Designing the future, together.

     Get unstuck and make your ideas happen with Design Thinking. Bird & Gorton’s playful and purposeful approach to user-centred design makes space for possibility, adaptation, and transformation. Digital tools enable deeper engagement with our design processes, and our expert online delivery ensures accessible, memorable, and connected experiences.

User-Centred Design

     We practice user-centred design so that the programmes and strategies we develop with clients can be more relevant, sustainable, and inspiring for the people they serve.

What this looks like

     We create a clear process focused on learning about the needs of your users. Through gathering data, insights and stories, we ensure the people you are designing programmes and strategies for remain at the heart of the development process.

     We share and practice design thinking tools and approaches to inform the user research and turn what we learn into insights about your users. With these insights, we are able to generate and test ideas that are more likely to engage people, and design programmes and strategies that are tailored to the people you serve.

Playful & Purposeful

     We use play to unlock new ideas and ways of working that motivate and inspire.

What this looks like

     We design workshops that people enjoy. We make welcoming and creative environments for thinking and planning. Whether that’s through the use of music, gamified activities or the digital tools we use, we want to help and inspire you to think differently. We take inspiration from different artform approaches. Everything we do in our time with you - however playful - will be purposeful and directly inform what you are trying to achieve.

Digital/Online Delivery

     We are skilled in building creative digital environments to enable people to collaborate and learn from each other.

What this looks like

     We have always included digital approaches in the way we work and our use of digital tools for collaboration and connection is a key reason why many clients choose to work with us. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we worked closely with dozens of partners to re-imagine their offline programmes for online delivery in a way that inspired and connected people in the toughest of times.

     We always start with what is right for you. We tailor our online environments and the tools we use to our participants; whether that’s a one off workshop, a 1:1 or Team Session, or a year-long learning programme. We love experimenting with new tools and approaches and recognise that everyone has a different comfort level to new technology. We factor that into our delivery to make sure everyone has the best possible experience.

Adaptive Programmes

     We devise new programmes and strategies that can be adapted for continued impact, and scaled for national delivery.

What this looks like

     We understand the importance of new initiatives being able to adapt over time, as needs and circumstances change, and build this into the design and development of strategies and programmes we work on.

     We enjoy working long term with clients to iterate programmes and strategies to make them as useful as possible to the people they serve as their needs change. We often support clients to scale programmes we have devised to roll out nationally or adapt to different markets, nations, and user needs. By building in this long term adaptive thinking to our design process, our clients can be confident of more sustainable, relevant and scalable initiatives.