I'm Iain Broome and Very Meta is my freelance content design studio. I’ve been writing and designing with words for more than 20 years. I’m currently working on an important, challenging project with the team at Public Digital. I’m also developing two guides on how to create accessible green and blue spaces for The Wildlife Trusts.Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: @iainbroome
Follow me on Bluesky
Like most sensible people, I stopped using Twitter last year and now post most days on Bluesky. There are plenty of other content and design folk that you can follow there too.Follow @iainbroome.com on Bluesky
Recent projects
Content strategy for a brand new area of GOV.UK
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The culmination of a year’s worth of research into the local plan-making process, I wrote a content strategy for a new area of GOV.UK dedicated to local plans. Specifically, these pages will feature guidance that helps local planning authorities create and update their plan.The strategy includes user and business needs, content principles, governance processes and workflows, and a narrow selection of content types. It will provide the foundations for policymakers to work closely with a small team of user-centred designers as they collaborate on content.Agency: TPXimpact
Redesigning the local plan-making process
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
For most of 2023 and early 2024, I was lead content designer on a series of alpha and discovery projects.Part of a larger programme of digital transformation work, the aim was to make creating and publishing Local Plans faster and more accessible. I worked alongside service designers, interaction designers and subject matter experts from a specialist planning consultancy.I mapped existing processes, developed multiple user journeys, defined and prioritised user needs, prototyped new concepts, and carried out user research with dozens of local planning authorities, proptech companies and residents.Agency: TPXimpact
Producing the Kinship Together podcast
Kinship
I produced a new podcast for the charity, Kinship, which features interviews with six kinship carers. I did the whole shebang, from planning and interviewing to editing and publishing. To help promote the show, I took some of the best audio clips and turned them into short video content ideal for Kinship’s social channels.Listen to Kinship Together
About me
I am a freelance content designer and occasional podcast producer. I founded Very Meta in 2017 and since then I’ve worked on projects for a diverse collection of lovely clients. Most recently, I’ve taken senior and lead content design roles working on projects typically in the public and charity sectors.I’m a big fan of making complex things sound simple and I’m a plain English specialist. But as you probably know, content design is about far more than words. So it’s handy that I also enjoy getting my teeth into user research, prototyping, journey mapping and all the other gubbins needed to make services work well.One of the great things about working with public sector teams is I often get to pass on the stuff I know, so they can do it themselves. That might mean some good listening on my part to make sure they get the right content strategy, guidelines or even people in place. But it can also mean hands-on content work or plain English training that helps build their practical skills.What am I like to work with? The feedback I often receive suggests I’m calm, positive, always open and generally very optimistic about designing content that really helps people.
Kind words
“You really want to hire Iain. He’s an excellent content designer. And a joy to work with.”
— Ann Kempster, TPXimpact
“Thanks for your help laying the groundwork. A few times you've been used as an example of what good collaboration feels like. You have been held up as an exemplar of a great contractor.”
— Client at Essex County Council
“So many positive things to say! It’s an absolute boon to us that you take care of everything so professionally, so all we have to do is turn up and talk. Your scheduling, prep and production are indispensable, but on top of that you host and keep the conversation on point and on time too!”
— Chris Dymond, Sheffield Digital
“It was a pleasure working with you on this podcast Iain. They’re great, and their honesty is a testament to the relationships you so naturally build with people. Thank you!”
— Rachel Sherrington, Kinship
“Been an absolute pleasure working with Iain for the last year. Snap him up for all your content strategy and content design needs. Amazing addition to any team.”
— Stefan Webb, TPXimpact
“Iain is both an excellent content designer and a lovely person who is capable of leading teams and delivering quality work. If you’re looking to make your content better and more accessible he’s your man.”
