I burnt a lot of time this week on stuff that I neither contributed much to or got much value from. I could have been better at prioritising my time. Writing this as a reminder to do a better job in the future. Also to read invite descriptions and not just the titles.
UCD folk
We have a growing team of design and research folk in our part of the portfolio.
Holidays and calendars lined up awkwardly. I ended up having 4 half‑hour catch‑ups back‑to‑back. For someone who finds managing relationships one of the harder parts of their job, I wondered if I was being a little masochistic. But it was a pleasure to spend time with each of these people.
It’s inspiring to speak to smart, thoughtful people who care deeply about the things we’re working on. Good chats with team members about the things they’re thinking about.
It’s also a little tough when I’m used to being in the detail to spend my time at a level removed. I think I’d have felt less shit if I’d had a better week. If I’d been able to do more of the work I wanted to do.
We have a new model of service delivery. 2 of the teams are taking on similar journeys, when they’d previously been looking at different parts of the same journey. Both teams are bringing the thinking of the previous approach to their new service. As someone a little removed, it’s fascinating to see which problems they’re grappling with first. And the ones they see as being more surmountable.
Graphic design
I had a meeting in Leeds this week. On the way, I could see another passenger creating beautiful graphic design on their laptop. They were putting together layout, after layout, after layout. It reminded me how glad I am not to be doing that any more.
People not conditions
We had our first personalised prevention UCD catch‑up for a little while. Joe Julier, a user researcher on the vaccination part of Digital Prevention Services, gave us a summary of some earlier work NHSE did. It was about helping people get support with muscle, joint and bone pain.
The findings he talked about resonated with the research we’ve done on accessing therapy. They also matched things we’ve seen from projects on other conditions. There are some universal consistencies about what people need when looking for support with their health:
- health conditions are complex (mental health is always a factor) and you need to treat the whole person
- people need to trust before they’ll engage – past experiences with health services heavily influence how willing someone is to try something new
- people need to feel heard and in control of what they do next for them to engage
- people often feel judged, especially around lifestyle factors like weight, smoking, drinking, mental health
- people often wait until things are severe before seeking support
- getting support isn’t a linear journey, people have probably bounced around various interactions many times already
- people often know what they should do but struggle with the how
- people want to understand why, not just what – being told to exercise more is less effective than understanding how exercise specifically helps their condition
- people need it to fit around their actual life – work schedules, caring responsibilities, money worries
- outcomes need to feel achievable, but also worthwhile, small steps are important
- one thing at a time – people dealing with multiple health issues often get overwhelmed by advice that doesn’t prioritise what matters most
- people often don’t like to feel they need help, reminding people that getting support is a positive is important
- creating lasting habits is hard
I’m still trying to figure out if or how we do can do some or any of the above with digital services.
I’m on holiday next week – whoop.