Craig Watson, Head of Product and Design Capability at Nimble Approach.
What’s your role at Nimble and what are you here to do?
My role at Nimble is Head of our Product and Design Capability. That is our family of consultants that work in digital product management, business analysis, user centred design, user research and service design.
We’re here to help our clients dig deeper into their business problems to ensure that we not only deliver great solutions but that we solve the right problems. By using our experience across all these disciplines we can ensure we balance business and user needs to unlock business value.
Tell us a bit about yourself
Having studied Information Technology at university a long time ago I started out as a mainframe programmer using a language called COBOL. This was invented back in the 1950s but amazingly is still running a lot of business applications today.
I increasingly became more interested in what the actual business problem was that I was being asked to code a solution for. This led me into Business Analysis and I had various BA roles in the NHS before moving into a world class agile delivery environment at Sky Bet.
From there I went into the world of consulting to apply what I had learned to help a range of different organisations. I now really enjoy working with companies to create great product functions and increase their overall business agility.
Why did you make the move to Nimble?
I wanted to join a company that approaches consultancy with the same values as myself – that is down to earth pragmatism and putting the client and your colleagues at the centre of everything.
What are you aiming to achieve at Nimble?
We’re perfectly set to not only build great digital products but also help clients shape their ways of working, operating models and product strategies. We have experienced consultants that can advise and coach organisations as they transition from a project based approach to a product one.
Personally I want to create a really close sense of community in our product and design capability where great professionals can learn from each other and share experiences. I’ve found this very valuable for myself in the past, particularly when working across multiple clients. Having a reliable support network is invaluable.
What do you love about working in Tech?
I love the melting pot of business, science and creativity that you get creating tech products and services. It also satisfies my natural inquisitiveness – being able to work with a variety of clients and learning about different industries and business problems.
What achievement are you most proud of?
Working at Sky Bet was game changing. It was my first time in an Agile environment talking to customers, engineers and business stakeholders daily.
We brought the Sky Bet mobile website and app in house, building it from scratch in an incredibly short period. The ability to identify a new user need on a Monday and have built and released a solution to customers by the Friday was incredibly satisfying. This helped to totally transform their business.
Working with the Department For Transport on their Bus Open Data Service in the height of the pandemic. We were conducting user research with small bus operators at a time when their businesses were really struggling due to lockdown. That direct interaction of our team with the users brought home the importance of work we were doing and helped us develop a real sense of empathy with them. It really motivated us to make the solution as easy and friction free as possible.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
I have a season ticket for Huddersfield Town, so suffer weekly!
I love attending gigs whenever possible but this has become a rare treat since having children.
What’s your favourite piece of technology?
My Amazon Kindle. It’s a fantastic product that solves user needs in an incredibly simple way. If I’m reading a physical book and come across a word I don’t know, I now instinctively press the word of the page hoping for a definition to pop up!
