What led to you becoming a Hippo?
The short answer was that I was contacted by Lynne Mulligan, who made Hippo sound like a lovely place!
The longer answer is that I was already aware of some of the great work Hippo was doing to support digital transformation in public services. Having worked in both contracting and permanent roles in the past – consultancy felt like a way of blending these lifestyles together for a company who were doing exciting things. I am naturally solution orientated and love nothing more than supporting teams to unlock design and delivery challenges.
Knowing that Hippo were champions of user-centred design – a philosophy that is close to my heart – meant that, all in all, it was a bit of a no-brainer.
What does your day-to-day involve?
My day-to-day involves a lot of coffee, a lot of going back to the drawing board and getting to work with some very talented people.
As a principal consultant, I need to wear a lot of hats. I manage three wonderful people, and I am a certified coach – so my day-to-day is very people-oriented. This is a part of the job I love.
From a client point of view – I am currently working on the new GP registration service within the NHS. There are some truly brilliant people working on this who are working hard to deliver a good public service.
Just this week, I also facilitated a workshop on accessible design with my colleague Nick at the Leeds Innovation Centre in partnership with DataShed.
Hippo is a great place to be if you want to chart your own path. So, while my day-to-day may have a familiar feel, it is always a little different.
What are you most proud of since working here?
In the (nearly) 2 years I have been here, I have worked on some varied, interesting and challenging deliveries. So it’s hard to say – but if I can only choose one, I would say the Dartford Crossing.
The Dartford Crossing (Or Dart Charge, as it is known) was stuck in Alpha for nearly ten years.
A complex procurement process and the fact the crossing already behaves like a live service meant there were a lot of design challenges. It also is one of the most used Toll roads in Europe, so the volume of users was very high. There were also a lot of policy, legal and enforcement constraints which we had to operate within.
Despite a challenging landscape – I had the pleasure of being part of the Hippo team who took the service through its successful Alpha assessment. We worked in partnership with other teams and consultancies and had to unify ways of working to get the right outcome.
Whenever a friend says they recently crossed the Dartford Crossing – I always have a little wry smile internally.
What do you like best about Hippo?
You are given room to try things out, knowing that it might not be the optimal solution the first time around – providing you have evidence for your approach. This is important as a consultant, especially when working on fast-paced deliveries.
You get to work on challenging projects and with talented people.
This is probably a good time to give the content community a shout-out. I am very proud to work and learn alongside them.
And finally, what’s your favourite way to eat a potato?
Potatoes? Boil them, mash them and put them in a stew.
Are you interested in joining Josh in the Hippo herd?
.
