Sign in

steve

@visitmy.website
1.1K followers 501 following 3.7K posts

workplace bez. doing product & strategy bits thru boringmagi.cc. more about me at visitmy.website/about

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by steve
Matthew Somerville @dracos.co.uk · 13h
Very excited to announce that I will be speaking at @ffconf.org in mid November, on 25 years (!) of the traintimes.org.uk concept. URLs, performance, millions of PWAs; why and how you can do a lot with not a lot. Perhaps see some of you there :) 2026.ffconf.org
2026.ffconf.org
“it makes me a bit sad how much faster devices have got yet our experiences have often got slower”
See Matthew Somerville speak at #FFConf
For people who still give a damn about the web and its community.
0123
steve @visitmy.website · 15h
Our next one is in Leeds, you beauties. Come along. luma.com/7s9dnegb
luma.com
Product for the People 10 · Luma
This is the 10th (!!) of our Product for the People events and we're coming to Leeds. An event for people interested in public service and product management…
045
steve @visitmy.website · 19h
never cheered so hard in my life, started a standing ovation for the man. his daughter was so happy. absolute legend.
011
steve @visitmy.website · 19h
in croatia a few years ago, a girl’s inflatable flapped away in a wind. after a swim trying to catch it, much like this video, the girl and her father came back to shore. then the dad paid a local fisherman to rent his small boat with an outboard, and he gathered the inflatable back!
100
steve @visitmy.website · 29/09/2026
i don’t only build digital public services and infrastructure
The gate whose posts I changed and on which it was rehanged
030
steve @visitmy.website · 29/09/2026
the story of every diy job ever
110
steve @visitmy.website · 29/09/2026
“once while hanging a front gate, i realised i was missing a part and had to order a drill bit by click & collect”
120
Reposted by steve
Katy Armstrong @katyarmstrong.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
🚨Entry level developer and delivery manager jobs in Manchester! mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2026/09/28/w...
mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk
We’re hiring in Manchester: build your career with us in software development or delivery management
Are you a junior professional looking for a career opportunity where you’ll be supported to learn, develop and progress fast? Join our digital teams as Junior Developer and Associate Delivery Manager ...
137
steve @visitmy.website · 28/09/2026
cha-cha slide
000
steve @visitmy.website · 28/09/2026
We should call this ‘misautomation’, automating the wrong aspects of a process or towards the wrong outcomes.
010
steve @visitmy.website · 28/09/2026
Another thing I wrote about was not using it just because you feel like you should, and to value outcomes over outputs. Two other good strategies for keeping costs down.
030
steve @visitmy.website · 28/09/2026
Been saying for two years that the best way to avoid inevitable spiralling AI costs is to use local and open models first. Corporate America is catching on, will the UK public sector? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Corporate America embraces cheaper ‘open’ AI models
US businesses far beyond Silicon Valley are adopting Chinese alternatives to OpenAI and Anthropic’s systems
151
steve @visitmy.website · 25/09/2026
mountains!
090
Reposted by steve
Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 24/09/2026
Please excuse me while I scream into a cushion at the thought of ALL the articles I had to write on the "UK productivity puzzle" in the 2010s www.ft.com/content/c819...
39619137
steve @visitmy.website · 24/09/2026
good morning from georgia
070
steve @visitmy.website · 21/09/2026
cabbage. the stuff in the middle was the best: jonjoli. flowers of the bladdernut tree, tasted like a lighter version of capers plus samphire. delicious!
010
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
first day in tbilisi: massive plate of pickles
2110
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
I’d love to see more of that too! They’re expensive in some scenarios but the only real option in others. I think they best suit novel problems or consequential policy change.
000
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
Here’s some guiding principles I follow and use to frame my work with clients/stakeholders/teams: boringmagi.cc/2025/05/08/m...
boringmagi.cc
Metrics, measures and indicators: a few things to bear in mind
Metrics, measures and indicators help you track and evaluate outcomes. They can tell us if we’re moving in the right direction or not. Here’s some guiding principles.
110
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
It‘a a real test of being principled, patient, willing to bend but not break, and using small wins to accumulate leverage. And I’m having to exercise muscles I don’t usually (mostly political ones!).
130
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
Thanks for reading! I was delighted to find Weber’s iron cage, it helped me understand a checkbox culture I’d seen so often. Had to share it, ‘tis what working in the open is all about.
100
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
I’m not sure detailed quant metrics is what you’d use to prevent that. Culture and methodology is the solution for that. Are there quant metrics you look at to understand complex 3D people, or is there a method you apply?
100
steve @visitmy.website · 19/09/2026
Not gonna lie, there have been a few really boring moments over the last few weeks. But also decent steps forward. Some times you just have to hold a space long enough to change it. #weeknotes visitmy.website/2026/09/19/t...
visitmy.website
The Iron Cage: Weeknotes S22E12
We’re making progress on the alpha, but it is slower than I have experienced anywhere else. Processes, processes, processes.
170
Reposted by steve
Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
every day of my life I think about the people using “she” to describe this computer program who still need to be convinced to use it for trans women
