User research, multi-disciplinary teams and balancing strategic versus tactical fixes

A weeknote starting 29 September 2025.

My first user research session

I had my first remote user research session! We observed an internal user that was completing one of their common weekly tasks using the new beta service.

I've watched a few videos of users doing similar things already, but it was great to get an interrupted view of the time it takes to complete things. We also had a chance to have a semi-structured chat at the end.

I think my main takeaway was that this step, although ripe for improvement, wasn't the main bottleneck for the team.

Some of the pain points already have tickets on the board which is great too. Nice to see user research findings being linked directly to technical iterations.

Multi-disciplinary team

I had a real sense of optimism that I was starting to click with the team.

There are lots of great people, and it's great to be part of multi-disciplinary team, where technical, product and user-centred design folks are working together trying to solve the problem.

Tickets on the board

We haven't really started our sprint cycles yet, but I already have a couple of tickets on the board with my name assigned to them, and it felt good to throw my weight behind some things.

Strategic versus tactical fixes

Our team are wrestling with whether to focus on tactical fixes or a more strategic improvement. It's great to see that strategic fixes are being considered. But, depending on the direction, it could mean that some of my quick and dirty efforts this week will need to be paused or revisited.

In my experience, user-centred people are often asked to lower their expectations and work on things more tactically. The "let's not build a gold-plated Lamborghini" argument. So, I'm happy that we may get an opportunity to solve bigger problems. Not that I've ever tried to gold-plate anything, most of the time I'm aiming for a reliable and fuel-efficient family car.

But, I think I've learnt to be very pragmatic and scrappy over recent years. I've been happy to push through small changes based on tiny bits of evidence. As long as I'm nudging things in the right direction, then I'm happy. Now I'm questioning whether or not that approach is right here, and if I'll have to unlearn some of that approach, or try a different one.

For now I have no idea what the scope of the strategic fixes might be. Let's see what next week brings.

Race day tomorrow

Did I mention that I'm running the Cardiff Half? It's race day tomorrow. I'm starting to feel the nerves, but I think this is partly to do with the idea of being part of a big event, as much as the run itself.

Overall I'm happy with where my fitness is at. Wish me luck!

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