Insights, views and tips

Free sharing and reuse - digital magic?

Free sharing and reuse is a key approach to doing digital better. We explore the inherent challenges, how to make good decisions, and how to realise the benefits of freely sharing the foundational elements of a digital service.

08 Aug 2025

Designing to integrate AI - LinkedIn – 1

Designing to integrate AI into personalised government services

CYB’s Senior Service Designer Erlend Prendergast writes about how government can provide more personalised AI-enabled services with smart design decisions

01 May 2025

Large Language Models AI Service design

Healthcare - Anita - blog header

The importance of research and user-centred design in healthcare

Drawing on her experience of the healthcare sector, CYB’s Lead User Researcher Anita Chandra writes about how the NHS can benefit from putting research and UCD at its centre

02 Apr 2025

Healthcare NHS Service design

AI Action Summit 2025 - Blog Header

The AI Action Summit 2025: Progress, Promises and Pitfalls

As the Paris summit ends, CYB’s Head of Engineering Ali Salaman takes stock of the pros and cons and what it means for the future of AI

12 Feb 2025

AI in Government

Notarial Content Design - Blog header

Improving FCDO guidance for British people abroad: how we unpublished 120 pages

How do you condense 120 pages of content into one clear and efficient page of guidance? CYB’s Content Designer Alison Evans writes about one of the key tasks she carried out for FCDO

21 Jan 2025

Government digital Digital transformation

CYB Christmas - blog header

A Christmas letter, 2024

Founder/Managing Director Ben Stewart reflects on an eventful and successful year for CYB, and looks forward to 2025

18 Dec 2024

NHS AI in Government Large Language Models AI Government digital

Health 2

Caution Your Blast named as supplier to Digital Capability for Health 2 Framework

CYB joins the likes of IBM, Ernst & Young and Thoughtworks onto the Crown Commercial Service’s list of 22 companies providing digital solutions to improve the NHS and other public sector healthcare bodies

12 Dec 2024

consulting NHS Digital transformation

AI blog series - part 3 - blog header – 1

Problem Lenses: How and when should I use AI? - Part 3

Part 3 of Ali Salaman’s three-part series looks at how businesses can use AI to explore ideas and manage knowledge with large language models

21 Nov 2024

Large Language Models

AI blog series - part 2 - blog header – 1

Problem Lenses: How and when should I use AI? - Part 2

Part 2 of Ali Salaman’s three-part series explores the potential for AI to help businesses with process automation and optimisation, promote ethical choices and translate text

20 Nov 2024

AI in Government Large Language Models

AI blog series - part 1 - blog header – 1

Problem Lenses: How and when should I use AI? - Part 1

Part 1 of Ali Salaman’s three-part series looks at how AI could help businesses automate repetitive tasks, support complex decisions and generate insights from unstructured data

19 Nov 2024

Large Language Models AI in Government

Global rollout - Ros - blog header – 1

What is it like to roll out a digital service to every country in the world?

Working on a service that requires a global rollout is exciting - but also full of obstacles. CYB’s Associate Project/Delivery Manager Ros Vaughan writes about her experience

24 Oct 2024

Government digital Service design Transformation

Digital Leaders Week - blog header

Webinars, a MeetUp and DL100 award nominations: CYB at Digital Leaders Week

Caution Your Blast have plenty of activity scheduled during DL Week from 14th-18th October – here’s everything we have planned

10 Oct 2024

Large Language Models

AI performance - blog header

How do you ensure performance when building AI services?

