Spotlight:
Polly Price - Product Manager
As a Product Manager for Axiologik, I focus on turning the strategic business roadmap into a technical roadmap for delivery. Within that, I focus on prioritising value and putting the end user at the centre of what it is that we do because ultimately, we're here to solve problems for them and deliver the best experience possible.
What are you most looking forward to about your new role?
Creating solutions that help to solve people's problems. It’s a universal trait of working in products, regardless of what sector or industry you work in, that you take a customer-centric approach to solving problems in order to deliver value.
As one of Axiologik’s Product Managers I’ll be working with the UK Health Security Agency on the Test and Trace solution, so in terms of this engagement specifically, it feels great to be contributing to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and looking at how we use these technologies to help us in the future as well.
What kind of projects will you be overseeing at Axiologik?
My main engagement is working with the UK Health Security Agency. They’re in the process of completely transforming their operations at the moment, moving away from a response-led model towards a more strategic product-led model and I’ll be helping to steer them through this period of transformation.
I’ll also be working with other Product Specialists at Axiologik to help shape their product community and establish how we can become a leader in the product space as the team continues to grow.
What is your favourite project to date and why?
My favourite project to date would have to be when I worked for a leading UK financial solutions provider to deliver a large-scale digital transformation project that involved creating new platforms for customer credit applications. We were creating a platform for point-of-sale credit and also personal lending, so the idea was that someone could go to their local sofa shop or jewellery store and apply for credit to fund their purchase.
That project really got me thinking about how we can carve things into value streams, and how important it is to stay true to the pace of a minimum viable product methodology and deliver value earlier than anticipated, and often.
"Figuring out how to deliver this value and working with incredibly talented people who are able to really drive innovation is one of the biggest reasons I love my job."
Polly Price, Product Manager
Can you describe what your dream project / client looks like?
The engagement with the UK Health Security Agency is kind of a dream project for me actually. It’s very socially driven and there’s a real people focus underpinning the work.
It’s also underpinned by the shift from project-led transformation to product-led transformation, and we’re already looking forward to how the technologies that formed the initial pandemic response can be improved to help us prepare for any future pandemics which is a pretty great thing to be involved in.
If you weren’t doing your current role, what would you be doing?
I’m really into skincare which is something I’d be interested in exploring if I wasn’t working in products (of the technical kind!) When my little girl was born she had really bad eczema and it didn’t matter what we used it just never seemed to improve – that’s where the interest began, but it’s something that I’ve loved for years now and I recently completed a qualification in how to create your own products which was a lot of fun.
What’s your favourite thing to do on a day off?
I have two kids, aged seven and nine, and work full time so when I’m not working I spend a lot of my time heading off on little adventures with them, but I also love to hike.
I’ve always loved hiking but in the past few years, particularly with the lockdowns, it was a great way of getting out of the house and gaining a bit of headspace. I have a good friend who I often head out on treks with so there’s definitely a social element to why I enjoy it so much, but there's also an element of achievement in it too. I’m not into running or team sports so it feels good to train and work towards specific goals I’ve set myself – this year I’ve completed two 50km treks and I’ve already set myself the challenge of completing the Yorkshire three peaks and a 100km trek along the Jurassic Coast next year.
You’re stranded on a desert island, what three items can’t you live without?
I don't think I could choose just three items! But if I absolutely have to narrow it down then I’d go with chocolate, Netflix and a bath. Just being able to have a nice bath when I’m stuck on a desert island would be great, but all those three things together at the same time would be even better.
