Designing Digital Services Course: September 2026
Make your services work better with digital.
Our free Designing Digital Services course will give you the practical skills and confidence to explore how digital can improve the way your organisation works - whether that's making your services easier for people to access, improving experiences for the people you support, or streamlining your team's day-to-day processes.
Over 10 weeks, you'll be guided through the Discover, Define, Develop approach, learning how to understand people's needs, test ideas early, and develop a practical solution to a real challenge in your organisation.
This hands-on course is designed specifically for third sector organisations in Wales, with expert guidance, mentor support, and practical activities you can apply straight away.
By the end of the course, you'll have:
- Practical service design skills you can use across your organisation.
- A tested prototype developed around a real organisational challenge.
- A deeper understanding of the needs of the people who use your service, your team, or the people you support.
- Eligibility to apply for the next round of the Small Grants Scheme in Autumn 2026.
Past participants said
"I am constantly improving every part of my work day by thinking of how I can implement what I have learnt."
"There's magic in the room."
"The skateboard approach of things not having to be perfect straight away has really changed my mindset professionally and personally.”
"Every third sector organisation needs to do this"
Course structure
Over the ten weeks, there are only three dates you need to be free in your calendar.
Discovery phase
1. Introduction Webinar: 23rd September 10 am - 1 pm [ONLINE].
- The course starts with a half-day webinar where you’ll be introduced to the service design methodology, what the process looks like, and how to better understand user needs.
- You’ll then have four weeks to complete a piece of discovery research focused on understanding where you could be saving time. We recommend you allow 2-3 hours per week to complete this research.
Define phase
2. Prototyping Workshop: 28th October, 9.30 am - 4.30 pm, Cardiff, [IN-PERSON].
- During this face-to-face interactive workshop, you will be guided through activities to design a new digital prototype of your service.
- We will provide lunch and refreshments. We will also reimburse your travel costs. Please contact megan@promo.cymru to arrange this after the prototyping workshop.
Develop phase
You’ll have six weeks to test your solution and gather results.
3. Closing Webinar: 8th December, 10 am - 1 pm [ONLINE].
- At the end of the 10 weeks, you'll attend a closing webinar where you will share what you've learned throughout the course and celebrate what you've achieved.
Self-study tasks
In between, you’ll be guided through a series of activities that you can complete on your own time.
We recommend that you allow 2-3 hours a week for the course.
Mentor meetings with trainers
You’ll also have two (or more if you like) mentor meetings with the trainers to catch up on how you're doing and to support you with your project.
Who is this course for?
This course is for third-sector organisations based in or delivering a service in Wales.
We encourage two people per organisation to attend the course (although this is not essential). Each person needs to register individually.
Important information
- Eligibility: You must be part of a Third Sector Organisation based in or delivering a service in Wales.
- Language: Delivered through the medium of English.
See what other third sector organisations did while on the course
- From assumptions to insights – rethinking support for parents
Hear how the team at Kidscape used user research to redesign their services and better meet families’ needs. - Keeping the human touch while going digital
Discover how a County Voluntary Council (CVC) used digital tools to communicate more effectively with its members and improve engagement. - Streamlining sign-ups with automation
Learn how a Housing Association used QR codes and automation to encourage more people to sign up for their services and reduce repetitive back-office admin tasks.
If you have any other questions, please contact megan@promo.cymru
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