I am currently working for NHS England in the prevention services programme. I write a note at the end of every working week to help me reflect and take stock.

Another one of those weeks where the team is making connections and each others' understanding gets closer.

We had fruitful sessions:

  • About trying to finalise our participants profiles for user research interviews. (Thank you B.)
  • About our assumptions and hypotheses. (Thank you H.)
  • With Helen Slee and Claire Dunne about diabetes services.
  • With Katharine Taylor about digital weight management service/s.
  • About architecture capabilities. (Thank you D.)
  • About helping the digital tobacco service.
  • Doing the team's retro and planning for the coming couple of weeks. Feels good to have people closer together in their understanding (but we're not quite there yet). Also some good chats about how best to work together (together, thinking aloud working through things together, doing things visually).

I am always grateful for the openness and generosity of colleagues wider afield to share their research, analysis and personal views.

I found some time to start finishing some small tasks. I just needed an hour to focus on each. Just an hour here and there. They were harder to find than I thought was needed.

Next week we are talking:

  • With Kate and the health incentives team.
  • With Suzanne about the digital tobacco service.
  • Reviewing as a team who we have talked to and why -- and who we need to talk to in discovery.
  • About closing up the policy position. G has done some good first-pass thinking this through and shared this.
  • About mapping the wider programme and similar "link up services", so we can...
  • About a clear(er) proposition for this service.
  • About how we can measure progress looking into our assumptions/hypotheses.

I need to:

  • Follow up with Imogen and the First Contact team.
  • Book in some time with the App gang.

In the wider future:

  • We’re looking to do a show and tell on Thursday 17th October. Being open with our work and working is just good.
  • We are planning working in the same physical space in London on Thursday 17th October. It’s an early start from Saltaire to London, but the train station is at the bottom of my road and the couple of hours from Leeds to London (and the way back) is good reading and writing time. Sc has promised us electroshuffle, which sounds like an 80s dance themed movie. (Electric Boogaloo anyone?)

I strongly believe there is something we can do in this space. I am impatient to find out what that is, but I have the patience to make sure we having findings that are driven by research – especially with citizens (and possible users) – and some service design digging.

When people say "discovery", "alpha" and "pilot" I want to know what they mean by these. I am sensing there's two school of thoughts around these parts: One where a pilot is an alpha, another where a pilot is a private beta. It's important we are collectively clear on the purpose of what we are doing and intend to do. Understanding meaning of these labels is important so we can manage and help with each others' expectations.

Other notes

D's hair is exemplary.

It seems we have a few dogs in the team.

Weeknote for Monday 30th September to Friday 4th October 2024