Join Jamie from the Rural Design Centre to hear how research, co-design and testing shaped a jobs service for rural Northumberland.

Join us at NUX Newcastle for a free evening of learning and conversation with Jamie, a UX and service designer at the Rural Design Centre.

Developing a rural jobs service for Northumberland

Finding work in rural areas is hard. Jobs are spread out, employment support sits across lots of different organisations, and people often hear about opportunities too late to prepare for them.

For over a year, Jamie and the team have been working with Northumberland County Council, jobseekers, employment support workers, employers, schools, housing associations, recruiters and software developers Layers Studio to help tackle this.

With input from over 100 people, prototypes for five separate tools have developed into one service.

In this 30-minute talk, Jamie will share how the team brought people on board, kept collaboration going and designed for four connected user groups. He’ll cover testing prototypes in Jobcentres, colleges and schools, nudging employers towards more inclusive recruitment, and helping people prepare for roles before they become available.

He’ll also share the parts that didn’t go to plan, alongside a side project from the early prototypes that an employment service in Cumbria is now looking to adopt.

Expect honest lessons and practical ideas for co-designing services with multiple user groups, prototyping and testing in the real world, and moving into delivery.

About Jamie

Jamie is a UX and service designer at the Rural Design Centre, a non-profit organisation based in Morpeth, Northumberland.

His current work involves developing a rural jobs service and platform to help people find and prepare for good, stable jobs, while encouraging employers to recruit more inclusively. He also works on social impact research and measurement for rural projects across the North East.

How to find Opencast

The office is in The Kiln at Hoults Yard, which is through the tunnel to the right of the main Hoults Yard reception.

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Public transport options

The nearest train station is Newcastle main station which is a 35 minute walk or 10 minute taxi ride.

You can also get the Q3 QuayCity (towards St Peters Basin) from Grey Street. Get off at Walker Road-Hawick Crescent.

The nearest Metro station is Byker, which is a 15 minute walk from the office.

FREE Parking

If you are coming by car you will need to validate your parking using the self-service screen in reception.

Description supplied by the event organiser.