How I applied for permanent residence as an EU citizen living in the UK

Time to read: 7 minutes So the first thing I did, a few months after “WTF, did Brexit really just happen?” settled into my brain, was to google like mad about permanent residency. (If you don’t want to read the whole story, you can always skip to the checklist at the end.) Research And… I ended up on a few […] continue reading »

“What is UX” for Startups

Time to read: 2 minutes I’m at a startup, as Head of UX, shaping a product that’s launching next week, and helping the team find ways of working that make them be more productive and feel more empowered. One of the challenges with the otherwise small and jovial company, is that there is already a silo: Marketing. What’s wrong with […] continue reading »

How to win at UX

Time to read: 5 minutes UX is trendy, and we should all rejoice… Except UXers often work to unrealistic expectations, (“make this product user-friendly in 8 weeks”) try to solve non-existent problems (“build that team a dashboard with metrics XYZ”), and are seldom allowed time to do real research or work as a team (“we don’t have time for that, […] continue reading »

Wanderlust: Barcelona’s Architecture

Time to read: 5 minutes I had been wanting to visit Barcelona since 1999-2000, when I took an architecture course and discovered Art Nouveau housing and the work of Gaudí. That dream finally came true after so many years thanks to a contract ending a bit early, my partner having a few days of holiday he couldn’t carry over, and […] continue reading »

Why are UX take home tasks so crap?

Time to read: 9 minutes The UX industry suffers from a delusion: that the take-home task is a good way to understand what each candidate for a job is capable of. This isn’t 100% wrong, but it sure as hell is flawed!! I’ve written about why I think this is flawed, included some examples of – REAL – good and […] continue reading »

How BA failed at maths, humanity, and service design

Time to read: 5 minutes I’ve been on FOUR BA flights since 27th December 2016. This only matters because the last one was a VERY different experience from the first three. The first two were First Class (we used avios, sit back down), and awesome. On my last and fourth one, however, I discovered BA’s new policy of not serving […] continue reading »

Books of 2016

Time to read: 4 minutes In 2016, I discovered goodreads again (I signed up for it in 2012), and found their “book challenge” section, which I promptly set up with a goal of 30 books. Turns out, 2016 was a good year for books! We got new bookcases to make ours happy. Our books are happier and we are happier! […] continue reading »

Sketchbook Mondays: Cup sleeve and card holder

Time to read: 2 minutes One of the problems I’ve always had is that I my hands are hyper-sensitive to heat. In itself this is small, but in 2017, I decided to stop having milky coffees. I’ve never digested milk very well, and it was time to stop it again. So it would be mostly americanos for me in 2017! […] continue reading »

Linear calendar for 2017!

Time to read: 2 minutes Download the 2017 Linear Calendar Here it is, a few weeks late, but brought back to life for two simple reasons: I ran out of the last one A friend who uses my linear calendar to plan for her business asked me for the next one! To use it, print on any printer that prints […] continue reading »