Happy Friday all!š Hope youāve had a great week, and are taking care of your wellbeing and mental health as we very quickly approach the shorter, darker days and colder weather. Remember to get some fresh air, spend some time in the day light we do have, and look after yourself.
Itās quite a long one this week, so grab a cuppa tea first.
The end of our project
We did it! On Monday we had our final Show & Tell, a full 45 minutes presenting the final outcomes of the work to our clients and the broader organisation. It went really well, we had some great feedback in the chat throughout the presentation, and have received some extra feedback since.
This project has been hard, itās be exhausting and draining. But. Has been so rewarding, Iāve definitely learnt a lot, and as a group we should be proud of what we delivered, the quality, and quantity of work (2 core outputs, along with 17 supportive additional products to be exact!). Alongside all the outputs we created, this project has also required us to learn and understand a system so complex, that those with years of experience in the organisation, have openly said they donāt even know how the whole system works. Which is big, definitely something to be proud of.
Weāre also planning to write atleast one blogpost for this work, and are working on some internal guides for best practice, which is exciting!
Personal and Professional development
This week I shared how I track, plan and record my own development and goals with other designer at dxw. Explaining how I use it and why I find it useful, but also where I feel it falls short and gain feedback from the group.
In short; I created a list of skills, attributes and knowledge I feel are important for a Service Designer, and also added attributes from Gov.ukās Service Designer definition. Self-assessment of against these points, and identified areas to improve on. I then created action points listing tools, events, resources that would help me build/improve those areas. (I am happy to share my format for this with anyone interested)
The feedback was really useful, and aligned with my own reservations with my format and process - the restrictions of tracking the development of a designer, particularly a service designer, in such a tick box, rigid structure. As creatives, our development happens continuously, from consuming podcasts, TV, Film, books and our overall surroundings, speaking with fellow creatives, our hobbies and attending events. But this form of development isnāt something we can so easily track on a tick box format.
This got me thinking, is there maybe about the nuanced difference between professional and practitioner/personal development? As a creative, as a designer, I am continuously developing and growing, and the things listed above contribute to that continuous development. While at the same time, as a Service Designer employed at dxw, I have to be meeting certain criteria for professional progression and development. The two are intrinsically linked, but do they maybe require different formats/processes?
Iām not sure what my final thought or answer is, or even where my own development framework fits in this? But itās definitely got me thinking.
As-is vs to-be
In this months Service Design Morning, we had some great discussions about as-is vs to-be mapping, and I want to share two stand out discussions:
As natural problem solvers, how we do prevent slipping into problem solving space too soon? Someone on the call explained how she (physically or mentally) throws their problem solving thoughts into a bucket to come back to later. They have value, they are responsive problem solving thoughts triggered by as-is insights that shouldnāt be lost, but just arenāt suitable at that moment. They then come back to that bucket later, and often find they have different thoughts and responses now as theyāve got the full as-is understanding.
What is the value of making the as-is? This came from someone who had never done as-is/to-be mapping, and was initially unsure about itās value or purpose. After some discussion she shared her visual way of how she might remember and describe the purpose of it to others. Which I felt was too good not to share.
Youāve found an old abandoned house(the as-is), and youāre removing the weeds, finding all the doors and windows, discovering a hole in the roof and where repairs are needed. The to-be, is fixing that hole in the roof, replacing the windows and building an extension. You need the as-is to identify what works needs doing, but spend to long looking at the hole in the roof and winter will soon arrive and itāll make the damage worse.
SDinGov
Today I attended day two of SDinGov. This was my first time attending, and I was blown away, and truly inspired by the range of incredible speakers. There are too many highlights to talk about here (I might do a separate Weeknotes about it?š¤), but Iād love to quickly cover my top three.
KA McKercher, Designer and author of Beyond Sticky Notes kicked off the day with an incredible talk about co-design, and ādesigning for, to designing withā. They shared their own examples of powerful co-design, and asking us to reflect if we really are co-designing, or are we just adopting a Human Centered Design approach? There were some incredible resources, examples and Miro boards shared ā many of which are now shown on their Twitter, so Iād really recommend checking it out (and to find out what 150+ people on one Miro board looks likeš¤Æ)
Jenni Parker, and Ali Fawkes from the social innovation consultancy Humanly, shared their experiences and advice on inclusive remote engagement. Iāve been a big fan of Humanly and their work for a number of years now so I was very excited to see them on the programme, and talking about a challenge so many of us facing right now. It was great to hear an honest evaluation of their own learnings and challenges, and examples of where remote engagement has offered new, improved opportunities.
Finally, George Aye, Co-founder of Great Good Studio, closed the two day event by holding up a (hypothetical)mirror and questioning if we, as designers, are doing enough. Sharing why itās so important to say no to work when itās not right for us, and his own experience of doing this, and an honest reflection of having to balance business, power and social good. I could write about this talk for hours, and but these Weeknotes is already long enoughš . So Iāll leave you with the 10 design ethics questions he left us with, and his one plea for emerging leaders in design.
Quick good stories
Finalising our MHFA Training Proposal
This week we decided on our recommendations for training, and finalised our proposal for directors. There has been some really great feedback, and a real appetite for this across dxw, and itās great to get the ball rolling and hopefully get atleast some staff trained up soon. Which feels particularly important as we quickly approach what can be a very challenging time fo year and season for many.
Samaritans Listening Volunteer interview
On a similar topic, this week I had an interview date confirmed for becoming a Samaritans Listening Volunteer. As someone who has personally made use of Samaritans resources in the past, and have also seen the positive impact their support has had for others, I feel very privileged and proud to hopefully be able to give back and support others in need and in crisis.
3D people
I met some more of dxwāers in person this week, bringing my grand total of 3D dxwāers to 15!š„³
If youāve stuck around this long.. thank you ā Iām impressed! Now, see you in two weeks time, in Octoberš¤Æš¤Æ
