Stephen Milnes Email & Phone Number

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

- co-lead the patterns and components working group, coordinating, evaluating and developing contributions to the DfE design system- collaborate with colleagues to create and maintain the DfE style guide, giving guidance to designers across the department to ensure language is consistent where appropriate - work with a small group of other content designers to explore the need for a plain English design standard based on international standards- help the product and delivery managers in my service team to plan work, set MVP scope, refine backlogs and set sprint goals- work on content for multiple products and services, collaborating with other content designers to set and iterate a content strategy across the division, helping us to make consistent content and design decisions that benefit our users- team up with colleagues in policy, delivery and digital communications to update content on GOV.UK, ensuring information for ministerial priority projects is accurate and up to date- sit on service assessment and peer review panels, helping teams to check their thinking and understand what they should focus on next to ensure their work is user-centred

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

- work in a multi-disciplinary Agile team- write content to meet user needs, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the GOV.UK Service Standards - draft and release content in prototype kit and the build using tools including Visual Studio Code and GitHub- edit live content using code including html, markdown and yaml - update and maintain design history (a blog about our design decisions)- create, iterate a content strategy for the service, ensuring decisions are led by best practice and user needs- collaborate across the programme of products and services to align design decisions and create a consistent user experience - observe user research and implement findings- present and explain design decisions at service assessments - present work across the division and to wider DfE content community through show and tells and content crits- share insight and experience with divisional and departmental content design communities- discuss, adapt and iterate feedback on the GOV.UK design system, design patterns and style guide advice- trained as a DfE service assessor, helping to review new services at all stages of development and ensure they meet the service standards

Derby, England, United Kingdom

During my time at Severn Trent, I drove the introduction and adoption of user-centred design principles, content design best practice, digital accessibility and collaborative ways of working in the Digital Channel Strategy and Optimisation team. I introduced Kanban tools such as Trello, set up and ran weekly triage sessions and daily stand-ups to manage workload. I created a weekly UX team session in which I introduced the team to several UX thought leaders through podcasts, webinars, articles and recording from conferences. We used learnings and talking points from those experts to reflect on our work. We benchmarked against other organisations' digital offerings and used the time to develop the skills and knowledge of members of the team who reported to me and fellow line managers.I led a small content team, creating and editing content for Severn Trent and Hafren Dyfrdwy digital channels, including websites, social media, email, chatbots and two-way messaging.My key responsibilities included:- Develop and foster a user-focussed, human-centred approach to content design in the digital team- Plan projects and manage team workloads- Lead user needs discovery sessions with stakeholders- Line manager responsibilities for content teammates- Design content across multiple channels to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and user needs

Derby, United Kingdom

During my time at Severn Trent, I drove the introduction and adoption of user-centred design principles, content design best practice, digital accessibility and collaborative ways of working in the Digital Channel Strategy and Optimisation team. I introduced Kanban tools such as Trello, set up and ran weekly triage sessions and daily stand-ups to manage workload. I created and edited content for Severn Trent and Hafren Dyfrdwy digital channels, including websites, social media, email, chatbots and two-way messaging.Responsibilities included:- Bring a user-focussed, human-centred content design approach to the team- Ensure content meets WCAG accessibility guidelinesWhile at Severn Trent, I became a Nielsen Norman Group certified UX professional after completing their June 2020 conference and exams.We also won multiple team awards, including:- Gold for Most Effective Digital Customer Experience at the European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards in 2019- Gold Best Digital Team at the UK National Contact Centre Awards in 2019

Wanaka

Head of Paint and Renovator department at one of New Zealand’s leading DIY stores.

Bath, United Kingdom

• Created and edited all content across the Accommodation and Hospitality department’s student and public-facing web pages.• Used Agile methods to create relevant, user-focussed content as well as Google Analytics to monitor and continually improve our site.• Set up our social media accounts, creating campaign assets and competitions as well as managing our ‘social media champions’.• Designed and scheduled eye-catching menus, stings and adverts displayed on digital signage in our bars and eateries.• Worked with agencies and stakeholders to create instructional videos for new students and bespoke content for conferences and events.• Oversaw the full migration of our old website to a new user friendly site, which involved auditing over 1000 pages of existing content.• Managed content, expansion and provided first line support for IPTV digital signage system across bars, eateries and student accommodation all over campus.

Bath, United Kingdom

• Created and managed content on teambath.com for the Universityof Bath’s prestigious sports department.• Provided live updates of athlete profiles and news reports during the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.• Shot and edited films that promoted the world-class facilities in the Sports Training Village.

Bristol

Sourced and wrote online news stories and features for BBC Countryfile Magazine, helping the site achieve its most successful period up to that point.

Doncaster, South Yorkshire

• Founded and ran small indpependent film production company based in Doncaster.• Responsible for raising brand awareness through social media posts and interaction with fans and local businesses.• Wrote press releases covering latest projects for use by regional media.• Arranged interviews and photoshoots with local newspapers.• Our film 'Cottonmouth' was shown in the Short Film Corner at Cannes 2012.

Howden

• Subbed copy for the UK’s most popular TV magazines including, the BBC Radio Times and TV Choice.• Produced accurate, well-edited copy that fit the correct tone and style of each magazine, while meeting multiple daily deadlines.• Wrote TV and music reviews for the PA news wire which were published in regional and national newspapers including Metro.

Ma, Media Production

Ba(Hons), Journalism