When building the FCDO’s first ever public-facing LLM service, CYB came through challenges to guarantee performance - our Head of Engineering Ali Salaman explains all

05 Sep 2024

Large Language Models AI Government digital

AI user research - blog header

What I learned conducting user research for an AI service

Building AI services means new ways of working. CYB’s User Researcher Truly Capell writes about what she learned working on the FCDO’s first public-facing AI-enabled service

24 Jul 2024

Research Ops Research Philosophy User Research

AI content design - blog header – 2

Why AI won’t work without content design

CYB’s associate Content Designer Helen Gaskell writes about why we won’t be able to fully trust AI until we fix the information we feed it

10 Jul 2024

AI in Government Large Language Models AI

Content design - blog header – 1

Five ways being a carer makes me a better content designer

CYB’s Alison Evans writes about the life lessons she’s learned from caring for her son - and how those experiences help when it comes to content design

26 Jun 2024

Working parents Caring

Give A Little - blog header

How Give A Little uses lean methods to make cashless fundraising more affordable

Give A Little’s Product Manager James Alden-John writes about how CYB’s point of donation software platform helps charities by adopting a lean approach

13 Jun 2024

Cashless giving

Marriage - Launch - blog header – 1

Caution Your Blast announces launch of new UK Government marriage service

CYB has built a new service for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that makes it easier for British people to get married or register a civil partnership abroad

15 May 2024

Digital service FCDO Service design

AI in Government - Launch - blog header

Caution Your Blast announces launch of new UK Government AI-powered service

CYB has built a new innovative enquiry service for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that leverages Large Language Model technology – a first for the UK Government.

18 Apr 2024

Large Language Models Government digital AI

AI in Government - Content design - blog header

Being honest about AI services: How much do users need to know?

As CYB helps the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to engineer LLM solutions, we’ve been asking – do users need to know that a service uses AI?

14 Mar 2024

Large Language Models Content design

CYB Christmas letter - blog header – 1

A Christmas letter from CYB

With another exciting, challenging and rewarding year nearly over, CYB’s Founder and Managing Director Ben Stewart reflects on what 2023 has meant for the company

15 Dec 2023

AI Large Language Models

CYB wrap up - Blog header – 2

A 1200km bike ride, exhibition photography and a wrestling showcase – what CYB did this year

When our team isn’t using digital as a force for good, they are busy following their own passions outside of work – here are the creative, fun and exciting things our team did this year

14 Dec 2023

ETD - blog header

Helping a government service reach 99.75% processing rate

Working with the FCDO on Emergency Travel Documents, CYB were able to improve the percentage of straightforward ETDs issued within 48 hours from 83%

09 Nov 2023

AI summit - blog header

What CYB would like to see at the Government’s AI Summit

As the UK Government hosts a historic AI Safety Summit, members of the CYB team write about the policies and outcomes they believe will help us use artificial intelligence ethically and responsibly

01 Nov 2023

ORU - blog header

A multidisciplinary approach is key to building new services in Government

Following the launch of services for the FCDO’s Overseas Registration Unit, CYB’s team explains how success was built on research, design and open source technology

24 Oct 2023

Truly - Research ops - Blog header – 1

How CYB uses Atomic Research to structure our insights

CYB’s User Researcher Truly Capell writes about how our team have incorporated Atomic Research into our practice - and how it is helping our clients

17 Oct 2023

Anita - Research ops - Blog header

Research Ops at CYB: creating tailored frameworks for success

CYB’s User Research Lead Anita Chandra writes about how we developed a bespoke Research Ops model that has already helped our big name clients

11 Oct 2023

Engineering Day - Blog Header

CYB Engineering Day: developing with LLMs for client solutions

Head of Engineering Ali Salaman writes about how his team continues to grow their expertise around Large Language Models

29 Sep 2023

Large Language Models

Innovation at CYB: Give A Little header

How Give A Little does things differently

In the last video of our series, Director of Software Engineering Max Stewart talks about the ways in which our point of donation software is transforming the charity sector

11 Sep 2023

Innovation Give a little

Maternity leave - Blog header

Parenting at CYB: redefining yourself after maternity leave

Wrapping up our parenting blog series, our Head of Design Christine Fent writes about the challenges of returning to work after giving birth

31 Aug 2023

Maternity leave

Managing work-life balance - Blog header

Parenting at CYB: managing the work/life balance

In the first of our August series on parenting while working, CYB employees share their advice on how best to juggle your career with raising your children

08 Aug 2023

Working parents

Software security image

Staying one step ahead of security threats

In our latest video detailing how CYB use new ways of working, our Head of Engineering Ali Salaman talks about how we approach software security

