Week 22 - biomethane, the future office and the northern powerhouse 🌍 🏃♂️
Long time no speak. Hope you are all well!
Net Zero 🌍
Since we last spoke, I’ve started working on the Green Gas Support Scheme. In Layman's terms if you produce biomethane (gas) and want to provide it to the National Grid you need to register with Ofgem.
It's all part of the government's net-zero campaign which makes me feel good because my work is helping the planet in a positive way.
Hitting the ground running 🏃♂️
When I joined the service a lot needed to be done fast! The team had fallen into the trap (which I have seen happen 100 times) of building what was designed in alpha with very little research.
Remember it’s okay to throw it away!
I’ve got the team into the habit of prototyping at pace and testing with at least 4 people every sprint (we owe a lot to the researcher for doing all the recruitment himself 🙌 ).
It'll take time to turn this ship around but we'll get there.
The last of a dying breed
The last ever Class 142 Pacer Train (you know the buses on rolling stock) ran in June 2021 in Wales.
The Pacers were taken out of service because of new Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.
I find it extremely interesting that thousands of trains were taken out of service to help make the world more accessible. Maybe one day people will treat web accessibility with that kind of seriousness.
The future office
I went into the office for the first time since March 2020, a weird experience for sure. It was lovely to meet a lot of new people face-to-face; lots of “bloody hell you’re tall” was said.
I do fear that working on a project with my team in several different locations could mean that going into the office is just an hour bus ride to sit on video calls all day with other people doing the same thing.
I'm thinking about how we can make the new Manchester office a fun place to work and inclusive for people who take a lot of video calls.
I really do miss whiteboards though.
Northern powerhouse 🏭
We are looking for a Principal Designer, Designer and Researcher to join our Manchester office. I think Harry put it nicely in his tweet.
I was told throughout university and my earlier career that the big jobs were in the South.
But I think I've seen that proven totally wrong. Some of the best designers I know live and work in the North.
That’s all folks.