2023/11/17

Missed a week, didn’t manage to squeeze it into the work day and evenings have mostly been about moving our lives in and out of the kitchen after builders leave for the day, before slumping into bed to be honest.

I’m now officially over a month into the new role. This is how the last two weeks have shaped up:

• Kicked off first ‘proper’ client work, both remotely and with some in person time in London. There was a time that I got pretty tired of running design workshops, but I think with the shift to remote working I get more energy and enjoyment out of them than I used to because its more of a novelty for people so they engage better.
• That’s then flowed into lots of follow up conversations/interviews to help us understand the as-is situation, so far, so similar to what I’m used to.
• Alongside client work, I’ve had more intro and induction calls with people. Meeting people and learning more about PD ways of working, culture, finance etc. Slightly reassuring that little of it is totally new or unexpected.
• I’ve also managed to fit in some conversations about the role of design research at PD, and how we do it with clients, or help them do it for themselves. Its not a consistent picture across all work, but something that’s a good fit for my experience and something I’m keen to develop. First step has been an initial draft of a ‘playbook’ to start conversations.
• Related – thinking about personal goals and how that fits in with the wider team(s). Chatting them through and arriving at the aim to “make the case for design research as a strategic approach” as we so often see e.g. user research and service design constrained to improving usability or reducing complaints. Neither of those are incorrect uses, but I’ve spent time with so many researchers and designers who have an awareness of how things could change in a broader sense to make an org more customer-centered and ultimately more effective or profitable. I’m keen that PD champions that use of design research rather than simply the tactical use.
• We’re now 3 weeks deep on having our kitchen gutted and rebuilt. I’m so tired of going up and down stairs 300 times simply to make a bowl of cereal. Getting there though. New kitchen by Christmas.

The long read for this week is extra long to make up for last week. I learned about the ‘Abilene Paradox’ which is when people a group go along with something because they think they’re the only one with concerns. But in reality they all have concerns, but nobody is voicing them. Fun.