Barry Khan – Service Designer Birmingham

Takt Stories and a creative reset

Date // Category weeknotes

Weeknotes from 22 May 2026

Work

Pushing Claude further

Been leaning on Claude more again this week, mainly to validate outputs and help run ideation sessions. It's useful, especially for the mapping side of things.

But I've noticed something. A lot of the service design work is starting to feel a bit less creative. The synthesis bit, sitting with messy notes and finding the shape, was the part I most enjoyed, and AI quietly takes that away if you let it. Worth keeping an eye on where I'm reaching for it.

Interactive Blueprints

Blueprints are still landing well, and the maintenance overhead has dropped enough that I'm freed up to do more service design work beyond artefact creation. Good direction.

Solutions Architecture

Honestly, I've not done much on the AWS Solutions Architecture training recently. Life got in the way. Still on the list, will get back to it.

Away from Work

Launching Takt Stories

I'm starting a new photography project, Takt Stories.

The idea is to document real moments in work, connection, culture and brand, the kind of thing that's getting harder to find with so much going remote and AI-mediated. First job is booked for June, which makes it feel a lot more real than just another sticky-note idea.

More on that soon.

Picking up the camera (and the pens)

Tied to the above, I've been picking up the camera a lot more. Slower, more deliberate, and a nice counterweight to screens.

I've also been doodling more, leaning back on the Bikablo training and using it to think through ideas on paper. Hoping it improves my handwriting too. My dad always wanted me to be a doctor, my handwriting is about as close as I've got. Maybe I'll aim for a PhD instead.

A hand-drawn Bikablo-style doodle showing a stick figure timing something with a stopwatch, a document with an arrow, another figure speaking, and a lighthouse on a pier above water

Kayaking

Been helping out with kayak groups through Scouts, which has been great. Off the back of that I picked up an inflatable from WAVE for an upcoming family camping trip. Looking forward to actually being on the water rather than just researching paddle boards online.

Till next time!

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.