Re:Design

Spending time outdoors can improve our physical health, reduce stress, build community and deepen our emotional connection to the world around us. But for many people, barriers appear long before they arrive - in the decision to visit, the journey to get there, and the feeling that a green space simply isn’t for them. So how do we make nature truly accessible from the very first point of contact? In this episode we explore the full inclusive journey to nature - from pre-visit information and representation, to on-site infrastructure, sensory friendly play areas, and the emotional connections that keep people coming back. We talk about lived experience, dignity, community, and why accessible design in outdoor spaces is as much about cultural welcome as it is about physical access. Our first guests are Ellen Devine, Wellbeing Projects Manager, and Kate Allan, Programme Manager for the Defra-funded Access for All programme, both at Forestry England. Ellen’s focus is on connecting people with forests for their health and wellbeing, while Kate is leading a £3 million investment to improve the accessibility of the nation’s forests - from Changing Places toilets and mobility scooters to inclusive play areas and PECS communication boards. Together they share how co-design with disabled visitors and their families has shaped real, life-changing improvements across Forestry England sites. We’re also joined by Amber Merrick-Potter, Public Engagement Producer at the National Trust. Amber leads on public engagement and nature connection programmes including the Trees of Hope project - the initiative that saw 49 saplings grown from the felled Sycamore Gap tree gifted to communities across the UK. She is also a Churchill Fellow who has researched and written extensively on best practice in nature connection. We discuss how the Sensory Trust’s Access Chain model reveals the barriers that exist at every stage of a visit to nature - and why organisations too often jump straight to the on-site experience without addressing the decision-to-visit stage. Kate shares how inclusive research with one family transformed the design of a Changing Places facility at Thetford Forest, while Amber explains how the National Trust’s Blossom programme and Go Jauntly Naturehood walks bring nature into inner-city communities. Ellen makes the accessibility ROI case for nature - showing how emotional connection with the natural environment drives both wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. We also hear about Forestry England’s Virtual Forests hub, which brings nature to people who can’t physically get outdoors, and why cross-sector partnership - across transport, health, education and the natural environment - is essential to making inclusive placemaking in green spaces the norm rather than the exception. A warm, hopeful and deeply practical conversation about moving beyond simply opening gates - and creating outdoor spaces where everyone feels welcome, represented and able to belong. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

Start-ups are often driven by bold ideas, new technology or innovative data. But too often teams fall into the trap of building what they think people need, rather than what users actually value. So how can human centred design help start-ups test assumptions early, uncover real needs, de-risk investment and avoid expensive mistakes? In this episode we explore how inclusive design thinking and user-centred research can transform the start-up journey - from first idea through to minimum viable product and market positioning. We talk about rapid prototyping, inclusive prototyping, futures forecasting, funding strategies, and why starting small but meaningful often leads to stronger, more sustainable growth. Our first guest is Ben Peacock, Co-founder and Managing Director of REWILDlife, a start-up creating AI-powered conservation technology that enables people to connect with nature at a local and global scale. Through the Design to Deliver programme, Ben and his team developed the Nature of Things platform - which uses live GPS species data and AI-based storytelling to give nature a voice and inspire environmental action. Ben shares how evidence-based design and user research completely reframed REWILDlife’s product strategy, leading to a dual-interface platform for both conservationists and the general public. Our second guest is Giulia Bencini, Senior Service Designer at the Satellite Applications Catapult, part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network. Giulia works within the User-Centred Design team, ensuring that innovation happens with real people and real problems in mind. She brings insight into how the Catapult supports UK companies to accelerate the invention and adoption of space data and technology - and how design thinking plays a critical role in helping start-ups move from concept to commercially viable product. We discuss why making the right thing matters more than making the thing right, and how inclusive research with real end users - from conservationists to primary school children - can completely pivot a product’s direction. Ben shares how journey mapping and rapid iterative prototyping helped REWILDlife reach MVP faster and at lower cost, while Giulia explains how minimum viable products allow start-ups to generate revenue and test value before committing to complex, expensive builds. We also explore the accessibility ROI of design - how to make the business case for design thinking when budgets are tight - and hear practical advice on funding routes including the Design to Deliver programme, EIS and SEIS schemes, and free AI tools that allow start-ups to build and test prototypes with almost no upfront cost. Giulia and Ben both make the case for embedding designers early in a start-up team, not as an afterthought, but as a strategic partner who helps define the product, the audience and the path to market. A practical, energising conversation for anyone building something new - proving that when you put users at the centre from day one, you don’t just build better products, you build better businesses. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