6138743684
steve @visitmy.website · 18/09/2026
i love vic berger
000
steve @visitmy.website · 17/09/2026
he’ll still deteriorate but the reversal of the fall this year has been incredible to see. (sharing in case it brings hope to anyone! certainly did for me)
120
steve @visitmy.website · 17/09/2026
my nextdoor neighbour is on a drug trial for his dementia. he spent most of last year and half of the previous in bed, dazed and not remembering anything. this year he’s been up and about the house, enjoying the garden again, and can even watch a telly programme and tell you what happened after.
110
steve @visitmy.website · 17/09/2026
i should not listen to the radio from my sickbed.
030
steve @visitmy.website · 17/09/2026
there is no need for the a.i. hysteria in the news, it is simply a way to capture attention and get everyone to believe it’s the future. sure, it’s useful, but it‘s not cheap or without planetary cost. it’s statistics applied to words, not ‘intelligence’.
The very fact that we cannot distinguish between output from LLMs or humans—which is causing the “crisis” of writing, arts, and higher education—is evidence that we have basically captured language along its most essential axis. That does not mean that we have captured “intelligence” (we have not, and I’m not sure that that’s a coherent idea), and it doesn’t mean that we have captured what Feuerbach called the “species being” of the human; it just means that linguistic and mathematical structure get along, sharing a form located deeper than everyday cognition.
131
steve @visitmy.website · 16/09/2026
the eagle, farringdon? massive fan of their sausage and beans/lentils at various times of the year!
000
steve @visitmy.website · 16/09/2026
love it even more!
000
steve @visitmy.website · 16/09/2026
suspect it’s a typo but i love ‘lame to fame’ 😂
100
steve @visitmy.website · 16/09/2026
haha! i got a call to be in the audience and ask a question (about ai) the other week, unfortunately had plans.
200
steve @visitmy.website · 16/09/2026
why doesn’t the bbc say that the licence fee includes free tickets to live at the apollo, have i got news for you, and radio 4 recordings? quite good value when you consider that.
110
Reposted by steve
Paul Pod @paulpod.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Wild how walking around thinking about the thing you are working on usually helps sort it out while sitting staring at it does not
0121
steve @visitmy.website · 13/09/2026
looking forward to a deep sleep and resting my feet this evening!
150
steve @visitmy.website · 12/09/2026
looking forward to a walk and camp on the south downs this weekend
150
Reposted by steve
Nia Campbell @niacampbell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Here's the latest from the NHS Wales App team on exploring test result designs, and the things we learnt along the way. dhcw.nhs.wales/news/behind-...
dhcw.nhs.wales
Exploring how to improve test result designs in the NHS Wales App
Test results are available to many patients using the NHS Wales App. The ambition is to ensure all patients have access to this feature, and increase the range of results that can be accessed.
184
Reposted by steve
Coco @cocochan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I spoke last week about the importance of shouting about your own work, else nobody will find you! The Civil service awards are open for nominations. We’re writing an entry. If you’re in CS, why don’t you have a go too? 😄 www.civilserviceawards.com
civilserviceawards.com
Civil Service Awards - Civil Service Awards
Planning for the 2026 Civil Service Awards is now underway, and we’re excited to be refreshing our award categories. To stay informed about programme updates, entry information, and important deadline...
032
steve @visitmy.website · 10/09/2026
I’m currently reading a book about the 1381 peasant revolt and the contemporary patriots were assembled for ‘the true commons’, not the leader’s personal matters.
020
Reposted by steve
The Onion @theonion.com · 09/09/2026
Nation’s Smart Toilets Begin Counting Down theonion.com/nations-smart-toilets-…
Nation’s Smart Toilets Begin Counting Down
352031239
steve @visitmy.website · 10/09/2026
I used to talk about the GOV.‌UK Design System being not only the Haynes manual that helps you install or replace parts, but also a team of expert mechanics who can help you, along with a catalogue of trustworthy parts for your car. Service, not product analogies.
010
steve @visitmy.website · 09/09/2026
i’m about 👌 this close to booking a membership in a co-working space, purely because it’s the jlb credit office from peep show (it’s also local and recently refurbished)
160
steve @visitmy.website · 08/09/2026
actually lol’d
010
Reposted by steve
peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 08/09/2026
A statistically significant amount of white smoke!
15111
steve @visitmy.website · 08/09/2026
only checking the app twice a day to see if they’ve finished reading it. is this friction-maxxing or positive hooks or dopamine-loops for good?
000
Reposted by steve
Simon Morgan-Wilson @officeofwilson.com · 07/09/2026
Did a five minute lightning talk at last week's Product for the People. Had an hour spare today to type it up. Could've said more, could've said different but time, eh. (I went over...) Let me know your favourite examples of reused or new infrastructure! www.officeofwilson.com/product-for-...
392
steve @visitmy.website · 05/09/2026
At the start of summer at a friend’s wedding, I met this bloke who said he was going to run 100 ultras in 100 days. Seemed mad so I donated to the cause. Today’s the final day! He’s doing it! Please donate if you can. givestar.io/gs/mission-i...
givestar.io
020
steve @visitmy.website · 03/09/2026
Good things about running community events: - DIY culture is still alive, no matter how corporate the civil service becomes - You can have fun with friends showing imperfect work - Everyone is working in a less-than-ideal environment and has hacks to share
1220
steve @visitmy.website · 02/09/2026
three times the price this week so i guess it was a fluke?
100