Barry Khan - Design Consultant

Two Hats and Solar Stats – Weeknotes 05 May 2025

Date // Category weeknotes

Weeknotes from 05 May 2025

Things I did

At work

Two hats

This week has been great—jumping between Interaction and Service Design is what I love. A good friend of mine left our team after a fantastic 2–3 years at MoJ. Until they’re replaced (a tough act to follow), I’m covering both roles.

Picking up someone else’s prototype is never ideal, but having worked with the former Interaction Designer for years, it felt natural.

I also migrated some of the Figma designs into the prototype using Copilot.
See last weeknote for more

The latest version includes dynamic pages powered by JSON data—less manual work, more scalability.

The service supports people in custody to prepare for employment and build work ready skills before release.

Trip to Sheffield

I had a great day in the office, working with wider teams looking at the Service Design of services spanning custody and post release.

Bikablo

I've continued to use my newly acquired skills. I really enjoy this method of storytelling and look forward to more training. With AI everywhere, I’m keen to push against the tide a bit and pick up creative skills I can use in person.

At play

Photography

In keeping with the theme of human made creativity, I've picked up the camera again—this time, a Fuji XE2. I’ve enjoyed capturing moments without my phone, but the camera wasn’t pocketable enough. Having gotten used to shooting with my phone, portability has become a must.

So I made the swap. I’m now using the Ricoh GR3—a legendary street photography camera. I’m hoping it helps me capture family moments without reaching for a phone.
See my posts on digital detox

Solar Panel and Battery update

The solar panels are really generating power since installation—far more than I can currently use. The sunny weather’s helped, though I’m aware things will balance out across the year.

I'm still waiting on some paperwork from the grid to switch energy tariffs with Octopus. This will let me sell excess energy back to the grid—either at a fixed rate (15p per kWh with Intelligent Octopus Go) or a variable rate via Intelligent Octopus Flex.

Since the panels were installed, I’ve hardly paid for electricity—apart from one or two EV charges, mostly done overnight on the cheap rate. I’ve also managed to charge the EV using daytime solar excess.

AI and side projects

Still quiet on the side project front, and I’ve eased off using AI tools for coding. That said, I’m still experimenting with Gemini and ChatGPT—mainly for summarising, analysing, and collating online material rather than creative work. Still working out the right balance between “useful” and “overwhelming.”

Time off

Had a great few days off near Lytham St Annes (up near Blackpool) with family and siblings. The long weekend followed—so plenty of walks and bike rides.

A bit about me:
I'm a UCD specialist focused on Service Design, with a passion for accessibility and creating services for all. I navigate the world with a dry sense of humor, finding the funny side in the most mundane tasks.