Travel can be empowering, freeing and confidence-building - but it can also be stressful, exhausting and exclusionary. When physical, digital or systemic barriers are present, the passenger experience become something very different. And what about the journeys people never make at all, because the system wasn’t designed with them in mind? In this episode we explore what an inclusive journey really looks like - beyond step-free access and signage. We talk about anxiety, confidence invisible barriers, lived experience, and the gap between passengers and not-yet passengers. From ethnographic research at a major UK rail station to community-led design for calm spaces, this is a practical, honest look at how transport systems can evolve from simply moving people to genuinely supporting them. Our first guests are Alayne McDonald, Community Rail Development Manager, and Bee Clark, Access and Inclusion Lead, both at Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership (OxCRP). OxCRP is a grassroots organisation working to strengthen communities’ relationship with rail and public transport across 22 stations in the county, with a particular focus on empowering underrepresented groups through travel confidence programmes and inclusive research. Mima worked with OxCRP to develop a community-led technical requirements document for the design of station-based calm spaces - designated areas within train stations designed to provide a restorative environment for individuals experiencing sensory overload. We’re also joined by Anne Spaa, Senior Innovation Consultant at Connected Places Catapult. Anne leads engagement and impact work for the Station Innovation Zone, an innovation test bed at Bristol Temple Meads where SMEs trial technologies to improve the passenger experience. She has also taken on the lead position for the Scaling Innovation Programme, delivered as part of the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT), which is shaping the future of accessible travel for disabled people across the UK. We discuss how evidence-based design and ethnographic research - including passenger intercept interviews, journey shadowing and community workshops - can uncover the barriers, pain points and feelings that shape how people experience transport interchanges. We hear how OxCRP’s Travel Proficiency Certificate is empowering disabled people to see public transport as a genuine choice, and why inclusive placemaking at stations means thinking about the role these spaces play in community health and wellbeing, not just transit. Anne shares how the Connected Places Catapult bridges the gap between innovators, industry and the public sector - turning research into tangible solutions like Aubin, a journey planner app for neurodivergent passengers that emerged from the Station Innovation Zone programme. And we explore the accessibility ROI question: how do we move from purely financial return-on-investment models to socioeconomic ones that capture the true, long-term value of inclusive design in public transport? A compelling conversation about why accessible design in transport isn’t about giving extra tools to those already disabled by the system - it’s about changing the system itself. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

What does it really mean for a museum or gallery to be inclusive - not just physically accessible, but genuinely welcoming to everyone who walks through the door? And what happens when inclusive design is embedded from the very start of a project, rather than added as an afterthought? From multisensory interactives and sensory friendly programming, to co-design workshops with local communities and audience testing with children as young as two, this episode explores what it takes to create exhibitions that offer genuine choice, permission and representation for all visitors. Our first guest is Fiona Slater, Head of Access and Equity at the Science Museum Group. Fiona joined the group in April 2021 in a newly developed role overseeing the group’s public commitment to being open for all. With over 15 years championing inclusive and accessible practice across museums and the third sector, Fiona brings deep expertise in making cultural spaces work for diverse audiences - from Relaxed Sessions and Community Access Schemes to the development of on-gallery Access Hubs and online access resources. Our second guest is Anat Talmor, Design Director at award-winning architectural practice De Matos Ryan. Anat has significant experience across museum, cultural and educational projects, and has been responsible for key design development and delivery on projects including WonderLab: The Bramall Gallery at the National Railway Museum in York, the Young V&A base build in Bethnal Green, and the Tullie House Museum redevelopment in Carlisle. Anat is passionate about working with communities and has led many of the practice’s ambitious co-design programmes for cultural institutions. In this episode we discuss what accessible design looks like in practice across gallery and exhibition environments - from pacing high-energy and calm spaces, to engaging all the senses beyond the purely visual. We hear how centring lived experience early in the design process leads to richer, more surprising outcomes, and why the timing of that engagement matters. Anat shares how inclusive prototyping and audience testing at WonderLab and the Young V&A - including attaching GoPro cameras to nursery children - uncovered insights that transformed the design. Fiona discusses the importance of visitor inclusion through Relaxed Sessions, Access Hubs and the Community Access Scheme, and why removing financial barriers is a crucial part of accessibility. We also explore the role of the accessibility consultant in the design team - not just as a technical sense-check against access standards, but as a source of creative provocation that pushes projects further. And we hear how both Fiona and Anat see multisensory, universal design as the future of exhibition-making - not designing for a small group, but creating experiences where everyone benefits. A practical, honest and inspiring conversation about why design equity in cultural spaces isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s where the most creative, rewarding work happens. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

