A blank slate

There’s nothing like a new year for a blank slate. There’s something about the arbitrary marker of time that makes you feel like anything is possible. Yes, I can climb that mountain. Yes, I can take on that massive project that I have neither time nor energy for.

This is the spirit with which I’m redoing my website for the n-teenth time in preparation for a new role (which I’m very excited about). I need to get back in the process of writing, so this post serves two functions: One, dusting off the writing cobwebs, as the last thing I wrote about not in a forum post was the ill-fated character I created at Memrise, that was so hated by users that they created userscripts to get rid of him, and there was widespread rejoicing at his demise. 

Secondly, I want to do a kind of ‘here’s what to expect’ slash call for topics of things I want to write about. While a lot of the DesignOps type stuff will definitely be sitting on some of the more official ZH channels, I want to use this space talk more widely about design, inclusion and diversity, and maybe every so often sneak in a music recommendation or two (because it’s what fuels me as a person).

At the moment, the main areas I’m interested in diving into are:

• Design and globalisation, as started five years ago (god I’m getting old) in this Medium post
• How to set design orgs up for inclusion and equality
• The effect of service design on society’s systems, and its role in inclusion and all the systemic isms
• Why Josie and the Pussycats is this generation’s Citizen Kane
  

That’s what’s rattling around my head at the moment at least. I’d love to hear thoughts and expansions on the above. Similarly, if you’ve got any suggestions for areas you’d like someone else to scratch their chin about over an overpriced beer, then let me know below.