Wow, so it’s been a while hasn’t it?
Nevertheless, it’s lovely to see you again.

So in the space of not writing weeknotes, I have changed roles from working within DEFRA (which I loved) to working on Bobbin and Bumble for a month(ish) to now, leading the design charge at FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and implementing their first ever Design System AND Prototyping kit.

If I touch on my time at DEFRA, it was lovely, I enjoyed it there, and will forever remember the support and the friends I made (I still speak to them now even when I left so you know it’s the real deal!). It was fun, challenging and all the right stuff that I love when working on projects, I even managed to squeeze in presenting and passing an Alpha assessment(!), but I felt it was the right time to leave, especially when there was a need back home, working on the family business that I have not touched since going back to freelance/contracting.

Bobbin and Bumble is the family business in case this is new to you, it’s a real living fixture in our lives, my wife started it from our dining room table with a £5 sewing machine, and it’s now a fully breathing and living thing, and knowing her products are in people’s houses (and sometimes, the people are colleagues that do not realise I’m the owners husband!). My workload varies, from building emailers to content reviewing - tracking keywords (long and short tail) and just doing general website updates, all measurable, all enjoyable and all worthwhile!

And to now, Financial Conduct Authority, what a change of pace from working for myself to having deliverables, stakeholders (that isn’t my wife) and working from scratch. It’s the challenge I have been searching for a while, and it’s so enjoyable. From stakeholder meetings to presentations of the work done and what’s up and coming to writing code and shaping the future of the design within a huge organisation and taking along as many people and supporters as possible (and there are many cheerleaders here). It’s a great fit, and it keeps me and my brain busy, which is certainly what I wanted.

Also, in the past week, we went to see a pantomime at the Bradford Playhouse and it was so funny, Peter Pan has never been as funny and the cast were brilliant, my kids loved it and there was a slight smothering of naughty jokes (which the cast told me off for laughing A LOT at).

We seemed to have obtained a kitten, which was a shock to me and the children but I’ve been assured that it will support me in my mission to rid of any farm mice that seem to think it’s okay to camp out in the house.

Watch of the week:
Amy Hupe: Your design system contribution practice is doomed to fail.
I watched this before starting at FCA, and I just thought it was a great reminder of what to do or not in this case in and around contribution to a design system. It’s one of the toughest parts of implementing a design system, and something that we are parking upon launch, and working with pilot teams closely for their direct feedback.

Upon launch, I see contribution as just getting the users to use the thing, getting buy-in and also growing the list of pilot teams, which seems so easy when you clumsy write it.