At Hippo
Hippo was founded in 2016 to bring user-centred practices into complex, agile deliveries, supporting clients such as the NHS, Department for Education, and BBC. As of 2025 Hippo employs 500 experts across the UK in roles including user research, service design, delivery, engineering, and data.
I joined Hippo as a Lead UX Consultant in October 2023. Alongside delivering for clients, managing senior designers, and contributing to the design Community of Practice, I want to help Hippo become the go-to specialists for accessible and inclusive design.
Inclusive communities
The week I onboarded to Hippo, I joined the Gender Equity Community. Since then I’ve been:
- actively involved in organising our International Women’s Day celebrations, for example creating appreciation boards where Hippos could acknowledge people who support us
- regularly sharing books and articles about equitable design on Slack, prompting discussions and support
- raising the visibility of female (and gender non-conforming) colleagues by focussing shout-outs and acknowledgements on their work, so it doesn’t go unnoticed
DI&B Forum
Hippo established a DI&B (Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Forum in 2023. In autumn 2024 new Hippos could apply to join and I was successful in taking on this additional volunteer role.
We meet monthly, bringing our diverse perspectives and lived experiences to help shape Hippo’s strategy, the approach to DI&B, and to hold the organisation to account for making progress.
In October 2025, I was on the panel for a Black History Month event called Allyship in the Herd.
I’ve also joined Hippo’s other communities as an ally, for example our disabilities community.
Accessibility and inclusive design
I’m passionate about tech for good and removing barriers to help disabled folks to live full, independent lives. Within Hippo’s design community I lead on championing accessible and inclusive design. So far I’ve:
- established the Accessibility Champions group, which I continue co-leading alongside everyone in it
- organised for all Hippo designers to undertake accredited accessibility training and become certified in inclusive design
- collaborated with world-leading partners to share knowledge, such as organising a tour of Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre
- written posts for the Hippo blog
- advocated for prioritising accessibility alongside delivery on a podcast
- presented to the entire organisation about the European Accessibility Act 2025
- created an a11y resources page on the Hippo Wiki
- shared new learnings on our #inclusive-design Slack channel (and on clients’ similar channels)
- regularly posted on social media to raise awareness and begin conversations with other designers and experts
External communities
As a consultant, the fact I work on different projects for different clients gives me a fantastic opportunity to also get involved in their communities.
I also like to attend local and remote events, to support my continued growth.
Client communities
I enjoy attending client Communities of Practice and being an active member in their EDI groups, such as:
- Office for National Statistics’ ONS Women’s Network
- Ministry of Justice/Justice Digital’s Women in Tech network
- Ministry of Justice/Justice Digital’s book club
- BBC’s International Women’s Day 2024 event in Salford
Other communities
I like to attend local and remote events where I can learn from other digital experts. These include:
- Manchester Digital’s Digital Her Day 2025 and 2026
- Digital Her socials
- Digital Gurus (including speaking at an event in 2023)
- Natter
- Lloyds Banking Group
- and more
I’ve also spoken at local events and on remote panels, and I regularly post on social media to raise awareness, share experiences, and begin conversations with other women in STEM, and with allies working across tech.
What else have I done?
See more of my work, including making improvements to memberships at the Barbican Centre and redesigning the Stand Up To Cancer website for Cancer Research UK.
Becky Colley, UX Designer 