer or somewhere discrete? Great food for thought! #sustainabledesign #digitalsustainability #ecodesign #webdesign #ecommerce

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Deconstructing the anatomy of content strategy with Clearleft Co founder Richard Rutter and Head of Experience Design Chris How. We are increasingly finding that without a robust and clearly understood content strategy, clients are struggling to deliver optimal outcomes for their users. This seems especially pertinent for the b2b manufacturing, biopharma and education sectors. Is this your experience? Keen to find out if content strategy ( and use of emerging tools) is becoming more of a priority in other sectors?

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🌟 How do you define and use a North Star Metric to align an organisation around a new direction? Here’s a great example of how to do it... Geoff Stead shared with me the journey he went on with Babbel as they started to feel new competition from the likes of DuoLingo. He tells the story of recognising their strengths and aligning on a learner-centric metric that reflected them and the commercial drivers. Then, how they used it to re establish product-market fit. 💭 Check out the key insights in the mini deck. 👇 There’s a link to the full article in the comments. This case study features in my programme, Finding Product Market-Fit in EdTech. Next cohort starts 7 October. DM me to find out more. ♼ Like this? React, comment, repost! #northstarmetric #productmarketfit

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𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐕𝐏𝐬 I've been around the web design block long enough to see a pattern Companies trying to make you the believe that your website is on life support if there's even a sliver of white space or heaven forbid your fonts don’t line up like a military parade. You'd think the world might end if your header was a shade off-center! But let’s hit the pause button for a second. The truth is, I’ve seen some... let's call them "sh*t" websites, with some truly crappy designs. And yet, behind those sites? Thriving businesses with sharp people making it work. It’s proof that success is a blend of marketing, talent behind the scenes, and yes, even a half-decent website (even if it’s not a masterpiece) can create a successful business. Our job as a design agency is to add value and determine if what we do will increase sales. Not everything needs to be perfect! The truth is, simplicity in web design is the way forward, it works and always has. Your website doesn’t need to be a digital festival of flashing lights and endless other sh*t to get the job done. In fact, a clean, no-nonsense design can be a game changer. Point is people like it simple stupid, so get to the point and get to it quickly. After what feels like a Monday rant penned on a Sunday, I hope everyone enjoys this view...

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“I think you’re obsessed with that (coaster)” - Adam Faulkner Yeah I was but you have to admit it was a great photo prop at a Workfree.io event 😎 I was really pleased to see how the brand has evolved since my work on it. And it was so lovely to meet people IRL from the Workfree founders, freelance communities, and fellow community leads. Been a fan of Adam’s for a while and meeting a Linkedin connect offline was weird but wonderful. It really did feel not feel like networking although it kind of technically was. It was work-free, and we were notworking. Thanks Amy Choi & Jonnie Cartmill for bringing us all together and organising a fun Workfree day. 🧡 P.S. Join me on Workfree.io 😎✌️ I’m building a community of like-minded creatives and people from advertising, marketing, branding and tech, who want to use their skills to grow businesses doing good. If you’re a founder or a creative and want to work with like-minded people who share your values and passion for a better phygital future, Join my Purpose-Driven Creatives community below and let’s collab👇 https://lnkd.in/djh5e_X8 P.P.S. I stole some extra coasters so DM me if you want me to send you one by snail mail 🐌 #notworking #networking #workfree #workandplay #purposedriven #people #creatives #businessforgood #community #branding #brandbuilding #comnunitybuilding #event #workfreelife #workfreeday #purposedrivencreatives

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I started coaching Creative Directors in 2019 after a piece I posted on LinkedIn had 800,000 views in one day. The post was titled - HOW TO BE A CREATIVE DIRECTOR WITHOUT SUCKING AT IT. It also received 10,000 likes and around 600 comments.  All of which were positive and supported the points I made. Oh, except one person, he believed decisions should be made by a committee and not by the Creative Director - I wonder how his career is going now? 🤔 🔴 So, who is my CD Coaching for? - Anyone currently in a CD role and those who aspire to be. 🔴 Why bother being coached? - This role is not easy and you can often find yourself unprepared or feel that you also need some direction. - The industry does a poor job of preparing people to step up to the CD position. - 2024 marks my 25th year since I first became a CD and I have held CD, ECD, and CCO roles across three continents, so I have amassed a lot of experience to share. 🔴 What will we cover? - Directing the work, not doing the work. - Leading by example, not exhaustion. - Winning the trust of staff & clients. - Being a better decision-maker. - Navigating agency processes. - Finding your leadership voice. - Being a good brief guardian. - Holding the ladder for staff. - Building a creative culture. - Having a vision & mission. - Staff motivation & morale. - Getting to better ideas. - Picking your battles. - Elevating the work. - Making it fun. - Hiring talent. - And more… “My best skill was that I was coachable. I was a sponge and aggressive to learn.” - Michael Jordan What others have said about my coaching? ✅ “Our time under Rodd's coaching felt like a career-defining experience. The more we learn about what it takes to be a good creative director, the more we become aware that experience is everything. This is where having direct access to Rodd's wealth of knowledge and experience really helped us make sense of our roles and the industry at large.” Tom & James C., Creative Director Duo, Port Elizabeth, South Africa ✅ “Rodd's CD course is decades of invaluable advice in a few incredibly valuable hours. His CD advice is deep and clear. And though he apologizes nearly every time before he swears, he still does. And it just makes the experience of learning from him that much more genuine.” Jon L., Creative Director, Pittsburgh, PA, USA ✅ “Rodd effortlessly consolidates a (highly successful) career’s worth of insights into a no-frills approach to coaching, making sessions fun and easy. Rodd listens with sincerity and stands ready and willing to give input on your specific situation in a way that is helpful and empowering. I can’t recommend Rodd as a coach enough!” Ryan P., Creative Director, San Diego, CA, USA I coach people worldwide. Time zones are not an issue. 🤘 My coaching is all one-to-one and tailored for each person. 🤘 Get in touch if you’d like to grab a spot - [email protected] #creativedirector #creativecoach #creativeleadership

