Remote usability testing and paddle boarding

A weeknote starting 7 July 2025.

Remote usability testing the prototype

I did some prototyping in code this week. For the first time in a while.

It always gives me a satisfying feeling. It was a good break from the endless meetings of late.

We were prepping the prototype for some remote usability testing over Microsoft Teams. After a quick dry run with the user researcher, we realised that giving the participants control of the interactions through screen sharing on Teams wasn't going to work.

So, we decided that I would share my screen and ask the participants to tell me how to operate it. Not ideal, but it was still better than just sharing mock-ups on a whiteboard app and scrolling around the place.

The interactions on our service are quite unique and don't translate well to a standard prototype. But we are building on as-is controls, and we've already spent many hours usability testing it in-person, so I felt this approach was acceptable this time.

I felt like we got a clear answer to the main user research objective pretty quickly. So most of the time was spent digging deeper into the product as a whole, and we got unprompted quotes and observations that we can roll into future iterations.

Booked some travel

I also booked some work travel for early August. We have a 2 day workshop coming up, and although these kind of workshops aren't as rewarding as user research trips, I still value getting out of the 'working from home' routine every few weeks.

Paddle boarding

A man sits on a paddle board, waving at the camera. There is only sea and sky in the background.
Me having a break on the paddle board, photo by Dylan at Four Waves Media

I went paddle boarding in the sea with Dylan, we were on the water for about an hour and half, really hoping to do more of this over the summer. We went from Limeslade bay to (nearly) Rotherslade bay.

In between the beaches, the coastline was mostly cliffs and deep water, so it felt quite rugged and remote. There was a bit of swell, so I didn't stand up. We decided next time we'd find somewhere calmer to get our standing confidence/strength back up.

There were a few others on the water. People fishing, kayaking, swimming and riding jet-skis. So it felt pretty idyllic.

Outside of work

I ran 8K, this is my longest ever run. I'm raising money for Sands – a charity that means a lot to my family.

It's hot again, I feel like Swansea mostly dodged the last heat wave, but this one has properly hit us. It's about 28 degrees right now.

I've been feeling a bit unwell this week, not sure if I'm ill or exhausted. Not quite ill enough yet to take a day off work, but enough to make me grumpy. Will try and rest this weekend and see how I feel.

I have 1 more week in work before I go to Greece for week's holiday! 🇬🇷

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