It has been a busy one. We launched our service, and this means we have to go to Sheffield for regular User Research sessions (often called User Testing, but I recall Ben Holliday once correcting everyone, saying WE ARE NOT TESTING THE USER - which I’ve carried with me for years).

It’s tiring work. During the school holidays, it’s not ideal that I leave the house early and return home late, but it’s also been beneficial to see the service in people’s hands in real life, working and working well!

I’ve enjoyed it - the work coach I’m sitting with is a complete superstar; he’s so good at his role; he is calm, helpful, and a real star player with the people approaching his desk. He is why people get jobs; he is why people feel confident to keep trying, keep applying, and keep going - because whatever silly newspapers or idiots say, it is not an easy job market right now. The claimants I’ve met are not what you expect if you believe the media (which I knew already); they want to work, they desperately want to provide their own income and they are doing everything and anything to land a role.

Going forward, we are pushing out more features and milestones, which will help the Work Coaches give better support to customers/claimants and, in turn, help turn those job seekers into job workers.
There have been twists and turns in this delivery cycle, but so much credit has to go to the Design and Development team. They and we have really supported the rollout, which at times has felt chaotic and heated. However, we landed it, and seeing it in the wild feels like some great decisions were made throughout the ideation and build of the service.

I am leading the team on the changes from the User Research, influencing from afar into making changes - the deadlines are tight, oh so tight - so I’m leaning on my experience on what will have the most significant whack for the smallest buck; this is where we are right now with time and costings. It’s a huge challenge, and I can hear those blog posts that write the perfect world screaming in my ears - but, if I’m honest, I’ve never had the perfect design process. I am here to deliver something great for the country AND its users; if we are agile - then the process has to shift, too.