Emily MacLoud - Design Strategist

I'm a strategic evidence-based designer working in the justice space, who is seeking to improve legal products, services, and systems.

Portable strives to create positive change through partnerships with the public sector and non-government organisations. We deliver intensive, short-term projects that are designed to produce tangible results quickly.

Portable aims to create positive change through partnerships with the public sector and non-governmental organizations.

As a design strategist, I'm involved in working with our clients to deliver

With several years of experience working at the coal face in the access to justice space, I understand that change does not happen overnight. I bring this lens to the work I do and ensure that any solutions that are developed can be sustained by our clients long after we have left.

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The projects that we work on are often part of much bigger programs of work. and so we work tirelessly to ensure that our engagements are ethical and any solutions we devise in collaboration with out clients are sustainable.

make a real difference in the communities they serve. As a result, I'm now working on intensive, short-term projects and often brought in as external support to deliver change.

As a design strategist, I bring value by collaborate with our experience designers, technologists and producers to to tackle issues such as access to justice, mental health, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability.

Portable strives to create positive change through partnerships with the public sector and non-government organisations. As a result, I'm now working on intensive, short-term projects and often brought in as external support to deliver change.

Within the legal domain, they can be used to articulate how people experience the justice system and move people to enact change by engaging people’s empathy.

Within the field of law, narratives can be a powerful tool, helping to articulate how individuals experience the justice system, and compelling people to take action by evoking empathy. Through storytelling, individuals can share their experiences, and these stories can be used to start important conversations about the justice system. Furthermore, by sharing their stories, individuals can help to raise awareness about important issues and mobilize others to take action. By harnessing the power of narrative, we can start to make meaningful change in the legal domain and beyond.

However, when stories are used reductively in the context of legal design, such as part of a case study or persona, they can lose their nuance and context, and thus their ability to actively motivate decision-makers to consider the wider implications of their actions. To elaborate, stories are a powerful tool in conveying complex and nuanced information, as they can help to illustrate the lived experiences of individuals and communities. By providing concrete examples of the ways in which laws and policies impact people's lives, stories can help to make abstract concepts more tangible and relatable. However, when stories are oversimplified or taken out of context, they can lose their power to convey these nuances and may even reinforce harmful stereotypes or biases. In the context of legal design, it is particularly important to use stories carefully and thoughtfully, in order to ensure that they are serving their intended purpose of motivating decision-makers to consider the broader impact of their actions. Therefore, while stories can be a valuable tool in legal design, it is important to use them in a way that preserves their full meaning and context, and that avoids oversimplification or distortion of the original message.

Improving justice outcomes holistically

Over the years, I've started to realise that legal remedies were often used as band-aid solutions to much bigger system-wide problems. This realisation drove me to Portable, where I work on projects across a range of social impact areas.

Portable is a research, design and technology agency, on a mission to seek out areas of social need and policy failure and make transformational change.

Working from the outside to address justice issues

"Transforming Social Need and Policy Failure" - A Research, Design, and Technology Agency

I’m currently focused on creating the right conditions for design to flourish.

I believe that legal remedies are often used as band-aid solutions to much bigger system-wide problems and that we can learn a lot about how to improve justice outcomes for folks by exploring what works in other verticals.

I'm lucky that I get to do that at Portable where I spend a solid chunk of my time researching and designing products and services and on the side I'm experimenting with ways to address causes I care deeply about.

"Design is not merely an adornment of cultural life but one of the practical disciplines of responsible action for bringing the high values of a country or a culture into concrete reality, allowing us to transform abstract ideas into specific manageable form." - Richard Buchanan, 2001

I'm a design strategist, committed to improving legal products, services, and systems. I stumbled upon design thinking while undertaking an ambitious digital transformation project several years ago and have since developed a range of experience in the research, design, and development of products, services and systems.

I've facilitated several sessions on legal design and technology, including a pop-up on empathy mapping at Melbourne Law School, a session on 'Automating Court Transcription' as part of Oxford University’s AI4Law Workshop Series, an educative Legal Design Sprint with City Law School, and an introductory workshop on Legal Design for Sheffield Legal Hackers. I've also contributed to publications including Design and Visualisation in Legal Education: Access to the Law (2022).

🔥 Passionate about the field of Legal Design and improving access to justice 💡 Experienced in research, design, and product management 🕰 Demonstrated history of delivering national projects and designing innovative solutions

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6+ years working in service design and digital transformation, mainly in the justice space

Advocate for human-centred design through an environmental friendly lens

Experienced in managing teams and working as an individual contributor

Keen to engage in pragmatic policy design and prevent social justice issues from escalating

Energised when I’m collaborating with others to design and deliver good services and systems that exceed the expectations of both service users and the staff involved

🕰 My background

Curious about people and drawn to the ability of law to effect positive change, I studied psychology and law at university. Eager to learn what other jurisdictions were doing in the social justice space, I moved to the UK in 2014.

Between 2015 -2018, I led the casework team at Advocate through significant change (restructuring of the casework team and CRM re-design). These projects highlighted the importance of early user research and iterating often and quickly. I became drawn to the principles of UX design and fascinated with the work of Margaret Hagan at the Legal Design Lab and other pioneers.

In 2018, I left Advocate and began working as a freelance Research/Design/Product-person. In 2020, I joined Law Centres Network and led the ambitious digital transformation programme. In January 2022, I joined Portable as a Design Strategist.

Legal Design Pyramid from Margaret Hagan Law by Design — *Legal Design Pyramid* from Margaret Hagan Law by Design

👩🏻‍💻 My experience

To demonstrate my problem-solving skills, my interests, and the range of projects I've worked on over the years, I've created a series of case studies.

As an experienced design strategist specializing in the justice space, I have dedicated my career to improving legal products, services, and systems. Through my work, I have developed a range of skills and expertise in research, design, and product management. To showcase my problem-solving abilities, my areas of interest, and the variety of projects I have worked on throughout my career, I have developed a collection of case studies. These case studies highlight my experience in delivering national projects and designing innovative solutions.

I firmly believe that legal remedies are often used as band-aid solutions to much bigger system-wide problems, and I am passionate about exploring what works in other verticals to improve justice outcomes for people. At Portable, I spend a significant chunk of my time researching and designing products and services that help make the justice system more accessible. Simultaneously, I am experimenting with ways to address causes that I care deeply about.

As a design strategist, I have facilitated several sessions on legal design and technology, including a pop-up on empathy mapping at Melbourne Law School, a session on 'Automating Court Transcription' as part of Oxford University’s AI4Law Workshop Series, an educative Legal Design Sprint with City Law School, and an introductory workshop on Legal Design for Sheffield Legal Hackers. I have also contributed to publications, including "Design and Visualisation in Legal Education: Access to the Law" (2022).

In addition to my skills and experience, I am an advocate for human-centered design through an environmental-friendly lens. I am experienced in managing teams and working as an individual contributor, and I am keen to engage in pragmatic policy design and prevent social justice issues from escalating. I am energized when collaborating with others to design and deliver good services and systems that exceed the expectations of both service users and staff involved.

Case studies