David Hughes

I arrived unfashionably late to the AI party. I felt, and continue to feel, uncomfortable with how the LLMs have been trained by hoovering up all human creativity without permission. But, AI isn’t going away so I’ve been exploring how I can use it to add value my workflows.

The tipping point for me was Claude Cowork, which feels like Claude Code for normal people, so it’s perhaps ironic that I’ve spent more time using Claude Code than Cowork recently, and you’re looking at the results.

Claude Code has helped me to resurrect my old blog design that I had to retire as I couldn’t make the media queries work for modern devices. I tried to fix it with using both Claude and ChatGPT in the middle of last year, and neither could fix the issues. It’s amazing how much the tools, and specifically Claude Code, have advanced in just a few months.

I’ve been impressed by Claude Code and honestly I’ve enjoyed working with it. At my last role, my team of designers and developers were all remote, so working with them tended to be asynchronous and via the medium of text. Working with Claude has essentially been like that, but quicker… I type prompts into a box and somebody or something changes the code in response.

Which has me thinking that my experience and UX expertise combined with Claude Code and Claude Design could replace much of the initial phases of a digital transformation project.

So what has Claude Code helped me deliver? A responsive, accessible, lightweight blog theme tailored exactly to my needs. I have a dark mode theme for the first time, which was actually my starting experiment with Claude Design.

Further Adventures in AI Inspired by All Flows

My collaboration with Claude Code continued to the point where I was happy with the theme from a technical standpoint, but it was lacking that last little something that would make me love it.

Then I attended All Flows 2026, and during the last talk of the conference from the brilliant Dines, found that last little jolt of inspiration I needed: my socks and trainers. No really…

The blue you see is from the Nike Tennis Classic trainers I was wearing, and the yellow is from my socks – giving the theme its new name: Sneakers and Socks and proving that inspiration really can come from the most unexpected places.

Ghosts of Blog Posts Past

As part of the design process, I’ve revisited every post on here, fixing presentation or structural issues. I’ve removed a few old posts, some of the many broken links, and tried to avoid rewriting some of the slightly suspect writing. One thing that came across to me re-reading the older posts is how much more optimistic both I and the world felt back in the days before social media.

Continuing the theme of yesterday’s post – writing, just do it – this wonderful video from Field Notes features writing’s elusive partner:  inspiration.

There is so much truth in this quote from Thoughts on Writing by Patrick Rhone.

I don’t think about the “right” tools or the “right” environment or the “right” time. The right tool is the one I have with me. The right environment is my butt in a chair. The right time is now.

On the train,
flying north.
A pocket full of electronic books,
a window full of misty countryside.
The window wins.

A short weeknote this week as I had an injection into my wrist on Thursday and I’m still resting it.

I was in Bristol on Monday and Tuesday which coincided with the Bristol Light Festival. On Monday evening we went to the Left Handed Giant brewpub which was being used as a huge ‘screen’ upon which animations were projected. A great brewpub and an amazing light show.

The injection I had was steroids to treat a tendon in my left wrist. Guided by ultrasound it was incredible to see the needle approach the tendon and then the steroid liquid surround it. The needle was incredibly fine, but on the screen it looked like a drainpipe.

I woke Friday morning without pain in my wrist for the first time in months, so it looks like the injection worked.

On Friday night we celebrated Chinese New Year. OK, it was an excuse for a ‘slap up’ takeaway, but it was lovely to sit down as a family and spend time together as we’ve got some busy weekends coming up over the next few weeks.

On Saturday I watched the Miners Strike 1984 documentary series on Channel 4. I was 13 when the Miners Strike started and it’s fair to say it helped define my politics. I didn’t think I could loathe Thatcher more than I did, turns out I was wrong. The episode on the Battle of Orgreave is extraordinary.

This afternoon we watched Killers of the Flower Moon. An amazing story in the truest sense of the word, with typically brilliant performances from DiCaprio and Di Niro. Yes, it’s long but it’s definitely worth the investment of your time.

It’s odd writing this weeknote in Bristol, describing last Monday, which also found me in this lovely city.

On Monday I worked from the agency offices, sadly our plans for the day were derailed due to sickness so I ended up spending the day in a large meeting room all on my own.

The evening, however, was much more pleasant with a lovely dinner at The OX with the team I worked with both on the Tredz redesign and now in my current role. A fun night with smart people plus good food, what’s not to like?

Due to the change of plans, I headed home early on Tuesday rather than occupy a meeting room.

Wednesday started very oddly. I woke up feeling a little rough, got up and immediately had a massive nosebleed. And I do mean massive, it was literally poring out of my face taking a good 15 minutes to subside and stop. My wife estimated I probably lost between one and two pints of blood, which may explain why I felt a trifle ‘odd’ for the rest of the day.

My wife was wonderful in looking after me, but I am a little concerned about how quickly and efficiently she could clear up so much blood ;)

Thursday was derailed by the rumours and then news that Lewis Hamilton was leaving Mercedes and moving to Ferrari in 2025. As a house of F1 fans, and varying degrees of fandom for Lewis and Ferrari ranging from respect to obsession it was a busy day on the family group chat.

Thursday evening I attended Made In MK a local social/networking event. This was the first one I’ve attended since Covid and instead of being held above a brewpub was held in X+Why a new co-working space in Santander’s Unity Place building. This venue change seemed to shift the dynamic from social to networking so I didn’t stay late.

I’m not a ‘networker’ and I recognise that I’m unlikely to find work doing what I currently do at an event like that, so it’s fascinating to watch those who are there to network, especially as so many appear to be quite terrible at doing so.

One encounter was particularly interesting, we were approached by somebody who said they were a ‘coach’ and upon finding out what my friend did immediately blanked him, simply based on his job title. The irony is that he’s far better connected in MK than me and far more likely to be able connect the ‘coach’ with potential clients. How we chuckled.

Friday evening was one of those nights that is unplanned but turns out to be great fun. My daughter and I are both remote workers and since she started working remotely we’ve said we should do ‘after-work’ drinks on a Friday – this week we finally did.

We were going to walk over to our closest pub, but it’s not brilliant so we decided to head into Stony Stratford, a small town near us and the home of the Cock and Bull story, and check out opening night of Have I Got Brews For You a new craft beer bar.

The bar was great and absolutely rammed, so good to see support for a local independent. With both Deya and Verdant on draft, there was much Untappd action, it seems I have been using Untappd for 10 years now!

I initially started using it so I could track what I’d tried at The Euston Tap and not repeat myself. I have no idea why I’ve stuck with it for so long, but as a registered beer geek, it’s both fun and useful in equal measure. Checking now I see I’ve checked in 1,266 unique beers.

After Have I Got Brews For You we wandered down to Calcutta Brasserie for dinner. My son’s plans had changed so he was able to join us which added to the unplanned and fun nature of the evening.

Saturday was a relaxed day, with us all experimenting with wife’s new Instax Wide camera – Fuji’s modern-day answer to the Polaroids of old.

In the afternoon I watched the rugby, Italy were surprisingly solid, the best I’ve seen them play. England played better than I expected, but were sloppy to concede a third try in the final minutes of the game.

Today we popped out for ‘brunch’ at the Super Sausage again, the last time for a little while for I fear for my arteries.

I then packed and hit the road with the SatNav Fairies taking me on a new route across the Cotswolds to the M5 and down to Bristol. I must say the Cotswolds looked particularly good in the low winter sun. I do like that part of the country.