Author: Mathew

Wrapping up with a listicle. Classy. 1. It’s not for me I wrote at the start that I wasn’t totally sure why I was trying NaBloPoMo, but I think this was ultimately why I did give it a go. To double check if this sort of content creation was for me. I’ve always held a… Continue reading 9 takeaways from posting every day for a month

Started as a commitment device for myself more than anything. Also, partly as a way to test ideas and to share some thoughts. Still, it’s reminding me this evening of my art collage days, with an essay deadline, writing another sentence or two, doing another word count, and still not quite being at 3,000 or… Continue reading Day 28 of 30, of National Blog Posting Month…

Postal workers, yes, shout out to them also. But I’m talking more about people that ‘deliver’ the end part of a project. Before I get in to it: I’m not overly bothered about using the word delivery to mean ‘finishing a thing‘ or ‘proving the service you’ve been hired to do’. Maybe it’s good to… Continue reading A shout out to those that deliver

I took this screenshot at 8.16pm tonight. They said the pizza would be with me by 7.52pm. At the time of screenshot it was 24 minutes late. The pizza finally turned up at 8.21pm. Nearly 30 minutes late. I was feeling really frustrated by this point. Which was both a bit childish, and totally avoidable.… Continue reading Priming users for disappointment

1. I’m loving working with Hackney Council. Not just for the opportunity to do good work that will help their officers provide better and most sustainable services to their residents – But because I used to live there and so care a lot for the area. In working with them I also care for the… Continue reading Wrapping up the week

It’s great to work from user needs. It feels obvious when you do, and mind boggling to think that anyone wouldn’t. But the obviousness can be deceptive. In a meeting today someone joked about people confidently stating ‘user needs’ such as “users need a chatbot to give customer support” or “users need notifications to keep… Continue reading Realising the actual user need

Based on some recent conversations. A way of looking at the job of doing design: It’s not all designing though, no matter which discipline. The majority of the job of doing design is actually just creating the environment for design to happen: And when creating the environment, the majority of time is actually spent talking… Continue reading The job of doing design

Used when something turns out to be really impressive, it’s supposed to be a positive thing to say. I get it, and that the intention behind it is good, but there are three nagging aspects of this saying that really rub me up the wrong way. It’s a silly and particularly pedantic hill on which… Continue reading Picking a fight with a saying: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’