Tom Eldridge | Essays on Design & StrategyOpinionated, longform narrative writing with an agenda. Thoughts on design, strategy, and the intersection of technology and human experience.https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/en-gbThe MacGuffin Pattern: A Working Guidehttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-macguffin-pattern-working-guide/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-macguffin-pattern-working-guide/For service designers putting the pattern to work on a live brief.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTservice-designdesignpatternA Missing Lens in the Service Designer's Toolkithttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/a-missing-lens-in-the-service-designers-toolkit/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/a-missing-lens-in-the-service-designers-toolkit/Standard research captures what users say they want. A lens from Jung, the Shadow, reaches the behaviour they can't consciously explain, and it changes how we design services that depend on compliance.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTservice-designgovernmentpsychologycomplianceWhy I Built an Editorial Design System for My Practicehttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/why-i-built-an-editorial-design-system/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/why-i-built-an-editorial-design-system/Instead of building another portfolio, I created a space designed to hold work over time—inspired by the Eames' exhibition thinking and shaped by service design principles.Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMTdesign-systemsservice-designportfoliodigital-gardeningMatter that thinks, maps that travelhttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/matter-that-thinks-maps-that-travel/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/matter-that-thinks-maps-that-travel/The representational tools service designers use aren't primarily shaped by what best captures the complexity of a service, they're shaped by where design sits in the organisational hierarchy.Sat, 21 Mar 2026 09:00:00 GMTservice-designsystems-thinkingdesign-leadershiprepresentationDesigning at the Wrong Layerhttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/designing-at-the-wrong-layer/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/designing-at-the-wrong-layer/AI interface design is not failing because designers lack skill. It is failing because designers are being asked to work at the wrong layer—and design leadership needs to reckon with what that means.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 09:00:00 GMTAIdesign-leadershiphuman-AI-interactionUXThe MacGuffin Patternhttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-macguffin-pattern/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-macguffin-pattern/For service designers who want to change the constraints they work within.Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:30:06 GMTservice-designdesignpatternThe Constraint Was The Curriculumhttps://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-constraint-was-the-curriculum/https://www.strategyxdesign.co.uk/essays/the-constraint-was-the-curriculum/An essay on the benefits of designing friction into a service so that the capabilities of users increases as a resultThu, 11 Dec 2025 09:38:06 GMTservice-designdesignuser-centred-design