6 February, 2026
I’ve just returned from three fulfilling days of leadership training with Korn Ferry — a global organisational consulting firm — up in rainy Perth, Scotland.
I went in with a healthy dose of skepticism, but came away with a clearer understanding of who I am as a leader, along with some genuinely useful tools and frameworks to build on.
28 January, 2026
Happy New Year! I’ve been invited to speak at a panel in March, on the topic of Technology Interaction Design for an Ageing Population. With 1 in 4 people in the UK expected to be over 65 years old by 2039, making technologies older adults can use (and love) is a must. More details to come…
5 December, 2025
I was invited by Dr. Timothy Neate to lead a seminar for his third-year and master’s students taking the HCI module at King’s College London. I introduced a range of assistive technologies and explored how HCI methods support designing for the diverse ways people interact with digital systems.
1 December, 2025
I guest lectured for the City St George’s, University of London MSc HCID Inclusive Design course at the invitation of Dr. Belen Barros Pena. My session focused on how HCI methods are applied across three areas of practice: design systems, product design, and organisation-wide initiatives.
12/13 November, 2025
I attended the Leading Design conference at the Barbican. I made plenty of new connections and had the chance to hang out with my friends from Fable in-person. I will summarise my thoughts on the conference soon.
10 November, 2025
Text I contributed to the AbilityNet Attitudes to Digital Accessibility report has been published. I provided commentary on the results of a survey, something along the lines of:
Financial services are ahead in many ways, reporting more defined roles, documented policies, and readiness for regulations like the European Accessibility Act. They’re also more likely to invest in accessibility and offer professional development. This suggests leadership prioritisation has occurred, but may now be shifting from prioritisation to operationalisation. We should be proud of the progress… accessibility is happening, consistently and at scale…
1 July, 2025
An article that AbilityNet wrote about our collaboration has been published. The central idea of the article is that, rather than allocating budget to bring in fixed-term contractors, we used the budget to embed consultants from AbilityNet. The key advantage was that these consultants came fully equipped with the backing of their agency: ready-to-use test methods, templates, training packs, and more.
24 June, 2025
I attended the HCID Open Day conference today. This year the theme was Paradigm Shift. Brilliant day hearing friends, former colleagues and the brilliant HCID research community present their work.
Highlights summarised:
- Bill Gaver’s (Professor of Design and co-leader of the Interaction Research Studio) incredible project re-imagining homes in 2049 for the Museum of the Home. How might our homes look in the future as we face challenges like climate change, inequality, and new technologies? The space will grow over time, featuring interactive objects from upcoming projects that reflect how our lives and homes might change.
- Tim Neate’s (Senior Lecturer – King’s College London) work from the Content Accessibility (CA11y) project. Tim made a compelling case for a paradigm shift toward individually customised media experiences, over universal design / experiences. For example the use of automatic pauses between sentences when watching TV, or the blunting of accents. Both potentially useful adaptions to make for people with complex communication needs
26 March, 2025
I’ve recently joined the College of Computing Industry Advisory Board at Birmingham City University, which brings together representatives across subject areas including cybersecurity, data science, HCI, games, and audio. The Board’s focus is on how the College can collaborate with industry partners to drive innovation and shape a curriculum that delivers real-world impact.
23 October, 2024
I took part as a panel guest in a webinar with AbilityNet on Accessibility Planning for 2025. I shared my experience of running a maturing accessibility programme and discussed our approach to planning for 2025. https://abilitynet.org.uk/webinars/accessibility-planning-2025
18 September, 2024
I was a speaker at The HCID Open Day, hosted by the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design. Themed ‘Design for All’, my talk focused on key lessons learned from embedding accessibility practices within a large corporate organisation.
10 June, 2024
I’ve contributed content to an upcoming UX Research book authored by Navin Rizwi, set to be published by Taylor & Francis in 2025.
22 May, 2024
I delivered a seminar at Birmingham City University’s Innovation Fest for students of the UX Design programme. Titled ‘What They Don’t Teach You at UX School’, my talk focused on the practical lessons I wish I’d known before entering the job market, along with strategies for thriving in the field.
22 May, 2024
I’ve joined the Advisory Board for the UX Design (HCI) programme at Birmingham City University, at the invitation of Dr. Arthur Theil and Dr. Wenge Xu. In this role, I contribute insights to help shape the curriculum for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
1 May, 2024
This time, for the first time, I couldn’t renew my old domain. That’s the price of stopping and starting a website so often: eventually, domain brokers swoop in and squat on your name-dot-com, hoping you’ll pay more than you’d like to get it back.
The recent renaissance of personal blogs has inspired me to start a website again. I’ve committed to a three-year blogging plan, so here’s to the next attempt.
Expect posts about applied research, collaborating with universities, and what I’m doing and reading to stay close to a field that keeps evolving, and to keep practising critical engagement in a time when AI can make that feel optional.
Some info about this blog:
- I put this site together using WordPress, which turned out to be the most cost-effective option after comparing many website builders
- I’m on a plan that costs £1.65/month; a good deal that ChatGPT found me with the discount code BBWP30
- I’ve opted for a simple template and on initial inspection the theme and platform appears to be accessible
✍️
Brian Grellmann 