The Coupons
Given that it was a good week, and it feels like I’m coming out of the recent slump, it’s worth writing about.
We scaled the platform to support an AI hackathon
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been scaling the platform to make it more resilient, so that it can support 150-plus people at an AI hackathon. The hackathon was run by DSIT and MHCLG, with strong representation from i.AI and Digital Planning. One of our product managers, Jenny, was instrumental in shaping it. And many of the teams utilised data we make available through the platform.
Mostly, we were picking low-hanging fruit: implementing caching, increasing the power of machines, doing some load-testing, and making adjustments as a result. It’s stuff I’ve worked on before, but I was working closely with a team I’ve not worked with before. So, for me, the real value was in bringing a slightly different way of working, utilising a deadline to good effect.
And you know what? We fucking smashed it. Platform didn’t fall over, no 500s, response times were decent, no reported problems, no incidents, no alarms.
A national planning data platform serving hundreds of users at once. Boom.
It’s highlighted more work we can do in a 4-week sprint, such as adding more observability, adding more caching and defining alerting principles. Putting in these preventative measures is the first step towards optimising performance and the experience for users. It’s way less likely to fall over which really gives us some breathing room for thinking about how we improve those response times. So we can be more proactive and less reactive. Deep breath out: ahhhhh.
Researching administrative law
The incubation period for our project with i.AI, Extract, has ended and I’m hosting a workshop next week to think about next steps. We had already highlighted a few risks we knew needed exploring, and I started looking into some of the meatier ones.
It’s not entirely clear how data and evidence produced with the help of AI workflows will be considered from a legal standpoint, so I started reading up on information and administrative law. There’s a lot of overlap with automated decision-making, although we’re not doing any of that. But suffice it to say it’s a bit of a grey area.
Having said that, it has all become much clearer thanks to papers written by a Supreme Court Justice, which I’ve been reading to brush up on all this. It’ll compliment the work I did looking into codes of conduct for planning professionals, another essential avenue to explore.
This is the deep product work I enjoy. Delving into a domain and its policy, regulations, legislation and ethics. This is where Product is supposed to be, finding the constraints within which we must operate. (Design hangs out here too, obvs.)
A product operating model is (some of) your ways of working
I’ll write a fuller post about this, but I published our product operating model: how a team combines insights about users, expertise in design and technology, and a strategy to achieve outcomes for users and government.
I started drafting it (and implementing it) when I was running one of the teams last year, but a senior PM we hired ran the model with the team and iterated elements of it. It’s based on Lean and dual-track agile, and it went pretty well.
Co-working for a change
Recently I’ve found myself not as productive at home as I’d like to be. In the pandemic I experimented with moving to different rooms or setting up my desk on a windowsill, and the change in environment brought a new energy.
In early March, after breakfast with Anna in Brighton, I popped in to Wrap so I could take some calls. 3 hours was all I needed a space for, and they said I could pay directly or try out this new pay-by-the-hour app, Werksy. Since they said it was quicker, I tried the app.
I’ve used it a few times now, whenever I’ve need a space for a few hours at short notice. And it’s bloody great! Being able to use a co-working space for a day without getting a full membership has really boosted my productivity. And because there’s plenty of spaces in London, the variety means I can cycle to different parts of town, have lunch in new spots.
They’re working with places in Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Liverpool, London and Manchester, so check it out. You’ll get £10 off using my referral link which equates to 2–3 hours for free.
London Loop
In February 2020, we walked the first section of the London Loop from Erith to Old Bexley. It was a cold day. The trees were still bare and there were white horses on the Thames as the wind blew against the outgoing tide. We trudged past a recycling centre; boys were racing motocross bikes around scrubland; there was lots of fly-tipping. But we finished in Old Bexley to cheesy chips by a fire, a few cold pints, and then dinner in a Greek restaurant.
Despite how glum it had been, we were hooked on exploring London’s outer orbital path, wandering through places we’d never normally visit. Even the pandemic couldn’t get in our way: during the summer of 2020, when we were finally allowed outside, we notched up a walk every weekend.
Five years and 152 miles later, we’ve finally finished the London Loop, this weekend walking from Rainham to Purfleet. That final stretch through Rainham marshes, across the river from where we started, felt a world away. Another time, another place – and we are other people.
Give it go if you get the chance.
Turing Fest
Only 2 days at work next week (and half a day on the train) as I’m heading to Turing Fest in Edinburgh. There’s good stuff happening in the Build track but I’m excited to brush up on the latest in sales & marketing in the Growth track.
Pyrenees planning
My jaunt across the Spanish Pyrenees is only 6 weeks away, and the planning is coming on well. I’ve got my route figured out but I need to plan the camping spots and where I can resupply on food. The latter is most important, it’s fairly easy to find wild-camping spots, but you don’t want to arrive at a resupply when everyone’s having a siesta.
Decided to leave the mountains on the French side rather than the Spanish, it’s an easier route home, via Bordeaux (although Toulouse is also an option). When I rejoin the trail in future, I’ll do it via Huesca, there’s a vineyard I’d like to visit.
Also made the decision to get a different tent. My ultralight tent is good but it’s one up from a bivvy bag, you can barely sit up in it. Makes it hard to read or relax. Plus the vestibule area is tiny and not conducive to cooking if there’s a storm. So I’ll leave the Vango F10 Neon UL 1 at home and I’m bidding on a Durston X-Mid 1.
Bookmarks
DragonForce Ransomware Cartel attacks on UK high street retailers: walking in the front door, 6 mins. The DragonForce Ransomware Cartel is targeting UK retailers like Marks & Spencer and Co-op using social engineering tactics to gain access. They are impersonating employees to exploit internal systems and have already exfiltrated customer data. Time to brush up on cybersecurity again.
04-18-25 - Brick by Brick, 6 mins. There has been an explosion in weeknotes recently and I’m enjoying reading Sam’s, amongst others. A big thank-you to everyone who’s added an RSS feed so that we can all follow along.
Post by Rib :ms_red_panda:, 3 mins. Melissa Lewis discovered that the font used in the “You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign was illegally cloned, so it turns out the campaign itself used a pirated font all along!