Make Things Better

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Tim Brazier.    We've been wanting to catch up with Tim for a while and so it was brilliant to meet up in our offices and have a chat about some of his work, with a focus on inclusive design in particular.    There is so much to take away from this podcast and we're really grateful that Tim was able to join us.    Skip to yo...

Our team have used Next.js on a fair few projects now and we recently had an opportunity to chat with two of our Software Engineers about their experience with it.    We discussed what the best way to deploy Next.js is, what makes Next.js a great framework, tips on using Next.js and whether it is the future of react frameworks or not...   Skip to your favourite part: 0:00 - Intro&nb...

Our head of creative, Allan Noy, recently attended the Children's Media Conference. In this chat we discussed the conference, how media is changing and mostly about how to network. With two years passing by with next to no in-person networking, Allan shared with us how he found getting back into networking, from struggling with small-talk to top tips on who to approach. Skip to what you want to he...

We had the opportunity to chat with the CEO and founder of Raisely - Tom Maitland.    Over $250,000,000 has been raised by organisations via Raisely's fundraising platform.    At Hive, we recently used Raisely as part of Weston Park Cancer Charity's fundraising campaign and are excited to be part of Raisely's partner programme. Tom was a brilliant guest and shared so many value...

In our latest episode of the Make Things Better podcast, we caught up with User Researcher Simon Scott.    We delved into how User Research has changed, how and if a business should use User Research, learning psychology as a User Researcher, dealing with difficulties in User Research and much, much more.    Simon was an awesome guest, full of experience, wisdom and knowledge a...

We really enjoy working with Sheffield Flourish and know their work has such a positive impact on people's lives in Sheffield.   To gain further insight into what Sheffield Flourish gets up to, we recently had the opportunity to catch up with Robyn, deputy managing director at Sheffield Flourish.   We discussed who Sheffield Flourish are and what they do, how putting the user at the star...

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Helen Milner OBE.    Helen is the CEO of the Good Things Foundation and it was really interesting to hear about Helen's time working in the internet, before the World Wide Web was even around.    Throughout this episode we learned loads about the digital divide, why it is important that people are included in digital and more about w...

We had the pleasure of being joined by Neal Byers, founder and leader of Workfromhub.    Here at Hive, we’ve been working with Neal to turn his vision into a reality and in this episode it was great to hear more about Workfromhub, Neal’s long-term vision and how the project has gone so far.    00:00 - Intro  01:12 - How Workfromhub started  04:43 - What is Workfromhub...

We were joined by Founder and Strategy Director of Create Future, Nathan Fulwood, to discuss branding and brand archetypes in particular.   Nathan explained to us the importance of brand consistency internally and externally, how brands tend to fit into one or two archetypes and how businesses can embody and demonstrate their personality in various ways.   It was great to chat with...

We had the delight of being joined by the amazing Ilona Alcock, founder of Elevate.    Elevate is a business development consultancy with a keen focus on sustainability, innovation and community.    Ilona was a fantastic guest, full of enthusiasm, passion and a vast amount of knowledge on human-centered businesses and sustainability.    We discussed compassion and bla...

In the 12th Episode of the Make Things Better Podcast, we were joined by the wonderful Laurie Nicholas from Mina.    Laurie is the head of product and User Experience at Mina and is skilled in both design and Software Development.    We had the opportunity to ask Laurie about his views on where the skills in both design and software overlap, what designers can learn from develo...

In the 11th Episode of the Make Things Better podcast, we were joined by Ben Atha, founder of the Developer Academy to better understand Data Science.    We discussed:    5:44 - What is Data Science?   9:24 - Are there any misconceptions are what a data scientist does?   10:49 - How much is coding part of a data scientist's job?   13:04 - What skills are needed t...

Chris Dymond is the Academic Director for Smart Cities at Zigurat Global Institute of Technology, Director of Unfolding, Sheffield Digital, and UTC Sheffield.   Chris is also a lecturer and also set up Smart Sheffield which is an open meetup for people interested in urban technology & innovation in and around Sheffield.   Chris shared with us a wealth of knowledge, great examples and...

In the Ninth Episode of the Make Things Better Podcast we were joined by Mark Gannon, Director of Business Change and Information Solutions at Sheffield City Council.   We discussed how the Sheffield City Council adapted to Covid by bringing in new technology, the importance of communication to implement strategy, and management lessons learned throughout the pandemic. Mark provided an excell...

We were joined by the lovely Amanda Cookson to discuss and better understand the imposter syndrome (which isn't actually a syndrome).    Amanda is full of really useful knowledge, techniques, and tips on how people can work towards overcoming imposter feelings.   In a warm episode full of Amanda's positive energy and passion to help people, we discussed:    4:41 - What is...

It was a pleasure to welcome Cameron Spilman onto our 7th episode of the Make Things Better Podcast.   Cam is the Co-founder and Managing Director at Paper - a people-focussed business that brings design to the tech industry.   In our chat we discuss Paper's core principles and how these guide Paper's decisions.   We talked about: How Paper was Founded What Paper's principles are an...

Nick Tsim is one of our Senior Software Engineers at Hive IT and it was a pleasure to welcome him onto the Make Things Better Podcast.   We had a chat about a range of topics centred around Software Engineering and Nick explained to us:   0 0:46 - How Nick went from Graduating with a Chemistry Degree to becoming a Software Engineer  2 :10 - Deciding to become a Software Engineer&nbs...

Gemma Milne joined us on the Make Things Better podcast to discuss hype.   Gemma's book Smoke & Mirrors; How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It helps to explain how hype in Science and Tech can have significant impacts on society and how critical thinking can help us understand complex topics better.   In this episode we discuss a range of topics centred around how we ca...

Sara Wachter-Boettcher is a coach, strategist, facilitator, author, and speaker dedicated to changing design and tech for good. Sara is the founder of Active Voice, a leadership development company on a mission to make work culture better for everyone.    Sara is also the author of three books:  Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech Desig...

Reginé Gilbert is a user experience designer, educator, and international public speaker with over 10 years of experience working in the technology arena. She has a strong belief in making the world a more accessible place—one that starts and ends with the user.  Full Transcript: https://medium.com/hive-it/accessibility-in-design-with-regin%C3%A9-gilbert-13d49df557d3 In this episode, we discu...

It was a pleasure to speak to Ross McCulloch, who is the director at the Third Sector Lab. Ross provided us with a real comprehensive breakdown on how digital is, and can be used to improve people's lives through various charities.  We got to understand various topics in a lot more depth and we were able to discover, through various stories, how powerful collaboration, community and ultimatel...

Welcome to the first episode of The Make Things Better Podcast! In this episode, we discuss a wide range of topics and you can see what we talk about at different times below: 00:00 - Introduction 01:03 - Who are Hive IT? 05:21 - What is The Make Things Better Podcast about? 08:43 - The impact of working from home 10:53 - The polarization of social media 11:35 - Allan's experience in design 21:51...