26 Jul 2023

Small business - header

Small business and the quest for change

More than 99% of all UK businesses are defined as small - CYB founder Ben Stewart writes about how together they can help reshape society

20 Jul 2023

JenPT header

Using AI as a “smart beginner” to quickly solve technical problems

CYB’s Associate Transformation Lead, David Farrell, writes about using CYB’s integrated version of ChatGPT to help circumvent a project roadblock

14 Jul 2023

Automated testing

Unleashing automated testing for a smooth user experience

CYB’s Full Stack Developer Richard Bray writes about how automated testing can save time when building a service - freeing you up for other challenges

11 Jul 2023

Content blog header

Writing for large audiences: how to make content-led projects a success

CYB’s associate Content Designer Graham Spicer writes about the importance of clear, concise, user-researched content when writing for large, varied audiences

20 Jun 2023

Innovation at CYB: Research Ops

Creating tailored research ops

CYB's User Research Lead, Anita Chandra, presents a video on how we created a bespoke research framework that has helped our clients

09 Jun 2023

Delivery at CYB - Ros - Image

Delivery at CYB: helping teams stay focused on outcomes

Ros Vaughan, CYB’s Associate Delivery Manager, writes about how best to keep teams on course to achieve agreed results

06 Jun 2023

Collaboration - Blog Header

Collaboration at CYB: how person-centric ways of working are at the heart of success

CYB’s Director of Digital, Richard Grove, writes about the ways to achieve constructive collaboration with new teams

01 Jun 2023

Caring consulting

Research at CYB - Part 3

Research at CYB: using user segments to design tailored hypotheses (part 3)

In the final part of our series, Katie John, CYB’s Head of Research, writes about how being able to design tailored hypothesis leads to improved services

25 May 2023

Research at CYB - Part 2 - Katie John - Blog Header

Research at CYB: Creating data validated user segments (part 2)

In the second of three blog posts, CYB’s Head of Research Katie John writes about how to set yourself up to make tailored hypotheses

24 May 2023

Research at CYB: creating user segments to make tailored hypothesis Pt1

Research at CYB: creating user segments to make tailored hypotheses (part 1)

In the first blog of a series, CYB’s associate Senior Performance Analyst, John Drinkwater, writes about the project that led to vital research work

17 May 2023

Introducing CYB’s research philosophy

Introducing CYB’s research philosophy

CYB’s Head of Research, Katie John, presents the key values and ideas that underpin our work in the area

12 May 2023

User Research Research Philosophy

Fearless teams: why psychologically safe teams deliver innovative work

Fearless teams: why psychologically safe teams deliver innovative work

In the second part of our series, CYB’s associate Transformation Lead Jon Sykes writes about how to create psychological safety that helps teams thrive

09 May 2023

psychological safety

Psychological Safety p1

How CYB creates psychological safety in our user research sessions

Caution Your Blast’s Head of Research Katie John writes about how you can navigate difficult subjects when conducting user research

02 May 2023

User Research psychological safety

Delivery management blog header

Delivery Management at CYB: getting up to speed quickly with new work

CYB’s Associate Delivery Manager Ros Vaughan gives three steps to follow that will set your team up for better outcomes and giving value for money

27 Apr 2023

consulting Government digital

WCID 2023

World Creativity and Innovation Day 2023: how we innovate at CYB

As the United Nations celebrates the role of creativity and innovation in worldwide problem solving, we start a video series on innovation at CYB

21 Apr 2023

AI, ChatGPT and Bing – what is the future of content?

AI, ChatGPT and Bing – what is the future of content?

With AI promising to revolutionise how we work and live, CYB’s Head of Content Shaun Curran considers what the rise of technology like ChatGPT means for content

13 Mar 2023

What place does innovation have at CYB?

Innovation at CYB: what does it mean?

