Paul Smith
@paulmsmith.bsky.social
Lead Interaction Designer at NHS England. Generally designing, prototyping, coding & problem solving. Often drinking a disproportionate amount of tea in rainy Manchester.
The email I've been waiting over 20 years for. Openreach have rolled out their 'full fibre' to where I live. It's too little, too late. Profiteering sods have held me and this country back for decades. Addicted to metered copper lines they've had their knee on the throat of a vital service.
July 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The email I've been waiting over 20 years for. Openreach have rolled out their 'full fibre' to where I live. It's too little, too late. Profiteering sods have held me and this country back for decades. Addicted to metered copper lines they've had their knee on the throat of a vital service.
NX, pnpm, React, Webpack, Typescript, NPM, Node, Styled components, Storybooks, Jest, Git Hooks........ Off to the sea-bed you go.
July 5, 2025 at 10:10 AM
NX, pnpm, React, Webpack, Typescript, NPM, Node, Styled components, Storybooks, Jest, Git Hooks........ Off to the sea-bed you go.
"Developer convenience" often equates to "Doesn't care about the user".
July 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
"Developer convenience" often equates to "Doesn't care about the user".
Returning to User flow diagram you created a few months ago is a good test of how good a job you did. Give myself a solid 8/10 but always room for improvement.
June 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Returning to User flow diagram you created a few months ago is a good test of how good a job you did. Give myself a solid 8/10 but always room for improvement.
💯
Working on side projects is 90% fighting perfectionism and 10% actually writing code 🤔 The book "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield applies to coding as well in my experience.
May 28, 2025 at 7:54 AM
💯
How to melt my brain quick time. Put me in a room with a bunch of smart software devs/engineers talking about APIs, security and infrastructure and then have their work be dependant on me. 😂
May 20, 2025 at 9:56 AM
How to melt my brain quick time. Put me in a room with a bunch of smart software devs/engineers talking about APIs, security and infrastructure and then have their work be dependant on me. 😂
On my way to London for an NHS Hackday event with colleagues from across digital, clinical and telephony. Looking forward to learning more about natural language processing, data transfer and how UCD can play a role.
May 18, 2025 at 10:20 AM
On my way to London for an NHS Hackday event with colleagues from across digital, clinical and telephony. Looking forward to learning more about natural language processing, data transfer and how UCD can play a role.
A slide-deck with lazily generated AI imagery is already akin to using WordArt.
May 14, 2025 at 6:44 AM
A slide-deck with lazily generated AI imagery is already akin to using WordArt.
Wish I had time and motivation to write week-notes or read other people’s regularly. Between work, life laundry, looking after the kids, trying to be healthy, to be active and all the other demands. It struggles to make it onto the day’s to-do list.
May 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Wish I had time and motivation to write week-notes or read other people’s regularly. Between work, life laundry, looking after the kids, trying to be healthy, to be active and all the other demands. It struggles to make it onto the day’s to-do list.
ChatGPT has changed the game when writing code. Asking it to write nunjucks filters with a basic prompt, converting chunks of html into consumable objects/dictionaries. Off-loading these tasks lets me get to the thing I'm trying to do much faster.
April 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM
ChatGPT has changed the game when writing code. Asking it to write nunjucks filters with a basic prompt, converting chunks of html into consumable objects/dictionaries. Off-loading these tasks lets me get to the thing I'm trying to do much faster.
Reposted by Paul Smith
If you want to create completely free software for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web host with an established reputation.
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Note on 28th April 2025
If you want to create completely <strong>free software</strong> for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web …
simonwillison.net
April 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
If you want to create completely free software for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web host with an established reputation.
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
I will go to extraordinary lengths to hide wires.
April 26, 2025 at 9:07 AM
I will go to extraordinary lengths to hide wires.
As somebody who had to fight hard for an EHCP for my step-daughter, this sort of bull is infuriating.
Utter gibberish as usual. "Family GPs" don't sign off SEND plans or disability benefits.
Farage claims doctors 'massively over-diagnosing' children with Send and mental health conditions - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
April 24, 2025 at 12:36 PM
As somebody who had to fight hard for an EHCP for my step-daughter, this sort of bull is infuriating.
Used ChatGPT earlier to do the work of a 9 year old feature request to an open source templating language. Tests and all. Now thats useful and worked well with a handful of tweaks.
