February 2021

Learning dataviz with Makeover Monday

/ analytics, data
Reading Time: 4 minutes

I’ve been meaning to take part in Makeover Monday for some time as a way to improve my data storytelling skills. This weekly learning event has been running for a year or so and I love its simple but effective format: a data vizualisation and accompanying dataset is released at the start of each week and you simply read the brief, analyse the dataset and make over the visualisation, submitting your work into the Twitter dataviz community for feedback. I am a big fan learning by doing, so while a 10 week Coursera on Data Vizualisation might be interesting, I don’t think it would be nearly so useful as just getting stuck in with some open data sets and trying things out, getting feedback from the dataviz community and iterating your work. Active and social learning at its best!

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Look out, here comes Microsoft!

/ learning technology, lms, tech leadership
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Towards the end of 2020 our Head of Learning Design asked me to do a short presentation to her design team about where I thought the main disruptions to the Learning & Development technology market would come from in the year ahead. Usually we would look at startups, niche suppliers or parallel industries to identify potential disruptors. But if 2020 taught us anything, it was to think differently and look elsewhere for what could turn markets upside down! 

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Look out, here comes Microsoft! Read More »

Why everybody should put users first

/ product management, tech leadership
Reading Time: 4 minutes

You don’t need to be on the product design team to have an interest in user experience. Putting the user first is part of all of our jobs in software and product development, as important as putting the customer first is to a business or service. User centered design (UCD) is the beating heart of all good product development so it’s beneficial for everybody in the team to develop a solid understanding of its principals and to put the user first at every opportunity.

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Why everybody should put users first Read More »