At the start of month where Caution Your Blast is looking at innovation in tech, our Founder/Managing Director Ben Stewart considers what the term means in a modern context, and how we innovate at CYB

09 Mar 2023

How Ali Salaman became CYB’s tech whiz and helped transform digital in government

How Ali Salaman became CYB’s tech whiz and helped transform digital in government

Ali Salaman, CYB’s Head of Engineering, is a talented software developer with a background in payment processing and more than 20 years experience. Here he tells us about his role with CYB and his experience transforming old code within government.

15 Feb 2023

Software Development Government digital

CYB at Women in Tech: using linguistics in digital

CYB at Women in Tech: using linguistics in digital

CYB’s user researcher Sian Dunn writes about delivering a talk at Women in Tech, and why linguistics is an important tool in digital

09 Feb 2023

What I’ve learnt since graduating

What I’ve learnt since graduating

On International Day of Education, CYB’s service designer Alvin Chan reflects on what he’s learned about the world of work - and service design - since graduation

24 Jan 2023

Favourite projects 2022 - Blog header

Helping Brits abroad, supporting charities and a website redesign: CYB’s favourite projects of 2022

Four members of CYB’s team reflect on their favourite collaborative projects from last year

18 Jan 2023

Why do we close CYB over Christmas

Why do we close CYB over Christmas?

CYB’s Managing Director/Founder Ben Stewart explains why the company shuts down for Christmas - and how his “slow IT” approach benefits everyone at the company

14 Dec 2022

cyb christmas books

CYB recommends: 10 books for Christmas

Are you short on gift ideas or simply looking for a new book to read over the holidays?

09 Dec 2022

CYB Recommendations

The power of kindness

The power of kindness

Following our "How CYB cares" series, Christine Fent reflects on the importance of kindness in the workplace

16 Nov 2022

Caring work relationships

How CYB cares - formbuilder

Why Caution Your Blast keeps XGovFormBuilder open source

CYB believes in using digital as a force for good, and sharing our open source, reusable form builder with the wider community helps us do just that

09 Nov 2022

Open source Form builder

The good, the bad and the ugly of working in different consultancies

The good, the bad and the ugly of working in different consultancies

Anita Chandra, CYB’s User Researcher Lead, tells what she’s learned from 15 years of working at consultancies - and why CYB gets things right

26 Oct 2022

e-app goes live

How CYB is helping transform the legal profession with e-Apostille

Caution Your Blast Ltd announces the launch of the e-Apostille project in collaboration with the FCDO and the milestone it represents.

06 Oct 2022

How to run a successful hackathon

How to run a successful hackathon

CYB's head of engineering, Ali Salaman, shares all you need to know to organise a successful hackathon.

26 Sep 2022

Running research sessions to understand assisted digital support

Running research sessions to understand assisted digital support

As a User Researcher, it is important that we design services that work for everyone. To do this, we need to make sure that we research with people who can’t or don’t want to use digital services.

20 Sep 2022

User Research usability testing

back to school - christine

How to transition into the wonderful world of service design

In this "back to school" blog series, CYB's head of design, Christine Fent shares how you can transition into service design and why now might be the perfect time of year to reassess your career path.

08 Sep 2022

Service design career change

IDC 2022

International charity day: Q&A with Give A Little

The mission of Caution Your Blast Ltd (CYB) has always been to use digital as a force for good, which is why back in 2019 we founded Give A Little, a digital fundraising platform that helps charities collect cashless donations.

05 Sep 2022

fcdo series - formbuilder

Low-code, open source citizen services: solving the speed and cost challenges

This blog shares the story of the xGovFormBuilder - how it came about and how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) services have benefited from being more efficient and effective through it.

31 Aug 2022

Developers and User Researchers

Why should developers get involved in user research?

This week we hear from Richard Bray, one of CYB's talented web developers on why he thinks developers should get involved in user research.

04 Jul 2022

Development User Research

One week on - Hackathon 2022

One week on from Caution Your Blast’s first hackathon of 2022 - how it went, what we did, and what we learned.

It’s been a whole week since Caution Your Blast’s first hackathon of 2022, and CYB’s Paul Williams has been reflecting on the event - how it went, what we did, and what we learned.

