Weeknote: 20 to 24 July 2020

What inspired me this week? 97 people joining our Product Development show and tell on Teams. I think that’s a record! There were great presentations about the coronavirus content toolkit, and a change to the NHS App to improve the user experience when there are temporary glitches in connecting to GP systems. Catching up with … Continue reading Weeknote: 20 to 24 July 2020 →

Weeknote: 13 to 17 July 2020

A four-day working week after a long weekend on the lovely Northumbrian coast. What inspired me this week? Happiness is watching a flock of user-centred design professionals from multiple delivery teams swarming over a Miro board in a community workshop. I concluded early in my time at NHS Digital that having teams talk to each … Continue reading Weeknote: 13 to 17 July 2020 →

Weeknote: 6 to 10 July 2020

I got a haircut!Only retrospectively did I realise how much that, along with the scratchy Sharpies, was affecting my mood at my home office.How am I developing leaders and leadership?We welcomed Emma Parnell as a lead designer to work alongside Dean across our citizen-facing services.I also had a catch-up with Eva, the practice lead for … Continue reading Weeknote: 6 to 10 July 2020 →

Weeknote: 29 June to 3 July 2020

Back to weeknotes after a break while I wrote up my 3-year reflections. Monday Spent the morning and early afternoon in a brilliant remote unconference for Nye Bevan Programme graduates, organised by Mike Chitty, Hesham Abdalla, and Peter Watson. After the busyness of the past few months, it was a lovely change of gear to … Continue reading Weeknote: 29 June to 3 July 2020 →

3 years into my work at NHS Digital – part 2: Responding to change over following a plan

I hate emergencies. Some people thrive on drama, on spontaneously pulling improbable triumph from the jaws of a terrible situation. Personally, I’d much rather we didn’t get into that situation in the first place. I knew this about myself before I did the Nye Bevan Programme, and my learning on that programme confirmed it. Leadership … Continue reading 3 years into my work at NHS Digital – part 2: Responding to change over following a plan →

3 years into my work at NHS Digital – part 1: this is transformation

Every 6 months since I joined NHS Digital in June 2017, I’ve written an update on our progress building digital capability inside the NHS. It’s a helpful discipline for me to look back and see how far we’ve come, and to remind myself what more we have to do. Ending my 2.5 year note in … Continue reading 3 years into my work at NHS Digital – part 1: this is transformation →

Weeknote: 25 to 29 May 2020

What inspired me this week? Two workshops in which I was reminded of the growing breadth and depth of talent in our user-centred design community across national NHS organisations. Helen and Nancy led a brilliant session on user insights, personas and problem statements for a large and complex new service. The following day Sophie facilitated … Continue reading Weeknote: 25 to 29 May 2020 →

Weeknote: 18 to 24 May 2020

What leadership teamwork did I see? Over the past couple of weeks I've got more involved in the creation of a large and complex new NHS-branded service. I'm encouraged by its leaders' focus on getting the user experience right, and on the importance of earning and keeping people's trust. It has also given me a … Continue reading Weeknote: 18 to 24 May 2020 →

Weeknote: 13 to 19 April 2020 – notes from the top of a hill

Both literally and metaphorically, I live at the top of a hill. Leeds city centre lies in a dip where smoke and traffic fumes linger, so the middle classes have long chosen this leafy suburb, 100 metres higher, as a place to be socially distant. Here I am holed up in a house that’s big … Continue reading Weeknote: 13 to 19 April 2020 – notes from the top of a hill →

Weeknote: 6 to 10 April 2020

Slowing the pace a little after a couple of full-on weeks where several of our teams delivered new services, and I shuttled virtually between them to help make sure we would deliver a joined-up user experience. On Monday evening, while I was on a call about another new service in the pipeline, someone in my … Continue reading Weeknote: 6 to 10 April 2020 →

Weeknote: 30 March to 4 April 2020

What inspired me this week? In last week’s note, I mentioned the weekend working with colleagues on a new service to help the NHS prepare and respond to coronavirus. Coronavirus status checker, or "Tell the NHS about your experience of coronavirus," went live last Sunday evening for people who had completed 111 Online. This week, … Continue reading Weeknote: 30 March to 4 April 2020 →

Weeknote: 23 to 29 March 2020

What inspired me this week? New co-workers - my wife and our sons aged 13, 17, and 20 - getting on with their work while I do mine. Halfway through the week, I moved my improvised office from the dining table, which was rather too much in the middle of everything, to a sunny window … Continue reading Weeknote: 23 to 29 March 2020 →

Weeknote: 16 to 22 March 2020

What inspired me this week? So much to choose from, but these tweets from James sum it up... https://twitter.com/jiggott/status/1241308962718461952 Our user researchers moving rapidly away from face-to-face research without remotely compromising on the importance of involving users. This has been a real community effort, with lots of hints, tips and tools being shared under the … Continue reading Weeknote: 16 to 22 March 2020 →

Weeknote: 9 to 13 March 2020 – “We have the best team” edition

For a couple of Christmases I was part of the NHS.UK senior leadership team. When they were making the holiday cover rota, I used to joke, "you know where I am if there's a service design emergency". Well I won't be making that joke again. We have a Slack channel where designers share weekly updates … Continue reading Weeknote: 9 to 13 March 2020 – “We have the best team” edition →

Weeknote: 2 to 6 March 2020

What inspired me this week? Conversations with candidates at our graduate traineeships assessment centre in London. The candidates are always impressive. A preview of Rochelle, Shirley and Emma's talk at Service Design in Government. By all accounts they did brilliantly. A joint show and tell by two of our teams. The NHS App team showed … Continue reading Weeknote: 2 to 6 March 2020 →