Whether it’s a world-class sporting arena, art gallery, music festival or museum, how do you create an experience for the end user that will keep them coming back for more? In this episode, we draw on experts from a variety of sectors to uncover what the key factors that go into creating a seamless visitor experience. Ross Calladine is Head of Business Support for VisitEngland. As part of his role, Ross is VisitEngland’s in-house accessibility specialist developing initiatives that help tourism businesses and destinations tap into the high value, growing accessible tourism market.  Ross has led the development of an innovative Accessibility Guides website, spearheaded the production of a number of guidance booklets and he also manages VisitEngland’s Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award, which recognises leaders in the field. Ross also convenes and chairs England’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group comprising leading accessible tourism stakeholders. Ross was appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism by the UK Government in January 2022 and regularly speaks at industry events, most recently including 1st UNWTO Conference on Accessible Tourism, World Travel Market, ITB Berlin and Destinations for All World Summit. Anna is Co-founder and Director of Partnerships at Smartify, a global guide to art and culture. Partnering with the world’s cultural heritage organisations, Smartify empowers people to connect with the world’s creativity. Anna is also a Trustee of Tate, the youngest ever trustee of a UK national museum. She is also Trustee of Hope in Haringey. Anna was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019 and Apollo Art Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list in 2021. She sits on the UK5G Creative Industries working group and Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC).

Have you ever seen a vision for the future of your industry or noticed an alarming gap that you could create a solution for? Or have you ever found yourself wanting to create change to best suit the needs of everyone, but felt frustrated in your attempts, or didn't even know where to start or even how to get your stakeholders to buy into it? In this episode we speak to prominent innovators and change makers, on how best to create impactful and enduring change. First guest is internationally renowned human centered change and Innovations specialist, Matt Marsh. Matt's early roots lie in the behavioural sciences and was a studio director for the award-winning innovation firm, IDEO, as well as innovation envoy for the UK’s Design Council. He has over twenty-five years of experience providing the creative, empathetic and progressive leadership that helps organisations change, transform and innovate successfully. Recent clients include Barclays, Lloyds, Vodafone, Microsoft, the NHS, Virgin Atlantic and Guide Dogs. His first book, “People-Shaped, Tales and Tricks of a Human Centred Designer” details his approach to change and have assisted organisations in a range of industries. Our second guest is Dr Nicky Longley, an inspiring leader and very people passionate. Dr Nicky Longley is a consultant physician in Tropical and Travel Medicine at HTD and Associate professor in travel medicine at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Nicky has trained in London, Uganda and South Africa and played a key part in a project creating better access to the NHS for Asylum Seekers. The project came about during Covid, we'll talk more in depth about it's start, challenges and the outcomes on the episode.

Set against the backdrop of the prolific rise of AI and the pace of technology and innovations continuing at a pace, what is the best way to get to genuinely innovative and creative solutions? In this episode we delve into how design principles, and creative storytelling as well as new technology have been used in transformation projects, both large and small. Our first guest, Will Reddaway, Head of Innovation at East West Railway is helping drive organisational and cultural change by challenging the status quo in strategic innovation leadership and our second guest is Tim Murdoch, Co-Founder of Waymap, a former Vodafone innovator and current Business Development Lead at Cambridge Design Partnership. His career has seen him bring people-centred innovations to the masses across various industries. In this episode we discuss innovative projects they’ve both worked on including Waymap and Vodafone’s M-PESA project. M-PESA is Africa's most successful mobile money service and the region’s largest fintech platform, providing more than 51 million customers across seven countries with a safe, secure and affordable way to send and receive money, top-up airtime, make bill payments, receive salaries, get short-term loans and much more all over SMS-text – and this is BEFORE smartphones! Will shares learnings from working on the Crossrail project and how he’s using that as an industry baseline, with plans for East West Rail, to be the new tidemark for the industry. We discuss what innovation really means, what it looks like, who needs to be involved, and why it doesn’t always have to be complicated. We also discuss the challenges and blockers for innovation as well as solutions and the impact some are already having. Finally we discuss the future of their respective industries and how technology and AI for example is already affecting and can help shape the future of innovation. A truly interesting and inspiring conversation!

