Design has the power to improve people’s lives and to help create enterprises that drive prosperity and make better use of limited resources.
At globefox, our research extends from design practice into the policy and governance conditions that shape whether services are genuinely inclusive — and what happens when they are not. We work across service design, cognitive accessibility, digital health, and the structural factors that determine who digital transformation works for.
We are developing and testing tools and strategies to increase empathy and communication between designers, clients, and service users, drawing on design practice, psychology, ethnography, educational theory, and critical studies.
Upstream 2026
How moving from digital inclusion to inclusive data is making digital work better for everyone
An upcoming policy report examining why digital inclusion alone is insufficient, and how inclusive data design can transform public services for everyone.
Cognitive Accessibility for digital health 2020-2021
According to the 2020 Lloyd’s Bank Digital Index, 16% of the UK population are unable to use the internet and their devices by themselves, and many more struggle to access and make the most of digital health products services. It’s not necessarily who we might expect either: 44% of those offline are under the age of 60, and the reasons for this are not yet fully explored.
This study was devised using service design approaches, and uses rapid ethnography, and user centricity to capture and examine the experiences of people using digital health tools and services.
These questions are explored:
- Are cognitive impairments a significant barrier or hindrance to those using digital healthcare?
- Are cognitive accessibility factors well understood and addressed yet?
If not, why, and what can we do about this?
Key themes and insights are outlined and placed in social, cultural and legal context.
A representative group of existing cognitive accessibility guidelines are placed under initial review, a draft evaluation framework established, and next steps identified.
The report has been circulated within the NHS, HMRC and HMCTS
The Cognitive Accessibility for Digital Health 2020 2021 report on Academia.edu
Design and Design values
How can we ensure the future of the design industry, if we don’t understand the full range of critical factors that underpin its current success?
On the surface the creative industries appear healthy — contributing £123bn to the UK economy in 2024. But this success is masking significant issues with how designers are treated in the workplace, and how limited resources and remits undermine their capciaty to carry out great work.
Design Values looked at how the UK design industry can reach its full potential though the lens of the expectations, values and skills of the designers themselves.
The Design & Design Values report, produced with the support of the Innovate UK Creative KTN, explores the project findings, and highlights the tension between design and values, and raises many questions around what design needs to remain effective in the future.