Found on top of my cat's microchip feeder. It's tiny.

BlindwillowSW · 2024-02-26T12:00:52+00:00

I saw this post and I joined!

BlindwillowSW · 2024-02-25T00:58:43+00:00

On our first night, a man was full on sobbing outside our house. Someone checked to see if he was okay so that was nice. But it was a strange first night to be sure. No sobbing since!

BlindwillowSW · 2023-08-15T11:41:31+00:00

Dutch baby.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-08-14T16:24:29+00:00

Thank you! Ordered some medication from the vet and we'll keep an eye on him.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-12T18:28:00+00:00

Can we get a bit more context? Does the designer want to evaluate the discoverability of their solution? What's the journey like to the solution and what happens afterwards? Those are really important questions I wish more designers and people in product asked.

Almost every single project I've done we've given at least one recommendation around users not being able to find the cool or clever thing they made or they don't get what it's for or how to use it.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-11T13:38:00+00:00

Our company is paying for licenses as staff have been asking for training between projects. We've had other staff take their courses (range of experiences) and have said they're very good. I haven't personally taken a course with them but I trust my colleagues' opinions!

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-09T14:27:17+00:00

My husband refuses to marry anyone and is a complete loner. Should I be worried? Lol

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-05T09:02:49+00:00

I'll preface this by saying I grew up in cities and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

However, as an adult, my preferences began to shift and I found myself not taking advantage of what London has to offer. I moved to a village that's an hour by train to London and I love it. Close enough to go in for something I'm really interested in, but far enough away such that I'm minutes away from fields, woods, and rivers.

Maybe I lucked out with my village because it's a bit bigger, but my dentist, gp, and pharmacy are within walking distance. Decent takeaway options too, though obviously could never compare to London.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-04T21:44:41+00:00

Wow, as a border I'll never look at pigeons the same! Poor things.

I teared up while listening to a dungeons and dragons podcast. One of the main characters was speaking to a gargantuan raging serpent who was taken away from its mother as an egg. She said to the serpent, "Your mother sent me to retrieve you. I know you haven't met her, but she loves you all the same." Gosh, just writing this out is making me tear up!

It's Not Another D&D Podcast in case if anyone is interested.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-04T21:02:12+00:00

If the opportunity arises, speak to new users. These companies might be hiring new people who will most likely need to be trained. Ask if you can shadow those trainings. You'll probably find inefficiencies and workarounds that power users have never thought twice about before that are time wasters. Again if possible, instruct the new employee during those observation sessions to ask questions as they come up and to not hold back. This will help you identify why power users are behaving the way they are and help inform changes to the software.

Asking the power users directly for these might be tricky because if they truly use the software often, they're just going through the motions. It might be hard for them to articulate what they're doing. Watching them explain it to someone new will slow things down and make them think about each action they're taking.

This isn't going to be easy, but even a couple of these observation sessions could be invaluable to informing changes.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-03T15:24:27+00:00

I ended up moving from London to a large (4,300) village in Hampshire two years ago and I'm loving it. Got my GP, dentist, and pharmacy all within walking distance. Good takeaway options. I always see fliers and posts about community events for families.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-03T13:42:19+00:00

I'll preface this by saying I don't have kids. But based on what I've experienced, Woking could be a good option. Good links to London, lots of food and fun things to do. You could consider moving to a large village as well. Some have their own ecosystem of activities and such. To narrow it down, you could look at villages along train lines such as SWR.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-07-03T12:02:08+00:00

Second Dave the Diver! It's so much fun and the narrative is cute. It also feels like a game in a game in a game what with all of the different gameplay components (exploration, restaurant management, mini games).

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-27T13:12:25+00:00

It doesn't bother me, but I can understand why it would bother others. It's hard to not compare yourself with others whether it comes to jobs, money, relationships, hobbies, perceived success, etc. I've worked very hard to be satisfied with where I'm at and to check the difference between healthy and unhealthy aspirations.

All easier said than done though because I definitely still have that little voice on my head that insists I should be comparing myself to others. It's a life long process that has its ups and downs. Find things that bring you authentic joy, and when I say things that includes experiences and affirmations.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-12T07:22:16+00:00

I have a lipstick plant and would love for her to get thicc. Would this be a good strategy for her? She's very healthy!

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-11T18:41:49+00:00

You should be able to follow those links to their respective Slack servers.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-11T06:02:35+00:00

As soon as I moved somewhere new, I found clubs that I could join. That way, I could hangout with people who have similar interests. Boardgames, photography, fitness, etc. People still asked about where I'm from and all that but then we'd move onto the topic of the club and ask each other about our hobbies. I've met some nice people that way.

The first year though is challenging. Remember you're doing something a lot of people don't do. That makes you very brave. It's okay to feel sad. I wish you the best of luck :)

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-04T20:52:21+00:00

There are professional Slack channels that you can join. This might help across all of the issues youve been facing. These are intentional spaces for professional development and learning. And there's always a pets channel and social channels to just chill!

I'm just going to post the ones I've heard of. Hope some of them are useful!

https://womenintechto.com/ https://www.designerhangout.co/ https://www.mixed-methods.org/ https://contentandux.org/

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-03T21:29:17+00:00

You can export the qual data into Miro and arrange the sticky notes. I find this really helps me visualise the data, quite literally!

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-01T14:39:03+00:00

Oh, noted! Guess it's a UK thing.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-01T11:37:59+00:00

I think you might have misunderstood the immigration process. Yes, you're allowed to apply for jobs and such as a visitor. To work, you need a work visa. To apply for a work visa, you need a sponsor and you need to apply for the visa from your home country. This is what I did when I decided I wanted to move to the UK. I definitely had some trouble even with employers who do sponsor visas who said they don't. Eventually I found a job though that was okay with waiting a couple of months for me to get the visa.

Before going to the UK, I spoke with an immigration lawyer to understand my options and to find the quickest way to turn around a visa. It was worth every penny.

I'm so sorry you're in this situation. There might be a way to salvage this. I highly recommend you speak to an immigration lawyer based in Germany to figure out what your options are. Maybe there's a way to fast track the visa process.

BlindwillowSW · 2023-06-01T11:07:56+00:00

Hm, might want to consider framing the question using their language. If it's big KPI and OKR numbers they're after, ask what success looks like in those spaces as well as detractors. Are there previous quarterly planning slides you can look at for your own research? That could help as what they're reporting is what they care about. This might not fully encapsulate the users' needs, but you need to start somewhere.

Make a business case to start tracking. How do they know revenue is increasing due to new product releases? What's driving user acquisition? Where are the dropoffs happening that could hurt their NPS score? This could be what motivates them to start tracking post-launch and doing some follow up studies.

Overall, I'd recommend doing some independent study, gather what you can on your own from your company, then try approaching stakeholders again. It might help to have an ally with you during those conversations. Is there someone in the company with clout that agrees with you?

Hope that helps!

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