Workplace Insights by Adrie van der Luijt
Careers aren’t really ladders, they’re more like messy scribbles with occasional moments of clarity. I’ve spent decades watching talented people waste years chasing what they thought they should want rather than what actually suited them.
The posts in this section reflect what I wish someone had told me thirty years ago: that the most successful careers are built on knowing your strengths, acknowledging your limitations and having the courage to navigate workplace politics without becoming what you despise.
Whether you’re just starting out or questioning decades of choices, you’ll find honest reflections on creating a career that works for you rather than burning yourself out for an organisation that sees you as replaceable.
Five years after the pandemic began, the psychological toll of lockdown is still affecting how people interact with digital public services. This article explains why trauma-informed content design needs to evolve to meet those ongoing needs.
A review of Rebekah Barry’s “Considerate Content” by a trauma-informed, vulnerability-aware veterian, exploring accessible digital design through the lens of trauma-informed content creation for vulnerable audiences.
Management support in the healthcare sector is facing a dilemma. There is as growing realisation of its importance, but also underfunding and a lack of qualified candidates.
The PA Show Spring 2025 in London offers the perfect opportunity to quietly observe, reconnect and absorb the current landscape.
Drawing from three decades crafting content for vulnerable audiences, Adrie van der Luijt shares hard-won wisdom on creating trauma-informed content that genuinely works. Beyond academic theory, this practical guide reveals what actually helps people process information during their most difficult moments, based on real projects for the Metropolitan Police Service, Cancer Research UK and Universal Credit.
The Public Design Evidence Review sets out to define the future of design in public services, but leaves out the emotional and psychological realities of its users. In a post-lockdown world where cognitive overload is rising and trust is falling, trauma-informed design isn’t a luxury. It’s a baseline.
Explore how mental models in content design must account for vulnerability, trauma and cognitive impairment to create truly accessible services that work for all users, including those in crisis.
Learn how to protect your career and mental health after a failed project. Discover practical strategies from a highly experienced professional who’s survived major project failures while maintaining professional reputation and wellbeing.
The hollowing out we’re witnessing in software development, executive assistance and copywriting isn’t a coincidence. It’s part of a broader pattern reshaping virtually every knowledge work profession, though at different rates and with field-specific nuances.
Somerset Council has axed FixMyStreet. But this shift to in-house reporting is a digital misstep that echoes past failures in local government services.