Latenotes incoming. Usual excuses, haven’t prioritised writing these publicly for a while now. This week and some of the last few weeks have been: Drafting a blog post for Public Digital on ‘User research as a strategic tool’ or something along those lines. As always I’m reminded of the value of having very experienced people…

Finally got myself in gear to write some weeknotes again. I was tired at the end of last year. I started drafting a ‘year note’ but gave up pretty quickly and went back to DIY to get the house ready for Christmas. So this is maybe a bit more of a general update but… The…

Didn’t manage proper weeknotes this Friday. But I’m dumping a bunch of links that I’ve been reading/finding useful instead. Slightly different format, but that’s the good thing about your own blog. Nobody can stop me. I’ve not even read them all 👀 John Cutler’s review of ‘shape up’ which is loosely Basecamp/37 signals product development…

Keeping it brief this week, trying to do it before the evening, need to paint the kitchen ceiling. Learning a lot, asking lots of questions about the nuances of software delivery. Did some actual mapping on an actual wall for the first time in a long time. Went on the tube for the first time…

Latenotes this week. I hadn’t planned on writing any necessarily, but after 2ish weeks of working on my first client work I’ve had one of those weekends where I’ve spent about as much time picking up the notebook next to my bed as I have actually sleeping. Apart from Saturday morning when my very generous…

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…

Its a bonus week this time around, so plenty to pack in. I started at public digital last Monday, but only worked three days and was off on Friday…so thought I’d save all my weeknotes up! Some thoughts on the last two weeks: I’ve been meeting a lot of people in the new job and…

Wasn’t sure if was going to write anything. I’ve been between jobs this week but trying to keep myself in the habit of weeknotes given I’ll need to keep them up in the new gig!  This week has mostly been.  Stripping wallpaper. I wish there was some deep and meaningful life lesson I’ve learned from…

Last day at Co-op, a real privilege to have worked with the CX, design, digital and operations team over the past 2.5 years. As I’ve said to everyone who asked, it still doesn’t feel real. But sat on the train back from Manchester for the last time it’s starting to sink in. Thankfully you all…

A bit of a strange week, to be expected when you share your own job on social media. Confirming leaving Co-op still feels weird, but you can now apply for my job. If its something you’re interested in, I’m very happy to chat about it. This week I thought about: Purpose. Imran lead a great…

We’re finally moving back into the house, with a bathroom very very very nearly complete. So that’s this Friday’s main highlight. Things I’ve been thinking about this week are: Trying to get to the bottom of why the tools our colleagues use don’t always have product names that are 1) understandable or b) the same…

Trying to make this a thing again, two weeks in a row. Things that were on my mind this week: When describing a case study aim to show a structured approach to moving from initial metrics (analytics, business data etc), using that data to inform research objectives, then tasks and questions in qualitative research. Identify…

Obligatory ‘its been a while’. Over a month, we’ve been moving round different generous family members spare rooms whilst the bathroom is being done, and we navigate summer holiday childcare fun. Things on my mind (aside from whether that flooring will arrive in time) recently have been: Recruitment. As always, you’ve got to prioritise it.…

I’ve been pretty poor at weeknoting recently, things have been and continue to be busy – partly in work (managed to be in a design sprint, whilst also prepping another bit of discovery work at the same time two weeks ago) but mostly outside. We finally have a house move date, contracts have been exchanged…

Its been a busy week, but in a good way! I’ve actually really enjoyed the variety and manageable sense of urgency that its given me. This week I: Took more action to try and increase my understanding of software delivery management, sitting in on a ‘Velocity 101′ conversation with our delivery manager Chatted to Miro…

Its been a bit of a side-quest week. Had an invite land in my diary late last Firday, a call Monday and then a follow up on Friday to prepare for. Whilst its not ideal to have to reprioritise the week based on what someone else is asking for, it made me reflect on a…

Like many people I took some time off this bank holiday week (and it was half term for us too). So this is a mix of holiday and work related ponderings: I took my oldest (5) with some friends for a bit of a cycling holiday. Train plus traffic free cycle paths, camping, a light…

Short week 1/3 out of the way in May. Just in case you’re wondering I’m strongly team ‘do not reorganise Monday’s regular meetings to Tuesday when it’s a bank holiday’. Anyway this week I: Finally started reading a book that I picked up at our team away day ‘bool swap’. The Ten Principles Behind Great…

These weeknotes are mostly brought to you by spite, and as a way to stop tidying the house for the umpteenth time for another house viewing that may or may not get confirmed tomorrow morning. I’ve had a 3/4 week hiatus (I lose count) because of various reasons, mostly a combination of my wife having…