Accessible Numbers

Understand the complex world of debt, poverty, and mental health with money advisor, Colin Trend.  With over 30 years of experience, Colin shares his insights on designing services for people struggling with money, the impact of harmful design patterns, and the importance of understanding the user's perspective.  This episode includes real-life stories of the people Colin has helped over the years...

A chat with Sheena Campbell from the Patient Information Forum (PIF). This episode covers the importance of health literacy and how numbers and data can be confusing or challenging for many people when accessing healthcare services. We discuss how numbers appear in healthcare, such as medication dosages, appointment times, and risk and benefit communication. Sheena provides insights and tips on ho...

Explore Geri Reid's personal experience with dyscalculia and her professional work in accessibility and design systems. We discuss the challenges people with dyscalculia face when using digital services, deceptive design patterns (like hidden fees, sneaky upsells, and countdown timers) that can exploit those challenges, and design patterns that can help make numbers more accessible.   We also talk...

How does growing up in poverty impact our relationship with money and financial services? Lead content designer Ray Newman shares his lived experience. We cover how poorer people pay more for essential services and goods (poverty premium), deceptive patterns, financial vulnerability, and access to digital services. We discuss how assumptions and a lack of understanding of the realities of poverty...

Lessons on designing with care from content designers Jane McFadyen and Rachel Edwards. We discuss the principles of trauma-informed design, how stress, anxiety and trauma impact the use of services, and practical strategies for creating clear, simple and empathetic content. We share our personal experiences with numbers and the importance of trauma-informed design when designing services for peop...

An engaging and informative chat with Priyanca D'Souza, a senior user researcher with multiple access needs.  We discuss dyscalculia, number anxiety, mental health and the impact of assistive technology on understanding numbers.   We also talk about intersectionality and the complexities of managing multiple access needs and common service barriers. "We can't just ignore information about people b...

A deeply personal chat with Peter Cherry, the chair of the adults with dyscalculia advisory board, about dyscalculia in adulthood. We discuss what dyscalculia is, the stigma around not having a maths GCSE, gender stereotypes in maths education and the need for greater awareness and acceptance of dyscalculia. 01:35 Personal experiences with dyscalculia 04:20 Understanding dyscalculia  07:38 The imp...

Why should we care about making numbers accessible? I seek to answer this question in series 1.