A billion people - that’s 15% of the world’s population - live with some sort of disability, so ensuring equal access to travel is not just simply the right thing to do not just from an ethical standpoint but it’s also just good business. From temporary and permanent disabilities to impairments to speech, vision, hearing, communication, sensory processing, and physical limitations such as people who require walking aids and wheelchair users, there is a significant and growing need for accessible travel.In this episode we speak to two fascinating guests, Jenny Mclaughlin, a Project Manager at Heathrow Airport working on the Airside / Landside Delivery team currently working on the Kilo Apron Development (KAD) project, and also Martin Heng, Internationally recognised accessibility travel expert who previously worked at Lonely Planet for 20 years, first as an Editorial Manager and then became as their first Accessible Travel Manager. We break down what accessible travel can look like for different people, Jenny discusses projects she's worked on including the Inclusive Design Overlay project and the Umbrella Project, as well as discussing Heathrow’s ‘Open to All’ 2019 paper - the biggest report into passengers and why they hadn’t travelled.Martin shares how his travel experiences changed after an accident in 2010 making him a wheelchair user,  how he created and maintains the world’s largest collection of Accessible Travel Online Resources, featured in the UNWTO’s Good Practices in the Accessible Tourism Supply Chain, and also discusses the business-case for making travel accessible for all, with examples of those who have done this already.We finally discuss the future of travel and what they envisage it to look like for everyone. Find out how instead of expecting people to adapt to the world, we can make efforts to adapt the world to the people who live in it.

Happy customers means happy business right? So, how do you make sure that the customer’s voice isn’t lost in the maelstrom of all the moving parts of your business? A common failing across multiple sectors and industries and in this episode we discuss how you can overcome it. Joining our hosts Emily and Oli from Mima is our first guest, Derek Bishop. He's a  a world-renowned expert in culture change and employee experience, and director at Culture Consultancy. They design and align organisational cultures to elevate business performance through creating strong leadership and high-performing employees based on a sense of purpose, core values and the right behaviours. Our second guest is Andrew Dickinson, a hugely experienced Head of Train Service delivery, having worked in the industry for nearly 20 years, currently the Service Delivery Director at KeolisAmey Docklands.   We discuss what culture is, the impact it can have on businesses, what 'good' and 'bad' culture can look and feel like, and also discuss in depth projects including a project Andrew has led on partnering with Transport for London (TfL) and The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to trial NaviLens, an app designed to help blind or partially sighted customers navigate stations.  Join us as we find out how to put the customer at the heart of your business and create a step-change in performance by changing your business culture.

Welcome to episode one of Re:Design.  In the first episode of the series we discover the fascinating world of human-centered design in two vastly different domains - museums and airports!  In this captivating episode, we bring together two incredible guests: Fiona Slater, the Head of Access and Equity at Science Museum Group and Kirk Goodlet, Senior Director who specialises in strategic planning, border facilitation, biometric technologies, the future of mobility and helping organisations identify and remove barriers to equal access. Fiona's role centres around ensuring access and equity for each visitor, from the functional layout of the museums to the programs available for public participation. Guided by the experience of people with potential barriers, Fiona and her team aim to create an environment suited to every visitor's needs, providing a personalised experience that enhances learning and enjoyment. Kirk's work focuses on identifying and eliminating barriers to equal access, combining his experience in aviation with his personal passion born out of being a father to a child with a disability. We discuss the challenges they both face in their roles and industries, how we can break down echo-chambers in the fight for accessibility and also where they think their respective industries are headed. Happy listening!

In the ever-shifting landscape of innovation and evolution, "Re:Design”, a 6-part series by Mima, a design agency that anchors the essence of what truly propels our world forward: people.  Dive into stimulating and fascinating conversations as Mima brings together experts and visionary thinkers from diverse industries together to unravel the power of human-centred design in addressing the most intricate business challenges of our era.   Together, each episode invites listeners to traverse unfamiliar grounds, cultivating connections and harvesting insights that go beyond the conventional. As the nexus between intricate business puzzles and human-centric solutions becomes clearer, Mima champions the call for intentional and compassionate design, placing humanity at the core of progress. "Re:Design" isn’t just a podcast; it's a movement. A call to action. A beacon for all those who believe in shaping a world that resonates deeply with the human spirit. Join your hosts, Mima’s Oliver Bennett-Coles and Emily Yates, plus guests as they try and craft a blueprint for a future which inspires better design for all of us. Catch episodes every fortnight from 25/10/23.