Weeknotes, Friday 10 January

Happy new year!

I know a lot of people don’t like January, but I quite like it. Enjoy getting back into a normal routine and looking ahead to the rest of the year. Here’s what happened in the first proper week back at work.

Finishing a discovery

The fostering discovery work that was supposed to wrap up at the end of last year still needs a week or two. User research was limited due to recruitment difficulties, but 2 interviews happened and we got a little bit of feedback about the current content around foster carer pay, a prototype financial calculator and a new contact form. I’ve written up a few recommendations for the fostering team on what to do next, to share with them next week.

Progressing adult social care content work

Having audited the content last year looking for possible routes for people looking for support, I shared a bit of a proposal with Dani, a service designer who’s done a lot of work and thinking in this space in the past. She had some good challenges and feedback, and highlighted some potential research that’s happening in this space soon that could help answer some unanswered questions.

Prepping for a sprint about consent forms

My fantastic user research colleague Claire has initiated some work around consent forms and PDA (pathalogical demand avoidance, or some prefer the term persistent drive for autonomy). Excited to be involved in this, you can read about the work she has planned here: Help us make a consent form that works with demand avoidance

OneTeamGov Local

Attended the OneTeamGov Local meet up, which is run by Kit Collingwood from Greenwich. Left feeling motivated and inspired — topics included working in a time of scarcity, dealing with change and sharing work with other councils.

Distractions

Listening

The Night, Saint Etienne (album)

Negative Spaces, Poppy (album)

This Heathen Land, Green Lung (album)

Watching

The Traitors! Not as good as previous years? Maybe. Will see how it plays out.