Here’s a collection of bits of feedback I’ve received over the last couple of years.

We will miss you hugely. I had no idea of the value of content designers until I met you. Previous content designers told me they wanted "strategic" work but never explained what that meant, whereas you just get on and do it. You are incredibly talented (and sometimes humorous :wink:) and our products are really great because of you. But as Harry says, you deserve so much better.

Product manager

You’re brilliant and the best content designer I’ve met or worked with but also you’re such an amazing person to be around which is a rare combo to have both!

Delivery manager

Dominic is an essential asset to Connect DPS. Though a content designer by title, and highly capable at this, Dominic is also much more: he is a service designer, a subject matter expert on NOMIS, a leader, a strategic thinker, a collaborator and enabler of collaboration within the team and with other teams, and ultimately is an outstanding civil servant.

It is not exaggeration to say that he has taken one of the most problematic aspects of NOMIS - the aliases fields generate vast quantities of bad data - and has designed what will be a transformative solution. His thoughtful and careful approach here will lead to material improvements in the quality of data that’s generated here, and will undoubtedly improve front-line staffs’ ability to complete their work on DPS. On a personal note, Dominic has been a pleasure to work with. He is humorous, enthusiastic, compassionate, honest, with the highest integrity, and I highly doubt I will work with another content designer of this level in the near future, such is the rarity of his talent. Thank you for making work easy at Connect DPS.

User researcher

Dom is an exceptional member of the team and a valued contributor to the success of our delivery. Dom’s ability to juggle a significant number of priorities since November has propelled our delivery and avoided us slowing down across multiple pieces of work. Specifically, Dom has been working to help deliver our Case Notes alpha, which is unlike most alpha’s we’re used to. Working with Data Science and throwing himself into the research around Ethics of AI has been of significant value. On top of this, Dom has also continued to make improvements to the Prisoner Profile that was launched at the end of November to the full estate. Working with the rest of the design team, Dom has helped to produce designs that answer user needs identified in opportunities from User Research. This means that our users continue to see iterative value, whilst the rest of the team is focused on the alpha. On the run up to the end of November last year, Dom also was the main driving force behind our elaborate comms campaign. This involved producing content and orchestrating its deliver across a range of media: HMPPS blog posts, user videos (where he edited and created the video), and articles for the DPS homepage. This involved liaising with some difficult stakeholders to achieve. Outside of his project work, Dom is an active and respected member of the UCD community, and has contributed to a wide range of advancements in the design space. We’re lucky to have him on the team!

Dom is a highly capable member of the team and an integral part of Connect-DPS. As a newer member of the team, it has been particularly valuable to have Dom bring lucidity to team discussions where the subject matter is complex and nuanced. In addition to the quality content designer outputs Dom has consistently delivered to the team, is also a strategic driver of the team, having recently made the case for reforming one of the team’s agile ceremonies to be more efficient and less repetitive. These strategic changes have benefited the team greatly. Dom’s content design work has always been focused on our users’ needs and he takes every opportunity to ask for feedback, input and collaboration from the rest of Connect-DPS.

Dom’s contributions to the team are consistently insightful, accessible, and leave me with a much better understanding of usually complex issues. You have an excellent grasp of both the detail and the wider implications for users and the organisation. I think you particularly have a great eye for spotting which issues are low priority now, but might become significant later if unaddressed. You are a great example to the team of collaborative working and also looking beyond professional silos.

Lastly, you are a genial colleague and an absolute pleasure to work alongside - your positive attitude to our work is really helpful in keeping all of us engaged and motivated on our projects!

Dom is instrumental to the success of the Connect DPS team, delivering on a range of projects including juggling responsibilities of continuing to improve the prisoner profile, and our new project on case notes. Dom consistently delivers work to a high standard, able to work with complexity and always putting the needs of our users first. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge into the team, often performs beyond his role, and supports other members of the team when they need it. Dom is a great communicator and is an integral part of team discussions and setting direction. He is also key when engaging with teams who need to incorporate products that Connect DPS own into their services, managing their expectations and ensuring consistency across DPS. He is also a pleasure to work with, has a great sense of humour and definitely makes being in the team an enjoyable experience!

It’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to provide PMR feedback for Dom, so I feel this really covers more than just this quarter.

Dom is literally the best design partner I could ask for! He’s always up for co-design but also has the ability to work together asynchronously. His invaluable knowledge of the profile work done prior to my joining the team and his deep understanding of the prison landscape has been incredibly valuable to me, both as someone joining a project part way through and also returning to the prison space after a few years over in probation land. He’s thoughtful and considered in his approach to everything he does and is always thinking about the bigger picture when it comes to DPS. He genuinely cares about our users and designing the best experience possible. He’s way more than a content designer, his skills span interaction, service design and research (plus a load of other skills. He’s a great presenter and facilitator and incredible at whipping up a presentation deck which tells a succinct story at a moments notice, an example being his latest DPS demo presentation on aliases. He’s kind and funny and loved and respected by his team. He really is a true leader in our UCD unit, always keeping us on track. A solid example of a member of staff who lives the MoJ values.

This quarter he’s covered loads of work on some complex areas which we need to make editable on DPS a couple of the most notable:

Dom is incredibly proactive, and will often inspire the direction of travel for the team. He’s always the first one to suggest something for the ‘DPS show and tell’ to make sure other teams have visibility of what we’re working on. He’s quick to reply to messages in our numerous collab channels in order to help other teams. His role is much more than just a content designer in a product team and he’s become a touch point for a lot of designers looking for guidance and support with their own prison products. He collaborated with the CSiP team to help them stay true to the DPS mission, provided support to the DPR team and also gave advice on the contacts work. Collaboration can take a lot of time and effort and can make it quite difficult to know who’s work to prioritise. It’s like having split loyalties between Connect’s work and thinking of the service as a whole and what’s best, so it’s a constant juggle for Dom and he always tries to give his best to all concerned.

On top of all this Dom is a great mentor and tutor to our junior content designer Nikki, who is thriving under his watchful eye and expert guidance.

This has been a really challenging quarter for Dom with the early arrival of their baby, not that this stopped him providing detailed hand over notes from the hospital, definitely above and beyond. His performance at work has been top notch, despite reduced hours of sleep. I know pay issues have also caused him real stress lately which has made me feel incredibly sad. He’s worth every penny and then some in my opinion. I’m so lucky to work with such a brilliant person!

Thank you for being the brains in our duo Dom and the one who reminds me of all the team names I forget at stand up :) You are truly brilliant and I hugely appreciate you.