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Some great advice to anyone concerned about AI in recruitment 🟢 Emphasise what is uniquely human about you 🟢 Just keep trying H/T to Charlie for sharing

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The retainer model’s broken. I'm not sure which straw really broke the camels back - and I’m not calling you a camel (unless you're into some odd role-play (no judgement)) - but the idea of needing an agency on hand all the time is nuts. Chatting to a CMO on Fri, they said that they had 3 agencies on retainer for different things, and that the main one wasn't being proactive. So we have one dissatisfied client, an agency getting paid monthly and not delivering. It could be that the client doesn't know what they want, and that the agency doesn't know how to deliver it. But having worked with the client on-off for 6-7 years, one thing does make sense, you need a single point of contact that doesn't alter, not an account manager that joins for 6 months and then switches. Stability in the surroundings, understanding the problem and working on an ad-hoc basis to fix problems and innovate is a really modern approach. That actually produces results! That retainer model is so old, and perforated the whole advertising industry. It’s been like it for years, but things are different now. People want a personalised service, where they feel loved, where there’s a plan from the start of where they want to get to, and we make incremental steps to address the gaps. It’s a case of using your budget to advance the brand, rather than seeing the marketing budget as a use-it or lose-it scenario. Use it in the place to make sure your brand drops the biggest, phattest impression! Word 🎤

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The cost of inconsistency? £3.5bn apparently... Thanks Andrew Tindall for sharing this interesting study from System1 on consistency, something I bang on a lot about to clients, colleagues, anyone that will listen frankly... 🤓 While this study focuses on the effect of consistency in advertising, it is worth bearing in mind the importance of connecting the dots across the wider customer experience journey too: ❣️ How does your brand *feel* to your customers? Have you designed your spaces and places (digital and physical) in a consistent way, with recognisable sensorial details that form a holistic experience of your brand? 📝 What stories are you telling about your brand? Is your messaging consistent, are you as marketers getting sick of saying the same thing? If so, it's probably working - only marketers get sick of the repetition, we are lucky if our customers hear the same thing once or twice from us with the sheer weight of media and distractions in their daily lives. 🧭 Are your channels all singing from the same hymn sheet? Internal teams and agencies are so fractured at the moment it's understandable why brands sometimes deliver a disjointed picture to customers. But uniting all agencies and suppliers with clear tools and guidelines on how your brand feels (we call it a BrandSensorium®) helps to ensure consistency of experience from one touchpoint to another. 🫡 Are your teams on the ground delivering the brand standard you expect? Too often we design a wonderful marketing/brand vision, build the ad campaign and the website, but operationally it falls down with the people charged with customer interaction not being well equipped. Immersing your teams properly helps to connect all employees and empowers them to bring the brand to life as flag-waving ambassadors for your customers. So the next time someone wants to try something different - really question why. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Change is not always a good thing. #brandexperience #brandstrategy #customerexperience #consistency #brandmanagement #customerjourney https://lnkd.in/e5v2CMCb

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The last quarter of the year is interesting, always fascinates me how people leave everything to the last minute. Common occurances like: 1. Someone enquires hoping you can start immediately when you’re fully booked (ah, no) 2. Unrealistic expectations around timeframes - I always say we’re good but we don’t own Aladdin’s lamp, we can’t fashion a miracle out of thin air pal. It always sucks to disappoint or turn away work you’d really like to take but i’ve also learnt prior preparation prevents piss poor performance (the 6 P’s, my pilot other half lent me that one) and it’s very true. Reverse engineering a timeline is always then best way to move forward with purpose and clarity. I’m not sure if it’s occurred to those guilty of 1 & 2, but anyone worth their salt isn’t waiting around to jump on a project immediately, they’re already busy hustling on projects for their clients. Food for thought ✌🏼

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Some thoughts from our head of UK Russ Wilson on the use of AI in B2B (and other research). Would love to get other feedback including from Evidenza if you'd care to comment :) Thanks Russ. #mrx #insight

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