Service Design YAP Service Design Network UK

In this episode we meet designer Emma Parnell and talk about working out when its time to move on.    In

Many of our episodes focus on finding your idea job, but knowing when it time to go is equally, if not more important.  Emma talks about the leading indicators that should nudge us to to consider finding our next role, even when we're working in a great role with people we love.

We also have a great student question from Carin Effendy,  from the University of Bath, who's asks about evaluating the real values of a new employer.

One of Emma's favourite sources is Lou Downe's Good Services. Its a classic.

About Emma

Emma Parnell has 15 years experience as a designer. This is split between strategic brand development and user centred design for products and services. Emma has supported a wide range of organisations to design services that work for the people who use and deliver them including Tesco, NHS Digital, Cancer Research UK and many other public and third sector organisations.
Building connection is at the heart of Emma’s work. She is passionate about the relational aspect of service design because ultimately services are delivered by people, for people. Emma is a champion for inclusive design and equity of access for all - especially in the gender diversity space.







Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya

Many of us started are career as business consultants before finding Service Design, however, few of us can claim that the lure of a free Friday fish and chip lunch started their design career journeys. 

Daniel Tuitt's career journey  has given him a great perspective about portfolio careers, where commercial and pro bono projects can be balanced to "pay the bills and feed the  soul".  Portfolio careers are not for everyone, but, for the right designers, they can provide vital autonomy when it comes to taking work that's aligned to your values.

Daniel also sets out some ground rules about working with and for under-represented groups.  He talks about how vital it is to avoid positioning designers as saviours and how engaging stakeholders in community co-design projects involved balancing listening, respecting input and paying participants.

Thanks to Ruchi Lockande, who recently graduated from Brunel Uni for this episode's student question.

About Daniel

Daniel is an Accredited Service Designer master trainer with Global Service Design Network with over 12 year experience in innovation strategy, business and service design. Through his portfolio career, he has helped large international organisations, startups, and social impact organisations navigate complex challenges while challenging them to think about WHY and HOW they create new value. He works with brands, including Nike, Lloyds Bank, Ministry of Justice, Samsung, BT, Lego, and Vodafone, to identify challenges that stop growth. He helps businesses discover & leverage new technologies, business models, service opportunities, systems thinking & co-innovation as a lead service designer. Daniel is obsessed with the intersection between building communities, unrepresented startups and creating new value worldwide.

Links from this episode.

The Wheel of Privilege
Climate Labs UK
Open IDEO
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? By Michael Sandel 




Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya

In this episode we talk with Clive Grinyer. He's not only one of the most universally respected members of the UK service design community, but also a fantastic storyteller, as evidence by the podcast which flows between the Aristotelian version of love and Taylor's version (yes, that Taylor). 

We talk about  the relationships between love, trust and a healthy bottom line and how more companies need to take the value of  “customer love”, ubiquitous in mission statements, and bake these into customer journeys.

Clive's new project , Project Love,   considers how designers can design with love and design to foster the conditions that promote love between human beings.  And this could not have come at a better time.   For a world that's seemingly obsessed with "Love Island", the daily news  indicates that love is definitely not all around at the moment.


References in the podcast

How Korean smart crossings are helping mobile fixated citizens to cross roads.   Wired article here.
The Speed of Trust  video here ... or book (please consider buying a preloved version).

Clive's book Redesigning Thinking  will be published in 2025. 

Clive's Bio



Clive Grinyer is an advisor and trainer in service, digital and transformation 


design. He is a strategic advisor to Bosch and has delivered executive training 


in design to companies including Honda, Panasonic, the Dorchester Hotel 


chain, UK Fire and Rescue services and the Bank of England.


Clive has led design and innovation teams for Barclays Bank and Cisco, set up design studios for Samsung and telecoms company Orange and was Director of Design and Innovation for the UK Design Council. He started his career with 
innovation consultancy IDEO in the US and was the founder of the design consultancy Tangerine along with Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive. Clive was Head of Service Design at the Royal College of Art (RCA) from 2019 to 2023.


Creative review placed Clive in their Top 50 and described him as “a passionate advocate for the transformational potential of design for some three decades. Today’s focus on the value of digital product design and on design’s value in leading customer experience in the UK is, in large part, due to his work." 


