This week we’ve been enjoying our new space in E1, but we still can’t help thinking about the time. We’re counting down to go-live for the essex.gov.uk project, and though it’s terrifying, it feels like things are starting to come together.
Devs
Martin’s been carrying on his sterling working with Tech Services, making sure our apps are ready for the launch. He’s also been lending a hand with our accessibility audit proposal decisions and chatting with FutureGov about service patterns.
Purvi’s been doing some sleuthing around redirects to make sure there are no loose ends when the new pages go up and taking some time to look at the Azure environment.
Product and delivery
Helen’s been on the road with her one woman show, '4 Content Designers, 65 websites: How small Content Design Teams can tackle big problems'.
I had a mole in the room, and can tell you she blew ConCon (the Government Content Designer conference) away with her talk about how a small team can effect big change.
Away from the main stage, she also completed an accessibility paper for our leadership team and a governance proposal to ensure that our content is sustainable long past go-live.
Matt's been marshalling planning for go-live, making sure everything is shipshape.
Service design
Bhupinder’s been trying out her user journey mapping skills for adults diagnosed with dementia, and also indulging her creative side doing some service design sketching.
Nic’s been sharing the work that he and the FutureGov gang have been doing around mapping service patterns on the blog. He’s also been thinking about the relationship between service patterns and the roadmap. There will be more on service patterns on the blog soon.
The Adult Social Care Information, Advice and Guidance show and tell in Colchester Library was a big success, with lots of ideas bounced around with front-line social workers to validate the discovery insights and give context for the design concepts.
Content
Sheila and I have both been ploughing through site map and content migration spread sheets. This isn’t glamorous work, but there’s something satisfying in seeing the old and the new content sat side by side as we get everything ticked off and ready to launch.
Caroline A and Hannah have had a good week mapping out a structure for the new planning, recycling and land section, and meeting stakeholders for their first kick off meeting.
Caroline M’s been working on ideas for our ‘contact us’ and Brexit pages.
Team highlight
We’ve settled into our new space in E1 Zone 3. We have the sound of trickling water from the pond behind us, and high windows in front. We like to think we’ve made it a trendy, up and coming neighbourhood.
Nic and Matt have put a lot of work into making the move a success, taking a ‘minimum viable’ approach, learning what works and adapting to get things done quickly in a big organisation that doesn't always welcome change.
If you'd like to get in touch email us at service.design@essex.gov.uk
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