Weeknotes: Sunday 2 March 2025

The stage of For Wales, See Wales at Glee Club

A whirlwind of a week trying to catch up before I’m off on annual leave. Predictably, everything that could have landed next week has either been crammed into this one or pushed to the week after. I didn’t even pick this week off! But here we are — running between things, trying to wrap things up without feeling too guilty for the timing.

Here’s what I’ve been working on and thinking about:

• Shared the website refresh sketches, and there are a few comments from stakeholders that need clarifying. Being specific about these now means that we can make sure we’re testing the right things with users. There’s also some scope creep signals appearing. I would’ve preferred to take a holistic look at the whole website rather than just individual sections, but we work with what we have. That said, what we’re proposing shouldn’t interfere with anything else in the long term — at least, for now.
• Have been getting everything ready for our work with the fire service the week I get back. We’ve got some training lined up — very kindly put together by our learning designer, James Gibbons — and then we’ll be heading down to Carmarthen for a day of workshops about service mapping and service patterns.
• As part of this workstream, I had a great chat with Heledd from Natural Resources Wales. It’s always good to catch up, and I’m really curious about their internal ways of working. Also met some of the digital transformation team at Blaenau Gwent Council to explore potential partnerships. Lots of interesting conversations happening, and good to see where and how we might collaborate.
• Had a great discussion with Gabi, Andrew, and Liam about better defining our users as an organisation. We talked a lot about categories and what we actually know about the different user groups. It’s unfortunate how often we assume shared understanding without really questioning it. We rarely take the time to define terms and concepts properly, yet we carry on as if we’re all speaking the same language.
• Change is slow. Painfully slow. And sometimes, there’s no way of knowing when or how it will actually happen. A lot of it comes down to hope (or maybe faith?): keeping at it, tapping the rock, trusting that at some point, something will shift. But maybe it won’t. Last year, I spoke to a community of practice about planting seeds — ideas, questions, reflections — and waiting to see where they sprout. They don’t always grow where you expect them to. Some seeds may not grow at all, but others may unexpectedly take root somewhere else.
• Last week, I shared some thoughts on blanket statements about accessibility, and how nothing is universally accessible: accessible to everyone, everywhere, all the time. That reminded me of The myth of fully accessible.
• Have been thinking about space segmentation — how different spaces, environments, and rooms shape the way we think and work. For example, I do my best creative thinking while walking outside, and my best writing isn’t at my desk. I need to be more mindful of this and lean into the environments that actually help, rather than forcing things in the wrong space.
• Another Uncanny chat (yes, again) reminded me of Thomas Nagel’s What is it like to be a bat’— a classic in philosophy of mind. It questions how different sensory systems shape entirely different experiences of reality. It’s always fascinating to think about how much of what we take as ‘objective’ is just a product of how we perceive the world.
• A blog post: Alastair Somerville’s The ABCD of human centered wayfinding.
• Attended the live recording of For Wales, See Wales at the Glee Club in Cardiff. I’ve listened to a few episodes and enjoyed them, but Nia is the real fan. I did have to sacrifice a rare bit of sunshine, but it was worth it — really enjoyed it. Probably should make more of an effort to keep up with the podcast!
• Watched Big Boys — all 3 seasons except for the very last episode. A crude, rude sense of humour, but it’s also funny, wholesome, heartwarming, heartbreaking, sad. It’s about grief, loss, coming out, and finding support in community. But I don’t think I can bring myself to watch the last episode: it feels like there’s a tragic ending coming, and I’m not sure I’m ready for it.

Check my previous weeknotes.