27 May 2022

Hackathon - Blog header

Why CYB is partnering with Climate Edge for its next hackathon

CYB and Climate Edge aim to help smallholder farmers upscale their business

17 May 2022

Climate Innovation Hackathon

Christine Fent quote

How Christine Fent used service design to help UK citizens stranded abroad during Covid-19 lockdowns

Christine Fent, Head of Design at Caution Your Blast

28 Apr 2022

WCID

World Creativity and Innovation Day: Using digital as a force for good

CYB highlights a project that helped emerging countries improve their digital capabilities

21 Apr 2022

Digital capability Government Innovation

Mike testing

Five things I’ve learned from running remote unmoderated usability tests

Mike Green, an Associate User Researcher, shares one way of testing designs quickly and reliably with lots of users

07 Apr 2022

User Research usability testing

Services week

Leveraging the XGov Form Builder

Earlier this month, Jen, our Senior Developer, gave a talk for Services Week on the open source, free-to-use, Cross Government Form Builder that we’ve been developing with a range of government departments and international collaborators.

01 Apr 2022

CYB Voices - Rich B

CYB Voices: Spotlight on Richard Bray, Full Stack Developer

An interview with Richard B as part of our series of conversations putting a spotlight on, and celebrating, different members of our team.

11 Mar 2022

Software Development

CYB Voices - Roshni

CYB Voices: Spotlight on Rosh Ghedia, User Researcher

An interview with Rosh Ghedia as part of our new series of conversations putting a spotlight on, and celebrating, different members of our team.

16 Feb 2022

hand-globe

Carbon Reduction Plan

Caution Your Blast Ltd (CYB) is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by October 31st 2025.

15 Nov 2021

Climate change Carbon reduction plan

COP 26 image

COP 26

CYB's founder, Ben Stewart, on the urgent need to align rhetoric and regulation

01 Nov 2021

National Work Life Week

Telltale signs that your work isn't conducive to your mental health

And how to take action to protect your work culture

13 Oct 2021

London Tech Week

Getting into climate tech at London Tech Week

CYB's Leads Developer, Ali, shares his thoughts on London Tech Week.

01 Oct 2021

GAL reader and tablet

Give A Little and a pandemic

Looking back on how we've iterated Give A Little over the past year

09 Aug 2021

Candles

What information is important?

In the information age, cutting through the noise is vital – as we found in our latest project with the FCDO

04 Feb 2021

Christmas Lights 2

Christmas letter and announcing FCDO Digital Partner

Reflecting on an extraordinary year for CYB and beyond

17 Dec 2020

Writing for the web

Writing for the Web: What we learned from GOV.UK

How best to get your message across when writing online

14 Oct 2020

Hacktober

CYB x OSS: how we're making the most of Open Source

Using OSS technology to improve online services

08 Oct 2020

Mental model rev

Using mental models to understand complex services

Analysing how users behave and what help they get from organisations

09 Sep 2020

P1170364

Can the COVID cycling trend be helped by digital?

Can the COVID cycling trend be helped by digital?

03 Jul 2020

behavioural change Service design

Work-from-home (1)

Working from home during COVID-19? Yes, it can be done

How we've adapted to the new normal

29 Jun 2020

Bereavement

Researching sensitive topics: what we learnt talking to bereaved families

Learning about difficult subjects through user research

25 Jun 2020

Rocket

Broadband boost for the country

£5 billion will be spent on the hardest-to-reach places in the UK.

27 Mar 2020

Digital service

Importance of Government Digital

The importance of government digital

Government digital services need to focus on end users

27 Mar 2020

Government digital

Wedding ring

Getting married abroad made easier

Proving eligibility with a simple digital process

14 Feb 2020

Go digital Listen and learn

point of donation

Point of donation software service

Enabling the charity sector in a cashless society

11 Dec 2019

Cashless giving Give a little

Give a Little thumbnail

Charities to go contactless for Christmas

Software allows charities to collect cashless donations

11 Dec 2019

Give a little Cashless giving