Research
Research into the realities of digital work in the cultural sector - what goes wrong, what goes unseen, and what we can do about it.
Each year I try to find a question about digital work in the cultural sector that matters and doesn't have a good answer yet. These are the results so far.
The research is aimed at practitioners, leaders, and funders who want a clearer picture of how digital work actually happens in cultural organisations - not how it's supposed to happen. The goal is to produce evidence and tools that are practical and usable.
2026 - The Hidden Cost: Understanding the invisible labour of digital work
Building on Beyond the Promise, this project asks what happens to all the digital work that never appears in any plans.
The research is currently underway, using a survey, a diary study, and one-to-one interviews to map the scale, causes, and consequences of hidden digital labour across the sector.
Previous projects
All of the previous research work I've done - the reports and the tools - are available in full to subscribers.
2025 - Beyond the Promise: Looking at why and how digital projects in the cultural sector fail
Why do digital projects in cultural organisations so often fall short of what was planned? Beyond the Promise surveyed practitioners across the sector to find out.
The findings pointed not to technical failure but to something more fundamental; unrealistic expectations, under-resourced delivery, and a consistent gap between what gets planned and what's actually required to make things happen.