Oh hi. I’m still here. I talked about writing in multiple channels and nobody told me to stop, yet (I’m trying to do the radiate intent thing). You can expect more light-on-detail posts in the weeks approaching election day.
Things I’ve been thinking about this week:
What already exists?
For the past couple of week’s I’ve had Katy Arnold’s voice ringing in my head, on ‘UX hero mentality’ and how not to alienate the people around us.
Camp Digital — Katy Arnold (nexerdigital.com)
I’ve arrived in a team with 3–4 years of history behind them. It would be incredibly vain to think I have all the best ideas; many clever people have trodden this path before me and have tried things with mixed success.
Yes, my team want new energy and my perspective on things, but I can’t ignore the past and treat these as greenfield problem spaces. Unfortunately, there isn’t a neat formula that says x amount of pre-existing ideas + y amount of new ideas creates momentum; this is about people skills and listening, and trusting my own judgment that I’ll know when the right times are to lean in and make suggestions.
I think I’m getting the balance about right for now. We’ll see how the next few weeks go.
How do we help quieter team members to voice their thoughts and opinions?
I’ve been in a few all-team workshops now where the product manager and delivery manager have done the vast majority of the talking, and the other members of the team have said very little. I know they have ideas and useful contributions to make, because I’ve heard about their backgrounds and interests in 1–2–1 calls, but they’re somehow not able to voice those thoughts in a group setting.
I’ve been looking back over the notes from my Circle Indigo training, and I’ve suggested a few things I think we should try.
- Give space for reflectors. Provide materials or prompt questions in advance (where possible) to allow people to form thoughts before calls, and provide spaces where we can reconvene or people can contribute their ideas after the session.
- Try some different warm-ups that give everyone the opportunity to speak. Emily Webber has a lot of suggestions for this. Once people have spoken once, they’re more likely to speak again.
- Give people clear expectations of when they’ll be asked to participate and how; don’t surprise them with a general Q&A at the end.
- Break the group into smaller teams. We have break-out groups on our video calling tech but rarely make use of them.
We’ll try these out and see how they go. As I’m building relationships with team members I’ll also be trying to explore (sensitively) what’s holding them back, so we can adjust our sessions accordingly.
How do we reduce burden on our users?
I’ve seen a few prototypes in the last couple of weeks. They all use GOV.UK design components and patterns. But they feel very ‘clicky’.
It might be me projecting — I haven’t had the opportunity yet to witness any primary research or usability testing — but my gut tells me these products are more burdensome than they need to me.
Noting this now to see if I still feel the same in a few months’ time.
What is this team’s brand of fun?
A sure fire way to bond with new team members is to make them laugh. I like to think I’m quite good at this.
In previous teams I’ve riffed on jumpers, confectionary, pets and Dad jokes.
This team seems to favour word play and portmanteaus. Grool.
