Steven Killick’s reflections on his first 30 days as UCD and Healthcare Practice Lead at Tecknuovo

I recently joined Tecknuovo as the UCD and Healthcare Practice Lead. As I wrap up my first month, I’m taking a moment to reflect on this exciting journey so far, from kick-starting a mission to bring user-centred design (UCD) to NHS Digital teams, to the personal and team experiences I’ve had with Tecknuovo so far. It's been a whirlwind of new experiences, challenges, and growth, and I'm thrilled to share some of the highlights.

Building out Tecknuovo’s UCD practice

Kicking off with a UCD blueprint

I joined the Tecknuovo team to help them further develop their UCD practice and expertise in helping healthcare organisations transform their digital services.

One of the first tasks I tackled was to create a UCD blueprint for digital leaders in healthcare, drawing on my many years’ experience working in digital teams within the NHS. The document introduces UCD, and guides readers on how to apply it in practice in digital healthcare settings.

A memorable HPN South event

A standout moment was attending HPN South with my colleagues Kieran and Gus. HPN is a leading event that connects healthcare leaders with tech suppliers to improve how the NHS delivers for both its patients and frontline staff. Having delivered healthcare solutions for most of my career, I can confidently say that the best results come from taking a UCD approach, and we decided to focus our talk at the event on how user-centricity could transform the NHS experience.

We also talked about Tecknuovo’s “Zero Dependency” framework, which helps our customers become independent from suppliers by building their in-house capability. We branded ourselves as “the anti-consultancy consultancy,” which resonated strongly with an audience familiar with how traditional consulting models can lead to cycles of dependency.

The real highlight was raising £5,000 for Diabetes UK. It was a wonderful experience to combine my professional passion with a charitable effort that will make a real difference to people’s lives across the UK.

UCD workshops

In further UCD news, I’m excited to say that I’ll be visiting seven NHS trusts to run UCD workshops in the next few months. I’ve designed the sessions to introduce and reinforce the principles of UCD in alignment with Government Design Standards (GDS), and they’ll leave participants understanding why designing with the user front-of-mind leads to better digital solutions.

My goal is to help digital NHS teams properly define and troubleshoot their challenges and design around these, avoiding the trope of “solutionising”, ie. building solutions for the sake of solutions rather than properly looking at the challenges at hand.

I'm excited about eventually bringing a UCD approach to the NHS on a national scale, which is why I feel I’ve been so lucky landing this role with Tecknuovo. I’m positive that a few years from now, I’ll proudly look back at many successful national healthcare projects my team and I helped to set up.

Broadening my UCD horizons

Coming from an NHS-heavy background, it's been fascinating to learn about Tecknuovo’s projects with government departments like HMRC and DWP. Being exposed to different areas of government work has broadened my perspective, and has gotten my cogs turning on how UCD can be applied across government as well as the NHS.

Taking on a new working culture

Navigating new challenges

Transitioning from the public sector to the private has been a big shift. The pace, processes, and expectations are different, and it’s been both challenging and enlightening. I’ve had to adapt quickly. I’ve learned about the world of consultancy, and importantly how Tecknuovo fits within that as a company delivering its services in a way that defies age-old industry norms. The move has pushed me out of my comfort zone and has already let me grow in unexpected ways in a very short time.

Finding my place in the Tecknuovo team

The team at Tecknuovo has been nothing short of amazing. From day one, they have been welcoming and supportive. As one of the older members (yes, I am embracing the "wise elder" role), it's heartening to see the camaraderie and enthusiasm within the team. Age is but a number, and the diversity in our team’s experience is our strength. On a personal note, I've also started commuting into London two days a week. It's been a change of pace, but it's great to be in the city, soaking in the energy and connecting with present and past colleagues in person.

I’ve also started running monthly leadership workshops for the team, with the first on Ikigai. In case you aren’t familiar, Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being", which has been borrowed and made into an exercise that helps people align their personal and professional goals.

Looking ahead

As I look forward to the next 30 days and beyond, my goals are to raise awareness about the importance of UCD and to continue developing the UCD practice within the Tecknuovo team.

I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and the impact we can make together. I’m looking forward to growth, learning, and, hopefully, a few more jokes along the way.

Thank you to everyone at Tecknuovo for making my first month so memorable. Cheers to many more!

If you’re interested to know how UCD could help you transform how you design digital solutions for your users, please get in touch!

Email me on steven.killick@tecknuovo.com