Katy Arnold is a user researcher and design leader with experience delivering digital public services and building design capability.

Whilst at the Home Office, she created a user-centred design community of over 250 user researchers, service designers, interaction designers, content designers and accessibility professionals and was accountable for the quality of their work across products and services used by millions of people.

As Deputy Director for Experience and Strategy Delivery she led the DDaT digital transformation programme and established the department’s first Policy Lab overseeing projects in ambiguous problem spaces with refugees, asylum seekers and victims of modern slavery. The outputs of this work fed directly into policy and service design and has helped to improve outcomes amongst vulnerable users of Home Office services.

Before becoming a civil servant, Katy worked in digital agencies with clients across the public and private sector - such as Skoda, WWF, British Medical Council and the Financial Reporting Council.

Katy holds a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction in which her focus was the use of technology by visually impaired people living in informal settlements in Kenya.

Katy has spoken at high profile design and digital events such as Mind the Product, UX Brighton, Euro IA and Service Design in Gov.

Ask Katy about:

• Inclusive ethical user research and design practice

• Building networks and leveraging social capital

• Digital transformation of large, complex organisations