When I joined Ofsted, staff believed their 70-page manual helped people complete registration forms. What they couldn't see was that young women were breaking down in tears on helplines, overwhelmed by complexity. By presenting this uncomfortable evidence with careful diplomacy, I advocated for users whose needs had been overlooked in favour of institutional processes.The redesigned content transformed an emotionally fraught experience into one that empowered people to contribute to childcare and education, restoring dignity to a process directly affecting their livelihoods.Sometimes speaking truth means helping others see past their institutional blindness rather than confrontational opposition.

Not every project succeeds, and I believe that acknowledging failure is as important as celebrating success. During a year working on rural payments, I consistently highlighted how the service was failing its users – elderly farmers with limited digital skills who were suddenly required to use complex software with strict accuracy requirements. Despite organisational resistance, I maintained my advocacy for these users.The project ultimately cost hundreds of millions and led to a public inquiry. This experience taught me that true content integrity sometimes means being the uncomfortable voice in the room, even when it's politically difficult. My commitment is always to the people using the service, not to making systems appear successful when they're failing their users.