Service Design Bristol #10

Come along to the third Service Design Bristol meetup of 2025! We'll have food and drink, a couple of great talks plus plenty of time to get to know other members.

Anyone interested in service design and human centred design is welcome whether you're an experienced or aspiring service designer, or just curious about what it's all about.

Format

18:30 - arrive and grab a drink & some food, have a chat
19:00 - talks start (with a break in between talks)
20:30 - talks finish (head to the pub!)

Talks

🎤 A more holistic approach to accessibility - Priyanca D'Souza (UK Gov)
We often separate out different aspects of accessibility. However, it’s not uncommon for people to experience multiple barriers which compound each other. If we zoom in too much on solving a problem for one group of people, we can involuntarily make experiences less inclusive.

But, real people can’t descope parts of their lived experience. The complexity of real lived experiences still exists even if we don't research or design for it. I'll be talking about the consequences of not considering intersectionality in service design.

🗣 About the speaker
Priyanca is a Senior User Researcher in the public sector, specialising in Accessibility and Inclusion. She has recently worked on complex projects for GDS, Cabinet Office, Defra and Companies House.

She aims to use her lived experience of access needs to embed inclusive practices within teams to drive forward ethical and inclusive design which better meets people's needs. Enabling people to empathise with the barriers our users can face and finding opportunities to alleviate and change things to make experiences better.

She is fascinated by the impacts different barriers and conditions can have on cognition, behaviour, people’s interactions and experiences of the world. She has a background in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, which she combines with lived and varied practical experience.

🎤 Designing the environment for design - Kat Thackray (www.peopleequalspurpose.com)
As designers, we're often required to bridge the gap between the people who want the system to change, and the people who are invested (for whatever reason) in it not changing.

Drawing on Mary Uhl-Bien's work on adaptive space and complexity leadership, and concepts ranging from design justice to professional identity, Kat will explore practical steps we can all take to create environments where good design work can happen.

🗣 About the speaker
Kat Thackray is the former director of a service design consultancy, where she led large, complex programmes of work within the public and health sectors. She has many years' experience using research, creativity and facilitation to help groups of disparate people find solutions to complex problems, and she founded People = Purpose to direct that process towards the teams and organisations themselves.

Event Sponsors

Jouma (www.jouma.uk)
Jouma is an employee-owned tech recruitment startup based in Bristol. After years of working in talent acquisition and tech hiring, we decided to join forces and do things our own way — with a focus on collaboration, not commission chasing. We help awesome companies find awesome people (and vice versa), but we’re also big believers in supporting the local tech scene beyond just filling jobs. Whether it’s through partnerships, events, or just buying the next round of beers, we’re here to be a positive part of the community.

Jouma are kindly providing food and refreshments for this event.

Pilot Works (https://pilot.works/)
Pilot Works is a digital product consultancy. We use Lean research, strategy and prototyping techniques to help clients generate and validate product and service ideas.

Kaluza (https://www.kaluza.com/)
An OVO Group company, Kaluza is an intelligent energy platform that introduces new flexibility into the energy system by optimising individual devices. Kaluza is proud to be a B Corp certified business. Kaluza are kindly providing the venue for this event.

How to find us
Head to the OVO Energy HQ office at 1 Rivergate (near Temple Meads), then follow signs to "Service Design Bristol".
Full address: Temple Quay, 1 Rivergate, Redcliffe, Bristol, BS1 6ED