{"id":7827,"date":"2026-10-09T14:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/?p=7827"},"modified":"2026-10-09T14:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:35:22","slug":"5-things-from-5-years-at-mercator-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/5-things-from-5-years-at-mercator-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things from 5 years at Mercator\u202fDigital\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Dominic on the left with colleagues<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started at Mercator Digital back in the summer of 2021. I\u2019ve now hit my 5 year anniversary. Before then, I\u2019d never stayed anywhere this long. That\u2019s for various reasons; from project timelines, moving to a different part of the country, to growing a family. And yet, I\u2019ve kept going at Mercator for 5 years. When I started, Mercator\u2019s User-Centred Design (UCD) arm was small (I was the third person to join UCD!) and I\u2019ve seen it grow. I\u2019ve also seen the business develop and mature, from how we approach clients and partners, to adopting new technologies and practices.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what have I learnt?\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Made to feel welcome\u202f<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I started during the Covid pandemic, so I joined the company completely remotely. There were no office meetings or in-person introductions, but everything I needed arrived in time for my first day, including a few thoughtful goodies. Despite the usual technical challenges of getting set up and accessing software I needed, Mercator was on hand to help and made the transition as smooth as possible.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Building relationships with clients\u202f<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some aspects of how Mercator operates were new to me, but I was familiar with public sector work – so joining client projects with government departments was a nice return for me.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 5 years, I\u2019ve worked on a range of projects, each with its own challenges and learning opportunities. The range of subjects within the client\u2019s projects <\/em>have also been a constant source of interest, from new areas to those that affect us all.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Part of the agency, not just the client\u202f<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Working across Mercator and its projects was a bit of a learning curve for me. Depending on the project, I may work directly with a partner, end client or a Subject Matter Expert, often bringing together different perspectives and priorities. Mercator supported me and trusted me to deliver, and I have been lucky enough to work with people who are equally helpful and supportive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s also great about Mercator is the network of friends and colleagues I\u2019ve built up over the years. Even when we don\u2019t directly work together, we\u2019re able to offer advice, share ideas and help each other out. We regularly catch up and show each other what we\u2019re working on, looking for ways we can improve our work and processes. Our excellent Community Team also brings together remote workers by organising a mix of fun social activities, both in person and online.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Growth and Evolution<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been exciting to watch the company grow. I started as Mercator\u2019s third member of their UCD <\/em>Department, which has now grown to over 100 people. Along the way, we\u2019ve also gained more developers, testers and commercial staff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This growth has also brought other changes too, including how we come together as teams. Change is good and shows that we aren\u2019t just getting bigger, we\u2019re growing our technical skills and expanding our capabilities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Be yourself\u202f<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think what Mercator ultimately gets right is you\u2019re able to be yourself and feel part of the company. Even as we grow, ideas and opinions are respected. I feel just as comfortable talking to a newer, junior member of the team as to the CEO. Everyone\u2019s approachable, willing to listen and ready to support you when opportunities appear.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I have a problem, I know who I can speak to and that they\u2019ll listen. It\u2019s comforting to know that the company wants what\u2019s best for me as well as what works for them. In an increasingly unpredictable industry, it\u2019s an extra string in the safety net.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So these are a few things I\u2019ve learnt during my time at Mercator Digital. From different client projects to new members of the team, a lot has changed over the past 5 years. But at its core, the same fundamentals are present: everyone is lovely, I enjoy my work and it\u2019s work that makes a difference.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with my experience as a content designer \u2014 for these 5 years and before that \u2014 I\u2019m still learning and trying new things.\u202f<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Dominic on the left with colleagues) I started at Mercator Digital back in the summer of 2021. I\u2019ve now hit […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mercatordigital.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}