Ideas

Ideas, experiments and things I’d make better.

Some are client-shaped problems. Some are tiny annoyances. Some are questions about accessibility, AI, websites and the systems around them. This is where I work them out in public.

Field notes

Field note

The website is not the whole product

A small business might have a website, an inbox, forms, spreadsheets and a booking tool. Customers experience the connections between them, even when the business manages each one separately.

A clear form can still lead to a confusing experience if its reply gets lost in an inbox. Before changing the page, I’d trace what happens next: who receives the request, where the information goes and what the customer is waiting for. Improving the website sometimes means fixing the system around it.

Field note

Accessibility is part of the design

Accessibility shapes hierarchy, interaction, content and implementation. It belongs in the first decisions about an experience, alongside what it should say and how it should feel.

Can the heading describe the section without its image? Does the keyboard journey make sense? What happens when text needs more space? These questions can change the design while it is still easy to change. Audits help find gaps, but a compliance pass at the end cannot replace that thinking.

Field note

AI should remove friction, not add another tool

The useful question for a small business isn’t ‘Where can we add AI?’ It’s ‘What repetitive or confusing part of this experience can disappear?’ Another interface is only useful if it makes the work easier.

I’d start with one recurring task, understand its inputs and define what a useful result looks like. A predictable step may only need ordinary automation; a judgement-heavy step may need AI with human review. The test is whether the task becomes clearer and easier, including the effort of checking the result.

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