Will's squiggly journey to a career in service design
Will Mead’s career journey
In this series of Q&As, we’re exploring the fascinating journeys that people take into service design, and how a varied career can help make for a better service designer.
Will Mead is a Service Designer at the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) – a non-ministerial department of the Welsh Government. His multidisciplinary team works on improving services for the WRA’s existing two devolved taxes, Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposal Tax, and on the design of future tax services.
Q: What has been your career journey and how did you first encounter service design?
A: After school, I studied music and was certain that was going to be my career. Of course, it isn’t easy to make a living in music, so I inevitably ended up having lots of ‘side jobs’. These covered everything from greengrocer, to teaching assistant, to (my favourite ‘about me’ icebreaker) selling cheese at The Tower of London.
Eventually my side gigs led me into contact centres, where I gave pensions advice for a while, before moving to Vale of Glamorgan Council and the operational side of family advice services.
Around this time I decided to join a 3-year civil service graduate programme with a digital, data and technology route. The application process was rigorous but it was worth it because it was a fantastic opportunity to spend time in a number of different roles.
I worked as a business analyst at HMRC, a user researcher at Welsh Government, then in project management. By then I had a good idea of what I really wanted – to be in a role that was user-focused, working closely with the people impacted by the project, but that also gave me the big picture view. I was fortunate to have some great mentors and one of them suggested service design. When I looked into it and spoke to people already in service design, it immediately sounded like the niche I was craving. I worked in service design at the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero as my final role in the graduate programme, before moving into my first fully fledged role at the Welsh Revenue Authority in July 2024.
Q: Our theory is that a squiggly line career makes for a better service designer. How is this true for you?
A: My experience across lots of different roles means I have an understanding of all the different layers of a service. I also find I can easily relate to many of the different people I need to work with, for example in operations, because I’ve done something similar myself.
One of the biggest challenges of the role is being across so many different things at once. You need an element of depth in lots of different areas, but also to be able to step out and look at the big picture. I believe having done lots of different things helps me context switch in that way.
Even my background in music helps me. It taught me to ‘hold a stage’, which is very useful when it comes to delivering workshops. And writing music – a process of combining abstract elements together into something tangible – is both creative and structured, in a very similar way to service blueprinting.
Q: How did you go about learning about service design?
A: When I first moved into service design, learning and development budgets were tight. Luckily, the service design community is really open and I’ve learned a huge amount from other people. I’ve worked with senior service designers that have been very generous in their mentorship, including the lead service designer in my first service design role. I also found people that were happy to talk and share their experiences through joining Slack groups and communities of practice (like the Centre for Digital Public Services).
Since then, I’ve done some more formal training with the School of Good Services and Assist KD, as well as attending lots of events like the Service Design in Government conference.
In previous roles, I often felt there was a steep early learning curve, but then a plateau. By contrast, one of the things I love about service design is the learning opportunities feel infinite. And what’s exciting is the breadth of the role means very little is out of scope, so when you learn something new, you can immediately apply it.
Q: What service design work are you most proud to have been involved in? And why?
A: I can’t talk about the specifics, but I’m most proud of the project I’m working on at the moment, because it’s the first one where I’ve been there from the very start. The project is for a complex future service. It’s been really gratifying to put my stamp on a project from the beginning, consider the whole strategy and plan how I think it will be best to approach the different stages.
So far, I've been collaborating with our team to map out the service, ironing out possible pitfalls in workshops, understanding our challenges and unknowns, and co-ordinating the work pieces for a large project team. All whilst onboarding and line managing a User Centred Design apprentice. Remember what I said about context switching?!
Q: What have you found most challenging about practising service design in a government/public sector context?
A: When you’re starting out in service design, the role can feel quite ambiguous. There aren’t strict predefined processes and the avenues you could go down often feel limitless. Combined with the vast size and scope of projects that typically come up in government, that can feel intimidating. Of course, once you find your feet, the responsibility of leading a big project that impacts so many people is also hugely rewarding.
Q: What advice would you give anyone just starting out or looking to develop a career in service design?
A: There really is value in having done different roles, so I would suggest trying to get into some of the related roles like user-centred design, user experience, content design and user research. You may find one of them suits you, and there are also many skills that will translate into service design.
Aside from that, I’d highlight that it’s a community-based role. It can’t be done independently and it’s important to have people to bounce ideas off. Embrace this from the start. Talk to people in service design… including Jo at Service Works! You’ll find plenty of people that are willing to help you develop – which will make things go twice as fast.
Q: Can you recommend something to read, watch or listen to that might interest someone interested in embarking on a career in service design?
A: Good Services by Lou Downe has to be at the top of the list. Everyone recommends it, but that’s because it’s so good! Dead Ends, Lou Downe’s podcast, is also great and perhaps a more accessible way to gain an understanding of the concepts.
I've also just picked up Platformland by Richard Pope, which has already cemented itself in my mind as a foundational read for any service designer.
Finally, keep an eye on the Royal College of Art’s webinars on service design, which are always interesting.
Find out more
If you’re starting out in service design, whatever your career journey to date, our Introduction to Service Design course is the perfect way to build your understanding of the fundamentals. Three 2.5-hour sessions introduce service design to people working in public and nonprofit organisations. Learn more