— David Ayre, Lost Dot and Futuregov
Clients and colleagues
In no particular order, here’s a list of organisations I’ve written, designed and produced content both for and with over the years
Bang & Olufsen
Facebook
Maersk
Eden Project
A.P. Moller Foundation
NHS
EcoTree
The Wildlife Trusts
Novozymes
Novo Nordisk
Public Digital
TPXimpact
FutureGov
Cabinet Office
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Buckinghamshire Council
Essex County Council
North and West Northamptonshire Councils
Kingston Council
Sheffield City Council
Bradford Council
HM Land Registry
Morrisons
University of Sheffield
Sheffield Hallam University
Kinship
Good Things Foundation
Save the Children
TribePad
Westfield Health
West Wakefield Health
Learndirect
Cornerstones Education
Design Council
Danish Design Council
Taxi for Email
John Smedley
Studio C
Perform Green
Content OD
Sheffield Digital
Yoomee
Lost Dot
Previous projects
Advice and guidance content for kinship carers
Kinship
Over seven months, I researched and wrote detailed advice content for a new website from Kinship, the leading charity for kinship carers in England and Wales. I had to work closely with Kinship’s fantastic team of advisers to make sure the guidance was accurate and legally sound, but also written in clear language.Visit the guidance section of the Kinship website
Content strategy to embed human-centred design principles
NHS Blood and Transplant
I spent two months working with NHS Blood and Transplant to produce a content and communications plan that would help the organisation make human-centred design (HCD) a key part of its strategy over the next five years. The plan included new information architecture and content to be published on NHS Blood and Transplant’s internal Sharepoint site. It also featured recommendations and a roadmap for developing content designed to build colleagues’ HCD skills and understanding.Agency: TPXimpact
Alpha user-centred, open intranet
Essex County Council
I was lead content designer on a project to create an alpha version of an open intranet. The idea was to test the feasibility of an open-by-default platform available for anyone to see at any time, on any device.Working with Essex’s in-house content design team, we prioritised key user journeys and developed riskiest assumptions to test with council staff. We then prototyped new information architecture and content for pages that showed an updated user journey for booking annual leave.Our work passed its GDS service assessment and the intranet is well into its beta phase of development.Agency: TPXimpact
Guidance and support website for special guardians
Buckinghamshire Council
I was part of a team that created a dedicated website featuring information and support for special guardians.Working closely with the council’s advice team and a group of special guardians, we co-designed both the site’s information architecture and support content. I wrote more than 70 pages of plain English advice across nine common themes.Since the site went live, the council has seen four times as many people seeking support over the previous year. Crucially, those guardians are making contact earlier too – before they are at crisis point.Agency: TPXimpact
Platform to help people build digital skills
Good Things Foundation
Funded by Google.org, Make It Click was a new platform that helps people independently improve their digital skills.Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity. It has Online Centres across the country and a fantastic online platform called Learn My Way, which helps people gain basic computer skills. Where Learn My Way is for people new to technology, Make It Click was about helping people build on what they know and make a positive change in their career.As lead content designer, I developed the initial concept and tested it with learners to gather initial user needs. I went on to research, write and test all content on Make It Click.The platform was one of a handful featured on GOV.UK at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as a recommended source of digital skills learning content.Sadly, Make It Click is no longer updated or maintained.
Podcasting the Trans Pyrenees race
Lost Dot
In 2022, I travelled to the Pyrenees mountains where I carried out on-location interviews, wrote daily scripts, recorded an overarching narrative and essentially produced the official podcast for the second Trans Pyrenees ultra-distance cycling race (TPR).I’ve since produced the podcast for the third edition of the TPR, as well as the ninth Transcontinental Race (TCR), the world’s toughest and best-known ultra-distance cycling event.Listen to the Lost Dot podcast
Turning eight council websites into two
North and West Northamptonshire Councils
A six-month project to turn eight borough council websites into two new unitary sites.As part of a large, multidisciplinary team, I developed and tested content and wireframes for the new sites. That work included content types and patterns that would later form part of a new content strategy and style guide for both councils to follow.Once the two sites went live, I continued to support two content designers, one from each council, to develop the strategy and systems that would see them migrate hundreds of pages of content.As well as writing a new content strategy for the team, I developed training materials, including introductory workshops on plain English and content design.Agency: Futuregov
A new user research insights library
HM Land Registry
I was content design lead on a six-week discovery project for HM Land Registry. We interviewed user researchers, designers and product owners to understand their process and how they currently share research. Using Airtable as a database and Carrd for the front end, we then created an alpha version of the library for the Land Registry team to start using and testing.Agency: Futuregov
Digital site notices and a planning playbook
Camden Council
This alpha project saw me create and test concepts for a new digital planning site notice.I carried out user research with residents and the council’s planning team before developing a series of prototypes primarily for mobile. The aim was to create a more accessible, engaging site notice that could be used by everyone in the community.Separately, I developed and tested the information architecture and content for a new Camden ‘planning playbook’.Read more about the projectAgency: Futuregov
Eden Project Communities
Eden Project
I was senior producer and content lead on a project to build a new social action platform that celebrates communities around the UK. I ran an extensive discovery phase, which included surveying and interviewing key user groups and stakeholders across the country. I also carried out a full content audit, built wireframes and prototypes, then helped the team at Eden develop a new content strategy and systems for creating and maintaining content.Agency: Yoomee
Exciting extras
I spent more than six years at The Workshop, a then top 100 agency in the UK according to Design Week. It’s where I earned my chops.
My podcast, Write for Your Life was downloaded more than 250,000 times. It was also featured in Apple’s ‘New and Noteworthy’ section of iTunes.
My debut novel, A is for Angelica was published by Legend Press in 2012 and lots of people liked it, including the Daily Mail and Time Out.
I was the founder, organiser and host of Sheffield Content Club. It was a regular meetup for my home city’s content creators, makers and planners.
I publish Draft Mode, a newsletter about the writing process, publishing and being an author. It’s read by more than 1500 people.
I live in leafy Sheffield with my wife and four children. I like cycling around the Peak District and being part of the coolest book club in town.
Very Meta is the freelance home of content designer, Iain Broome (👋). I’m currently using my 20 years’ experience on projects that aim to make public sector services better.
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: @iainbroome
Bluesky: @iainbroome.comCompany number: 09075707
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