If you’re reading this over the coming weeks we hope all is well with you, your family, friends and colleagues.
Over the past few weeks we have been monitoring the impact of the Coronavirus. Responding to guidelines and maintaining safety has now become our primary priority. This has led us to taking the following steps:
- All staff have tested their secure remote working set-ups, e.g. hardware, software, protocols and permissions.
- All staff have secured their domestic Internet connections and configured VPN software appropriately.
- All face-to-face user research, collaborative design processes and workshops have been cancelled or put on-hold or moved online.
- All travel for scheduled face-to-face meetings have been cancelled and no new invitations accepted unless they are online.
- A policy of social distancing at work has been implemented and the office has been rearranged to facilitate this.
- New waste disposal measures and additional cleaning procedures have been implemented.
Given the latest Government guidance with regards to Coronavirus (COVID-19) we have now closed our Edinburgh office until further notice. So we will be working remotely until there is an update to the current guidelines.
We’ve also made the following promises to ourselves:
- Safety, both our’s, the people we come into contact with, and our local communities is our priority.
- As and when possible, we will volunteer any professional time available to local initiatives that provide health and social care to local communities.
- We will not actively pursue new sales over the coming months, we will only react to inbound opportunities.
- We will not sell any more than 50% of our available consulting hours to clients until circumstances change. We will reserve 50% of our time to mitigate any potential absences. And perhaps more importantly ensure we do not compromise safety when delivering client-work.
What this means practically …
Edinburgh Office & Facilities Hire:
This will not be open or available for hire until further notice.
Contact options:
We will continue to operate remotely so will be contactable as always via email, telephone and all previously operated messaging tools, e.g. Slack, Skype, etc.
Business hours & Response times:
We’ll still be maintaining office hours, albeit working from home. Our standard response times to all live projects and retained service contracts will be maintained. However, we will extend our standard response time to legitimate inbound inquiries to a max. of 2 working days.
Meetings:
If we have a meeting scheduled, or you if you wish to schedule one please do not hesitate to contact us to arrange this, we look forward to catching up online. Skype, Zoom, Hangouts pick your tool and we’ll be there.
Remote working:
We are incredibly lucky that we can deliver our services and operate our business using online systems and remote collaboration tools. This means we’ll still be able to operate as normal (albeit from home). What’s more, we can assure all our clients that we do this whist adhering to the highest possible standards in terms of information and cyber security. Please note all primary user research, collaborative design processes and face-to-face workshops that can not be conducted remotely have been paused or cancelled. We will contact all clients to reschedule any pending projects and/or activities as soon as this becomes feasible.
Need to discuss things in more detail:
If you’d like to request a full copy of our contingency plan or to discuss how Coronavirus may impact existing or forthcoming projects please do not hesitate to contact us.
An open offer to all
If there’s anything we can do to help on either a personal or professional level please do not hesitate to reach out. From delivering necessities to those who are self-isolating in Leith, to helping set-up virtual hangouts and video calls – if there’s anything at all we can do to help, do just let us know!
One last thought …
We know the coming weeks will be hard. So it’s really important we all focus on what really matters – being safe, and being good to others. We’ll post another update once we’re all back in the office.
But until then, from all of us at Border Crossing UX, take care and happy social distancing!!!
Trusted sources for important information on Coronavirus
We’re sure you’re already aware of the following but just in case you’d like to get more information about Coronavirus, please refer to the following sources of information:
GOV.UK: Coronavirus (COVID-19) what you need to do
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
NHS UK: Coronavirus useful information
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government’s: latest guidance about COVID-19, including social distancing and stay at home advice:
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19
BBC on Coronavirus symptoms: What are they and how do I protect myself?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51048366
World Health Organisation – advice, myth-busters and situation reports:
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
