◂ CONTENTS OTHER WORK · GMCA · P. 23–26 FEBRUARY – JULY 2026

OTHER WORK · THE OFFLINE CARD TOOLKIT

Beeline Unplugged

A deck of cards that runs the Beeline?BEELINEThe Greater Manchester service that helps young people up to 25 explore careers and find a next step. discovery logic without a screen. What is in the pack, what six settings of field testing showed, and how it was designed to cost less.

ROLEMANCHESTER · FEBRUARY 2026 – PRESENT
JOB TITLEProgramme Manager, Beeline
QUESTI designed the activity and the scoring model, ran the field testing and the design assurance?DESIGN ASSURANCECollecting feedback from partners and young people in one log, so each point leads to a fix, a research question or a decision. rounds, and briefed and worked with a commissioned creative agency through artwork and production. I wrote the business case and the board decision paper, and set the measurement approach. I now lead the limited release of 1,200 decks with an engagement and promotion lead.
TEAMAn engagement and promotion lead, the wider digital team, the wider YEO team, a commissioned creative agency, and facilitators across six events.
WHAT’S IN THE PACK

The pack, and why it was printed

Two to three minutes with one young person, or a whole class with one adult. Framed throughout as exploration: no right answers, nothing closed off, and no narrowing at 14.

×18Prompt cardsSix Interests, six Skills, six Ambitions, with the scoring printed on the back.
×7Gateway cardsJobs a 14-year-old can picture, and a QR code into that gateway online.
×1Tally chartFilled in by hand and taken home, with a QR code on it.
×2Guide cardsOpens with “You don’t need to be a careers expert”.
SCORINGCLEAR FIT = 3 PTSRELATED = 1 PTMAX 2 GATEWAYS SHARE A SCORE
The facilitation guide across two cards: goals, what you need, and five steps from reading the intro card to visiting Beeline.
GUIDEThe facilitation guide. Five steps, no training required.
The Interests prompt card and its six statements, from helping people to bringing order to messy situations.
INTERESTSWhat do you enjoy doing, in and out of school.
The Skills prompt card and its six statements, from giving advice to keeping track of tasks.
SKILLSWritten as things other people notice about you.
The Ambitions prompt card and its six statements, from making a difference to a job with clear progression.
AMBITIONSIncluding pay and progression. Young people rarely think about work in those terms until something puts the words in front of them.
The reverse of three cards showing the gateway scoring: three points for a clear fit, one point for a related fit.
SCORINGThe back of every card. Showing the working stops the result reading as a verdict.
The seven gateway cards: Construction and the Green Economy, Digital and Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing, Creative Culture and Sport, Education and Early Years, Financial Business and Professional Services, and Health and Social Care.
GATEWAYSThe seven gateways, each with jobs a 14-year-old can picture and a QR code into that gateway online.

FIELD TESTING · SIX SETTINGS, FEBRUARY – MAY 2026

Crowd and noiseA quiet cornerYounger learnersOlder learnersFamiliesA room with employers in it
AT THE LARGEST EVENT, SAME DAYS
UNPLUGGED≈290
DIGITAL≈140
Young people reached. The deck was on a stand in a hall; the website was there for anyone who wanted it.
EVERY GATEWAY GOT USED · 7/7
FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL≈57
CONSTRUCTION & GREEN≈52
CREATIVE, CULTURE, SPORT≈42
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE≈40
EDUCATION & EARLY YEARS≈37
ENGINEERING & MANUF.≈32
DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY≈31
A table at a careers event with the Beeline Unplugged deck laid out: seven coloured gateway cards, rows of skills and interests prompt cards with QR codes, a tally sheet and a how-to-play card.
ON THE STANDThe pack as a group meets it: gateway cards across the top, prompt cards to sort, and the tally sheet that goes home with them.
The same table mid-session, hands reaching across it. Dot stickers have been added to the seven gateway cards to record which ones young people picked, with sheets of spare dots and a stack of tally charts beside them.
MID-SESSIONDots on the gateway cards record what young people picked, so the spread is visible in the room.
OFFLINE AND ONLINE

Two shapes of the same journey

1 · ARRIVALOffline An adult sets it up.Online They arrive alone.
2 · ACTIVE DISCOVERYOffline Cards, tally and panels, all live at once.Online One question at a time.
3 · THE REVEALOffline A surprising score becomes a conversation.Online It lands on a screen with nobody there.
4 · THE BRIDGEOffline A code scanned later, often at home.Online The next page is one tap away.
5 · COMING BACKOffline Needs the pack, and usually the adult.Online Free to return, any hour.
SKILL · SERVICE BLUEPRINTS ▸
ROUGH WORK · THE BLUEPRINT BEHIND THISFLIP TO THE ROUGH WORK ▸
Beeline Discovery service blueprint
COST

Designing it to cost less

Public money, so the cheapest version that still worked was part of the design. Four things brought the cost per young person down.

Bulk, not kitsEvery component in one print run, kits assembled in-house.
Four configurationsEach sized to where it goes, from a summit giveaway to a school kit.
One deck, many young peopleA class of thirty needs one deck and thirty printed sheets.
A limited release of 1,2001,200 decks with tracked codes, released to inform the next iteration before a full order.