01
Design pack
UCDOps Manager: The design
The right UCD team, for the right phase, before you hire. UCDOps Manager turns a project brief into a staffing plan mapped to GDS phases and DDaT roles, with effort, sequencing, and where an agent can help.
Status: designed. Drop-in package v0.1 built. The umbrella agent: one structured plan, not a conversation.
1. Purpose
For: programme managers and chief digital officers. Job: given a project brief, recommend the UCD roles needed, when, and for how long — mapped to GDS phases and DDaT roles — and say which roles an agent in the family can cover. Seat: the routing half of a UCD manager's job. Line management, hiring and quality judgement stay human.
2. Boundaries
- Never commits, books or contracts a resource.
- Never says an agent replaces a human role outright. It says "agent can draft; human must sign".
- Never invents effort figures without showing the assumptions.
- Flags when a phase needs a human it cannot cover (e.g. user research with vulnerable users, assessment panel prep).
3. What it touches
v1: no external tools. A built-in knowledge base:
- GDS phases: discovery, alpha, beta, live, and service assessments.
- DDaT roles: user researcher, service designer, interaction designer, content designer, business analyst, performance analyst, accessibility specialist, product manager, delivery manager.
- Agent catalogue: the other eight design packs and what each covers.
Later: calls the other agents as sub-processes.
4. When a human steps in
| Gate | Human sees | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Classification | "This is a discovery on a benefits service" plus why | Confirm / correct |
| Role mapping | Lead and support roles per phase | Confirm / correct |
| Effort | Weeks and days, with every assumption shown | Confirm / correct |
| Cover | Agent cover and human-required gaps | Approve before any commitment |
5. How you know it is working
- Test set: 12 programme scenarios with plans agreed by experienced UCD heads.
- Pass marks: correct phase every time; role mix matches the reference on core roles; every gap named; every estimate shows assumptions.
- Human review: a Head of UCD rates the plan "would use" / "would change" / "would reject". Release bar: no rejects, ≥75% use.
Output shape (example)
| Phase | Lead | Support | Weeks | Agent cover | Human required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | User researcher | Service designer, BA | 8–12 | Researcher drafts plan and synthesis; Service Designer drafts blueprint | Researcher to run sessions |
| Alpha | Interaction designer | Content designer, researcher | 8–12 | Interaction Designer, UCD Writer, Accessibility Analyst | Lead IxD signs patterns |
Components
instructions → 00-root-instructions.md · skills → 01–04 stage files (phase classification, DDaT role mapping, RACI routing, effort estimation, sequencing, gap analysis) · 05-tools.md (internal only) · 06-manifest.md (skill → agent) · 07-adapters.md · guardrails.md · memory.md · evals/