April 19, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Used ChatGPT earlier to do the work of a 9 year old feature request to an open source templating language. Tests and all. Now thats useful and worked well with a handful of tweaks.
Absolutely. 💯- Nearly always means it’s hiding inequity somewhere.
If a job ad doesn't have the salary, I don't share it. I know many others do the same, so frustrating that this practice continues
April 19, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Absolutely. 💯- Nearly always means it’s hiding inequity somewhere.
Interesting post from CBP (@britishprogress.bsky.social): "Recruiting and retaining Civil Service Technologist" has some good observations and recommendations. Thoughts? cc:
@tomski.com @andrewgreenway.bsky.social britishprogress.org/uk-day-one/r...
@tomski.com @andrewgreenway.bsky.social britishprogress.org/uk-day-one/r...
Recruiting and Retaining Civil Service Technologists
Technical talent in the civil service is crucial for public sector delivery, while reducing the state's dependence on costly consultants. To do this, government must be able to attract high quality ta...
britishprogress.org
April 16, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Interesting post from CBP (@britishprogress.bsky.social): "Recruiting and retaining Civil Service Technologist" has some good observations and recommendations. Thoughts? cc:
@tomski.com @andrewgreenway.bsky.social britishprogress.org/uk-day-one/r...
@tomski.com @andrewgreenway.bsky.social britishprogress.org/uk-day-one/r...
Gromit goes for a snack
In six words or fewer, write a story about this photo.
#sixwordstory #WritingCommmunity #writing #prompt
#sixwordstory #WritingCommmunity #writing #prompt
April 7, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Gromit goes for a snack
I miss Trello. JIRA Raaaage!
April 3, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I miss Trello. JIRA Raaaage!
Out of interest contractor friends…. “Inside IR35”… Anybody able to share how much a typical public sector Senior or Lead Interaction/Service Designer rate shakes out to be per day? DMs welcome.
April 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Out of interest contractor friends…. “Inside IR35”… Anybody able to share how much a typical public sector Senior or Lead Interaction/Service Designer rate shakes out to be per day? DMs welcome.
By all accounts I got my current job ahead of over 150 applicants. It took an application form and two competency based interviews. Less than 12 months ago. Sounds like I might have to apply for it again soon as part of the abolition/subsuming of NHS England. Isn’t that a treat. 😞
April 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM
By all accounts I got my current job ahead of over 150 applicants. It took an application form and two competency based interviews. Less than 12 months ago. Sounds like I might have to apply for it again soon as part of the abolition/subsuming of NHS England. Isn’t that a treat. 😞
What hosting service/platform do you use for your website or blog? I'm using Netlify at the moment but looking to save money and know if there is anything better out there.
March 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
What hosting service/platform do you use for your website or blog? I'm using Netlify at the moment but looking to save money and know if there is anything better out there.
uBlock Origin has itself been blocked by Google Chrome. Time to switch browser.
March 4, 2025 at 8:36 AM
uBlock Origin has itself been blocked by Google Chrome. Time to switch browser.
Finally!!! Colour picker automatically chooses picked colour by default. Affinity apps have needed this for so long. affinity.serif.com/en-gb/whats-...
What’s New in Affinity?
We regularly update our apps to ensure they deliver the best possible creative experience for our users. Here’s what’s new in the latest update.
affinity.serif.com
February 19, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Finally!!! Colour picker automatically chooses picked colour by default. Affinity apps have needed this for so long. affinity.serif.com/en-gb/whats-...
Microsoft Teams recordings are good. AI summaries are usually decent but watching some back recently has made me realise that I still struggle to succinctly get a point across. I waffle, say 'err' a lot and generally sound like the imposter from a rough North Manchester estate with low GCSE grades 😬
February 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Microsoft Teams recordings are good. AI summaries are usually decent but watching some back recently has made me realise that I still struggle to succinctly get a point across. I waffle, say 'err' a lot and generally sound like the imposter from a rough North Manchester estate with low GCSE grades 😬
Eff Yew to anywhere that shows prices exclusive of VAT. So annoying. They either show it separately but make you do a bit of mental arithmetic to get the figure you actually care about when deciding or they show it you right at the very end before checkout.
February 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Eff Yew to anywhere that shows prices exclusive of VAT. So annoying. They either show it separately but make you do a bit of mental arithmetic to get the figure you actually care about when deciding or they show it you right at the very end before checkout.