Civic Technology

FixMyStreet

Long-term product design leadership for FixMyStreet, a high-traffic civic platform enabling millions of people to report and track local issues through a simple, accessible digital service.

The problem

Reporting a local issue to a council is often fragmented, opaque, and frustrating. Different authorities use different systems, language, and processes, creating barriers for residents and inefficiencies for councils.

FixMyStreet set out to change that: to make reporting problems simple, accessible, and equitable, while still working within the operational realities of local government.

What I did

As Design Lead over an extended period, I was responsible not just for interface design, but for stewarding the product as it evolved. Responding to user needs, council requirements, technical constraints, and commercial pressures without compromising trust or usability.

This meant balancing citizen needs with council workflows, simplicity with flexibility, accessibility with performance, and public good with a sustainable commercial model.

What I did

  • Led product and interaction design across the FixMyStreet platform over multiple years
  • Shaped and maintained the visual language and interaction patterns as the product scaled
  • Used research, analytics, and support data to prioritise improvements and guide decisions
  • Worked closely with engineers to evolve a flexible HTML/CSS architecture that supported variation without fragmentation
  • Ensured high standards of accessibility and performance, including on older devices and low-end connections
  • Acted as a long-term design partner to the technical team, supporting feature development, iteration, and maintenance

Rather than treating FixMyStreet as a “finished” product, we treated it as a living service, continuously refined based on real-world use.

From public service to sustainable product

FixMyStreet became so effective that many councils preferred it to their own reporting tools. This demand led to the creation of FixMyStreet Pro; a commercial offering that allowed councils to integrate FixMyStreet into their existing systems.

This introduced a new design challenge: how to meet council needs without degrading the citizen experience.

Key outcomes:

  • Real-time problem updates
  • Asset-level reporting (e.g. selecting a specific streetlight)
  • Report de-duplication to reduce operational overhead

The result was a rare thing in civic tech: a product that worked well for residents and councils, without compromising either.

Mobile first

We made a conscious decision to move away from native apps and invest fully in a mobile-first web experience, delivered using progressive web techniques. This allowed us to:

  • Avoid costly app maintenance across multiple platforms
  • Support older and less capable devices
  • Ensure feature parity for all users
  • Take advantage of device capabilities such as camera access and location services

All core functionality was designed to work on the smallest screens first - a critical choice for accessibility and equity.

Designing for variation, not fragmentation

To support FixMyStreet Pro, local authorities needed branding flexibility and system integration. Rather than creating bespoke variants, I designed the interface to be extensible by default.

Councils could apply their branding, integrate authentication and additional data, and tailor workflows all while maintaining consistent interaction patterns, accessibility compliance, and performance standards.

This approach allowed councils to adopt the platform with minimal friction and long-term maintenance cost.

Key moments

FixMyStreet Shropshire

When my own local authority adopted FixMyStreet, I led both implementation and discovery work with residents and council staff. This provided rare, direct insight into how the service performed from both sides - citizen and operator - and informed improvements across the wider platform.

Protecting anonymity

Councils frequently pushed to collect more personal data. We consistently resisted this, backed by research and evidence. Anonymous reporting remained a core principle, ensuring accessibility for vulnerable users and maintaining trust - a decision that still defines the service today.

The results

FixMyStreet is:

  • Used by millions of people over multiple years
  • Adopted by numerous councils across the UK and internationally
  • Lower cost and requires fewer manual interventions than many council-built alternatives
  • Preferred by users for clarity, speed, and trustworthiness

FixMyStreet continues to operate today as a durable, evidence-led civic service. For me, it remains a defining example of what careful, long-term product design can achieve in the public realm.