The one constant
A reflection on the contrast between stable, skill-based work of the past and the constant change of modern digital practice, alongside a brief account of the week across work, family, and ongoing shifts in technology.
Weeknotes from Paul Smith
A regular set of notes of things I'm doing, reading, watching and working on
Latest posts
The treadmill got faster
A return to weeknotes prompted by the rapid mainstream adoption of AI, using writing as a way to process its impact on work and practice
Weeknotes 22
Gently restarting weeknotes while upgrading this site, juggling NHS 111 under fives work, family time, AI discussions and prototype kit tinkering.
Weeknotes 21
A placeholder weeknote noting that upgrading NetlifyCMS mattered even if I never wrote the full entry.
Weeknotes 20
A flu ridden week with little work, some small comforts, an unsettling incident in the woods and reflections on career direction and the wider world.
Weeknotes 19
Reflects on the emotional cost of onboarding new colleagues, taking strike action and finishing a clutter free media wall at home.
Weeknotes 18
Balances giving a talk about Figma flows, wrestling with mapping in services, a difficult court appearance and the small win of running Parkrun again.
Weeknotes 17
A grab bag of midwinter highlights including new pens, an updated Figma flow resource, DIY cabling, gadgets, games and internet infrastructure nerdery.
Weeknotes 16
Travel heavy week visiting the Planning Inspectorate and London colleagues, mapping our service together and enduring a nightmare journey home.
Weeknotes 15
First week of 2023 reflecting on resolutions, illness, long running prototype doubts, leadership meetings and a Figma resource being listed on GOVUK.
Weeknotes 14
A cold end to 2022 spent prototyping data source pages, worrying about Twitter, negotiating design tools access and appreciating kind colleagues and snowy walks.
Weeknotes 13
Birthday week featuring a rare office visit, growing a user centred community, wrestling with data language and discovering Superdrug's EasyMed service design.
Weeknotes 12
A design heavy week sketching and prototyping new data provider pages, wrangling Figma admin and reflecting on how I run crit sessions.
Weeknote 11
Describes creating a service status pattern, investing in a user centred community, adding monitoring and feeds, and deliberately taking a short break as a breakpoint.
Weeknotes 10
Covers building a planning data prototype, running a Design System Day workshop, growing a design community and finally running a postponed 10K.
Weeknotes 9
A busy week volunteering to run a Design System Day workshop, rebuilding this site, nurturing a design community and walking the dog.
Weeknotes 8
After a break to protect my health, I reflect on balancing life and work and removing barriers to writing these weeknotes.
Weeknotes 7
Talks about wearing too many hats at work, running a project point of departure workshop and various small work updates.
Weeknotes 6
A fortnight of getting my first Covid jab, meeting users and stakeholders, returning to the gym and going deep on AeroPress coffee tips.
Weeknotes 5
More personal weeknotes about remote working with my partner, walks with the dog, returning to the gym and what I watched and read.
Weeknotes 4
Reflects on finding my place in a new team, choosing useful low risk work and a handful of interesting articles and tools.
Weeknotes 3
A mixed week of settling into the new job, learning tools, helpful chats with colleagues and small personal joys like Cinnabon.
Weeknotes 2
Covers my first week as a Senior Interaction Designer at Digital Land, new starter experiences and early reflections under pre election restrictions.
Weeknotes 1
First ever weeknote covering preparing for a new government role, walking, small life admin wins and things I read.