In an era where digital transformation dictates the efficiency and accessibility of public services, citizens expect intuitive, accessible, and seamless digital interactions. At Clearleft, our Brighton-based digital design consultancy has spent over two decades championing the user.

Rather than acting as a traditional agency that builds a product and walks away, we’ll operate as your strategic design partner. We work alongside ambitious organisations, from local councils to world-renowned museums and public sector bodies, to establish user-centred design as a core, long-term capability.

Our approach: strategic design partnerships

What sets us apart is our commitment to human insight and capacity building. We understand that behind every great citizen experience is an empowered internal team. By offering services spanning user research, internal service design, product design, and design systems, we ensure our clients are equipped to innovate long after the initial project concludes.

We don’t just design solutions; we run training and workshops that will give your in-house teams the tools, new skills, and confidence to drive their own design transformation.

You can get introduced to the difference we’ll make through low costs initial engagements like our expert UX reviews and rapid usability testing. Our goal is to ensure that public funds are spent on evidence-based improvements rather than guesswork.

Transforming local government

Nowhere is the impact of user-centred design more vital than in local government, where ease of use, joined up service design, and genuine accessibility directly impacts everyday lives. We have a proven track record of delivering measurable value for local councils:

• Brighton & Hove City Council: We undertook a service design overhaul for the council’s Cityclean service, transforming an underperforming system into one of the country’s best. By creating a robust, extensible design system, we empowered the council’s in-house digital team. The vastly improved user experience made information easier to find online, which directly reduced inbound calls and freed up the Cityclean team to respond to real-world reports more efficiently.
• Camden Council: Recognising the highly nuanced needs of vulnerable populations, we partnered with Camden Council to significantly improve their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Local Offer website. Through deep user research, we made crucial information accessible and easy to navigate for the families who rely on it most.
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: We tackled the often complex Planning Department, designing a successful pilot that improved the public experience while making council staff’s jobs easier. The success permeated the council rapidly, leading other departments to adopt our newly produced Design Manual to restructure their own web content.

Elevating cultural institutions and national infrastructure

Beyond local government, we have consistently delivered high-impact digital solutions across other vital sectors, marrying vast amounts of complex information with compelling, elegant user experiences:

• The Natural History Museum: The museum tasked us with transforming the digital presence of its world-famous Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. We replaced a stifling legacy system with a beautiful, engaging explorative solution and a replatformed tech stack. The result was a 230% increase in page views and a staggering 450% increase in mobile traffic.
• Empowering front-line staff at LNER: When London North Eastern Railway (LNER) wanted to elevate their customer experience, they knew the key lay with their front-line staff. They brought us on board – literally – to conduct deep internal service design. By getting out from behind our screens and observing staff on trains and busy platforms, we identified a critical need for timely, relevant information that wouldn’t distract from face-to-face interactions. We formulated a strategy where digital acts as a reliable “sidekick in their pockets” rather than a screen-based distraction. Ultimately, we delivered a tangible five-year vision and a video prototype that successfully unlocked board-level investment for future transformation into digital solutions to real world problems.

Partner with us to transform your digital services

As local governments, museums, and public bodies continue to navigate tightening budgets and growing citizen expectations, efficiency and user-centricity are paramount. We stand ready as a strategic design partner capable of not just delivering elegant digital platforms, but of fostering a lasting culture of design excellence. By combining the imagination to think big with the practical ability to turn ideas into reality, we continue to help the public sector reach its true digital potential.

Whether you are looking to overhaul a complex local council portal, modernise a cultural institution, or empower your internal digital teams with a robust design system, we are ready to collaborate. As your strategic design partner, we don’t just deliver a product—we embed the skills, confidence, and culture your team needs to thrive in a digital-first world. Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can co-create accessible, impactful, and truly user-centred experiences for your community.