Hi, I'm Claire, and I'm the content designer working on a project to improve the planning application process here in Wales. I wanted to share some insights into my role and how we're making things easier for everyone.
Getting clarity
As a content designer, my job is all about understanding user needs. With the help of the rest of my team, I find out what people need from a service and what the service needs to achieve. I look at what content isn't working so well and then try to fix it. I take complex information and transform it into something clear, understandable, and actionable.
I work with our user researcher, listening in on interviews with members of the public. This has been invaluable, giving me real insights into the challenges people face when navigating the planning system.
I also speak with planning teams and collaborate with the service designer to map out the planning permission journey. This helps us identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
Providing a clear, consistent experience
The goal of this phase of the project is to create some information patterns that all local planning authorities can use. This will be particularly helpful for householders who are completely new to the world of planning permission.
If you've never dealt with planning applications before, our goal is to help you to:
- easily understand the planning process
- determine if you need planning permission
- understand the benefit of pre-application advice and how you can get it
We involve a translator in the early stages of creating a prototype. This makes sure our Welsh content is as clear and easy to understand as the English.
Our translator and I pair wrote together, which helps keep context and avoids things getting ‘lost in translation’. CDPS has improved this process with ‘trio writing’ - you can learn more about its benefits and how to do it here.
Connecting with the planning teams
Meeting the dedicated people who work in planning has been a real highlight for me. They are committed individuals working hard to serve their communities.
Being a mentor
I've also had the wonderful opportunity to mentor an apprentice, in content design as part of this project. It's been incredibly rewarding to share my knowledge and experience with someone new to the field.
Seeing Ruth grow and develop her skills has been a real highlight.
It's been a privilege to mentor the next generation of content designers and play a small part in her journey.
Mentoring has reinforced the importance of clear communication and user-centered design and made me reflect on my own work.
Dealing with challenges
Of course, there have been challenges. One of the biggest is hearing how stretched everyone is, often lacking the resources they need to do their jobs effectively.
Another challenge is the sheer variety in how each local planning authority operates.
Everyone has different processes, systems, and services. Getting a consistent approach across the board is a complex task.
What's next?
We're in the final stages of developing our prototype, and the next steps are to:
- get it signed off
- hopefully, partner with at least one local planning authority to embed the prototype on their website
Once it's live, we'll be measuring its success and using it as a case study to promote best practices.
Get involved
We are currently looking for homeowners to help us test. If you can spare up to 45 minutes and show us how you would use the website we’ve built, fill in this form.
You’ll receive a £20 shopping voucher as a token of our appreciation.
If you’re interested in learning more about the planning project and would like to receive regular updates on progress, sign up here.
