Writing
Essays and notes. You can follow along by RSS.
Do the obvious thing first
Teams can now build a working prototype in an evening, so research has to keep pace, and for obvious things like putting government services online it can wait until something is live.
Read itNotis: leave a note on a web page
Notis is an open source tool for commenting on prototypes: select words, pin images, and let an agent make the changes.
Start with forms
You can deliver value to users by digitising form PDF forms quickly and you can learn a lot while doing it. This is what we did at GovTech Barbados.
Reject chronic heroism
Heroics make a broken process look like it works, and they reward the loudest people. Reward the people who do the job well in eight hours instead.
Building the team at GovTech Barbados
GovTech Barbados started with one person. By the time we left, around thirty people were working on alpha.gov.bb. Here is what I would do differently next time.
Job titles
I've had many job titles over the last 18 years. I prefer to use the word Designer.
Frequently asked questions
If people keep asking you the same question, that is a mark of failure. Go and find out why they are asking.
Create excellent roadmaps
How a well-designed roadmap leads to a well-designed product. First published in .net magazine in 2013, and really about outcomes before we called them that.