Prototyping on Windows, joining a hackathon and a new profile photo

A weeknote starting 8 September 2025.

Installing the GOV.UK prototype kit on Windows

Everyone I've met here so far (even interaction designers) uses Windows PCs. I have to say that the hardware that they supply is generous and has a decent spec though. It includes a Surface tablet and 2 monitors that I picked up on my first day to take home.

I had a go at setting up the GOV.UK prototype kit on Windows this week. I haven't quite finished yet, but it seems pretty smooth so far. The design team have written a handy tutorial for how to get going.

Most of the requirements (Git, Node, VS Code) were available for me to self install. The only real blocker has been admin rights to install the kit itself, so I've raised a request with IT to get that sorted.

Apart from that, everything else feels pretty standard. The prototype repo is stored on Github and hosted on Heroku. So once I'm up and running I'm expecting everything will feel pretty normal.

I also really like how the team uses version numbers to keep the prototype code, flow diagrams and dev tickets in sync.

Hackathon

I joined a hackathon in the office on Thursday. I was mostly in listening mode, but it felt like a good way to continue my onboarding and meet more people.

It was great to see a multidisciplinary team, including internal users, come together to work on problems. By the end of the day, the teams had a list of ideas, prioritised by effort and value, to take forward into the coming sprints.

I'd like to spend more time with the internal user team to understand their different roles and needs.

New profile photo

With my new contract in place, I thought it was about time to update my profile photo (I was looking a bit too young and fresh faced in the old one). I'm trying to use the same one across my website (including my favicon), social media and work apps to help people recognise me in different places.

I think it's tricky to get the balance of professional versus personal, and realistic versus flattering 🤣 … anyway here I am:

White man with a beard, wearing a baseball cap and smiling

Bookmarks