Harsh Browns

The previous weeknote was all about the need for a community of teams to change the experience of the NHS App collectively. The base comes first. Last week we considered the foundational base, our team. Everyone has joined the team at different times. Some people were around in the beginning, others joined shortly after. Many of us joined within the last two to four weeks. That’s a problem because we don’t necessarily have shared understanding, and that’s an element of dark matter that makes…

This week was good. Frankie joined us along with Jamie. We got the chance to hang out in a team day. We got a better understanding of what we’re doing. And some jigsaw pieces fell into place, making a route ahead clearer. The thoughts preoccupying my mind this week have been all about strategy and execution (except all the worry about how reduced transport service might make everyone’s day crappy before the team day, but thankfully that didn’t transpire). There are some simple principles that…

Last week was the end of my first full working week on the Innovation & Analysis team in Digital Prevention Services at NHS England, working on Managing my health. The week started with a bit of imposter syndrome. Everyone on the team is so good at what they do that it was hard to see why they needed me. But by the end of the week, it was starting to become clear how I could be useful. The first thing for me to do is live by the foundational principle for product managers. Shaping the…

New week, new work. This week I joined the Innovation & Analysis team in Digital Prevention Services at NHS England. I’m doing product stuff on Managing my health, which aims to keep people healthier for longer and help them find hidden problems early through the NHS App. The team is full of people who excel at their craft. There’s so much good, clear thinking happening in a complex space. It’s been so helpful following Ralph’s weeknotes the last few months. It’s a unique product and design…

Yesterday I joined a talk by Marty Cagan on the ‘new standard’ for product management in the age of AI. Marty’s main point was that if you’re not practising proper product management right now – if you’re following the project model, or you’re a feature factory, and you’re not focused on strategy and outcomes – you’re going to have even more problems providing value to users than you do currently. He said that the product owner role hasn’t been proper product management for a while now, and if…