Five tools to test any brief before you build: a hypothesis template, an assumption audit, a question bank, fast evidence and AI prompts.
Danny Batts · Human-centred consulting · The Experience Studio
Design for what happens next.
I help capability teams, and the leaders they work with, find what's shaping performance and design the experiences that change it.
by default
↓
01 · The idea
Look beneath the moment.
On the surface, it's a request. Underneath, there's usually more going on.
or drag the handle
Find the cause with the Upgrade Method ↗
02 · The practice
Three lenses. One stubborn curiosity.
01
Human-centred design
What people experience.
Get close to the work and the people doing it, and design with them from the first sketch.
02
Performance consulting
What's shaping it.
Find the real cause of a performance gap, and tie the fix to a business result.
Explore the Upgrade Method ↗03
The Experience Studio
What happens next.
Create experiences people step into and remember, so the change carries into the work.
Each lens is a discipline in its own right. I bring all three to the same piece of work, from the first conversation to a change people can see.
Every brief is somebody's best guess.The craft is finding out what they were guessing about.
The Upgrade Method follows one request from the first conversation to a change in the work.
Explore the method03 · Toolkit
A practice in progress.
Tools you can use on live work. Download the Consulting Moves, explore the Upgrade Method, and keep the ones that help.
Consulting Moves · Free PDF toolkits
Two moves from improv and negotiation that turn a request into a partnership, with scripts, a field guide and a consulting map.
Six tools for designing the smallest thing that works, from the cause to a pilot you can measure.
Why human skills matter more as AI changes work, and how to design experiences that build them, from the gap to the measure.
See the whole performance ecosystem, separate symptoms from causes, and match the size of the response to the size of the gap.
Upgrade skills · Skill files for your AI assistant
Skill files that upgrade your practice.
The thinking behind the Consulting Moves, packaged for your AI assistant. Use them on live work, from the first request to a tested solution.
Available now
Upgrade skill 01
Test the brief.
Turns a request into a testable hypothesis, sorts what's known from what's assumed, suggests the next question and drafts "Yes, and" and "Yes, if" replies. Built from Moves 001 and 002.
- Download the skill file.
- Add it to your AI assistant, as a skill or in a custom assistant's instructions.
- Paste a brief and ask it to test it.
Upgrade skill 02 · Coming soon
Size the gap.
From Moves 003 and 005.
Upgrade skill 03 · Coming soon
Design the experience.
From Move 004.
04 · The Experience Studio
Built for the experience economy.
Some things only make sense once you've lived them.
The Experience Studio designs experiences people step into, for the moments that matter in their work.
- 01
Before it's real.
Practise something people haven't faced yet.
- 02
When it's unclear.
Explore a situation with no single right answer.
- 03
After it's over.
Carry the story back into the work.
Draws on Pine & Gilmore, The Experience Economy
05 · About
Hi, I'm Danny.
A designer at heart. A consultant by habit. Curious by default.
I've spent 17+ years in learning, capability and design across financial services and global professional services, working alongside thousands of learning and change practitioners. Most recently, I helped lead a learning practice that turned performance consulting on its own work. Practice —Upgrade grew from what we learned.
17+Years
6Regions
2CEO awards
Let's talk
Bring me a request.
A brief that doesn't feel right, a design challenge or an idea worth testing. Bonus points if it starts with "we need a course".