Clive speaks at international conferences and is the author of the book “Smart Design”, on design and technology, and is writing his next book “Redesigning Thinking” on how to use design methods to make better decisions. He hasbeen a trustee of the Royal Society of Arts and Chair of the Design Business Association Design Effectiveness Award







Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya

Kris Kelly-Frère is a singular individual.  When we first met at a design event, the room was filled with austere design folk in cookie-cutter black t-shirt and black jeans. Kris was the only person wearing a kimono.   You just knew that he'd have something interesting to say.

It turned out that Kris has a lot to say about the concept of Play . Especially how fostering the conditions for play helps groups to collaboratively design better and bolder solutions that are relevant for them and their stakeholders.

He's passionate about taking concepts developed for encouraging autonomous and intrinsically  motivated play in kids and applying this to service design engagements.  This very different approach, has yielded very different outcomes with materially better impact.

There are two things to note in the podcast. 

First, although we started out with the intention of following our  YAP interview framework, Kris' "natural talent for storytelling" meant that we  departed from the framework before we'd really started... and the episode is all the better for it. 

At one point a woman dresses as a bee and rides a penny farthing.  Sometimes you have to give in and go with it. 

Second, this is the first time that we've used AI to edit the episode. The results were interesting, rather than time saving. I'm sure that things will improve.

About Kris



As Creative Practice Lead for J5 Design, Kristofer Kelly-Frere makes magic serious business and wants to help you explore the edges of what seems possible. J5 is a design studio dedicated to creating a kinder, more beautiful future together in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

With more than 15 years of experience in senior design roles, Kristofer has worked across a range of public, private, and government institutions to craft experiences, lead deep engagement, found design labs, and deliver ground-breaking social impact projects. Kristofer led the team responsible for “Braver Training Grounds” - a project with Red Deer Housing Authority that won the 2022 Global Service Design Award. Success like this is the result of his love for playing in the mud of ambiguity in order to move innovative dreams across the threshold into reality.


Links & Peeps  that Kris mentioned in our podcast:

The Land.  A short film about adventure play in England/North America.  Kris said that he's  intrigued by the kinds of questions it asks if you start thinking about comparing the dynamics between the play workers and kids vs. designers and clients. And for me lets us think about the magic and messy space between design (solutions) and art (questions) that we might call play.

In the episode Kris mention some incredible folks who have influenced his  practice.

Erin Dumenko, Lisa Latouche (https://lnkd.in/gKqsjrfB), Meghan Durieux, Moraig McCabe 


Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya

In this episode we have a frank and fresh talk with Jenny Winfield about Trauma Informed Design Research. We discuss Jenny's route into the profession and she provides a clear and concise overview of Trauma Informed Design, and its four pillars:
SafetyTrust/TransparencyAgency &Hope Jenny also shows how these have been applied in her favourite projects - who knew that death doulas existed?

Links to references in the podcast:

This is HCD.  A great intro to Trauma Informed Design.
Practicing without a licence.  An academic paper that looks at negative impact of  design research turns into therapy, by Tad Hirsch

To learn more about  Chayn, a charity supporting those experiencing gender-based violence,  (or to support them with a donation) click here.

Jenny's site: www.jennywinfield.co.u


Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya

In our last episode of 2023 we meet Jeanette Clement, a seasoned service design leader who helps organisations meet the needs of users through evidence-based decisions, collaborative design and problem solving strategies.
Jeanette currently working as the Head of Service Design at BT and EE, where she is leading a user-centred transformation within the organisation.

Under Jeanette’s guidance,  the User Research team and now the Service Design team have blossomed, delivering value through  user-centered approaches and agile methodologies.

In the episode Jeanette talks about how design has been championed at BT by  its Design Director, Connor Ward and the ground-breaking Design Apprenticeship Scheme, set up recently by Richard Chong, who sadly passed away this year. Donations can be made to Richard's charities here.

Jeanette also mentions the  inspirational work of Kate Tarling,   and specifically her work around the Service Organisation.
 Jeanette previously held the position of Head of Design and User Research at Parliament Digital Services. Here, Jeanette established multidisciplinary teams, fostering an agile and lean approach to design and development.


BT Design's blog can be found here.






Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.


Episode Host: Stephen Wood Production Assistance: Jean Watanya