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US Constitution: Article II, Clause 2
“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress… US Constitution: Article II, Clause 2 Why does this matter? There is no such thing as a “right to […]
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My Design Teams
Rule #1: Understand The Details This is the most paramount thing. I only have one rule. You must understand the details at least as well as the engineers or product managers. How can the organization possibly trust designers if they don’t know the details. Never put a button on a UI if you don’t know…
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S.K.Y. Restaurant Review
I had an incredible meal in Chicago last week. It was quite memorable. I wish I could eat at places like this every day. Here is my experience at S.K.Y. Restaurant. The Entrance I didn’t even realize it was the restaurant. There is no sign. No windows in. It’s just this door. Super weird. Inside,…
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The Design Wheel
Lately, I have been mentoring (about twice a week) junior designers through ADPList. I have the philosophy that everything in life is designed (for better or worse). Everything from your house/apartment, to the things inside it, to how you dress and talk and run your meetings. Everything can benefit from basic design thinking. When I…
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Figma Interactive Tree v3b
Figma Community File Rule of product design #7: Always show your work in prototype. Never make people look at your canvas. There reason to use a prototype is to curate the experience for your consumer which may include engineers, product managers, and even users/prospects. Having your designs be nearly high fidelity and realistic will get…
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Figma Updates 2022
Figma just dropped a ton of new features. I have been trying them out (building a new design system) and I am mostly impressed. However, they are very different, so every designer out there should set aside a few hours to become familiar with them. Here is a quick review, but I suggest finding videos…
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Employee Journey Maps
One thing I do with people I manage is a yearly journey map. Basically, I sit them down and give them a whiteboard or printed piece of paper with this template: Then I ask them to draw their yearly journey from left to right. The line goes up and down based on their own perceptive…
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Recommended Movies and Series
When I suggest a movie or series, I try hard to match the person’s tastes so they like the suggestion. I take pride if the person likes what I suggest and feel badly if they don’t. These are some of the things I personally think are great. However, without knowing you, mileage may vary. TV…
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Table/Grid UI Pattern for Applications
I would venture to say the Table/Grid is the most misunderstood and underdeveloped single UI control used today, especially in B2B applications. I thought it would be a good idea to detail it out. Warning: It’s thorough! Note: AG-Grid is an excellent React/Vue-friendly table system with all of these features. I would suggest using it…
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Logitech Devices Review 2022
Logitech (although their device names are Logi for some reason) has been delivering quality parts for many years. I just replaced my keyboard and decided to review all my Logi devices and software all at once. I use them for my mouse, keyboard, and webcam. All of these Logitech devices are admittedly expensive, but when…
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WordPress Twenty Twenty Two theme review
I switched to the WordPress Twenty Twenty Two theme this week and have been working hard to get it functional. I waited until Twentig was compatible with it. To be honest, I could not have made it work without Twentig. This is by far, the most ambitious upgrade of WordPress that I have ever seen…
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Figma variants 2022
Follow-up to Rules for a Good Figma Design System Design system principle Make every component so the designer does not need to do anything “custom”. They just add and configure components off the shelf and change text. Make it impossible to mess up. Variants The key to a good system is to use variants liberally.…
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Hotjar for design portfolios
What is HotJar? Hotjar is a service that records all of your website visitors and let’s you see exactly what they are doing. They produce videos per person like this: It’s a “freemium” service similar to Figma. You can have it for limited purposes for free, and they hope you buy it for work. They…
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Mentoring
I have been mentoring for over 15 years. I find tremendous gratification in helping someone else succeed. Lately, I have been trying out some mentor platforms that help mentors and mentees connect. They are PlatoHQ and ADPList. For the mentees, PlatoHQ is a paid service and ADPList is free. Neither provide any incentives for the…
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Product Story Telling
A Product Manager whom I mentor occasionally asked about getting a team in alignment about a product feature. I told him about story telling. Without further ado, here is how you tell a great PRD story: Examples of great stories Before we get started let’s look at two great stories. Lucas and Noah Meet brothers:…
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Creative Block
I’ve written six posts in a row and erased them all before publishing. They just didn’t seem all that compelling to me after I wrote them. I think I am having some form of creative block right now. Things I deleted Why America is freaking me out right now Why we don’t need masks anymore…
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WordPress 5.9 (Day 1)
I’ve been using WordPress since 2005. I used Blogger in 2004 and hand crafted before that. That’s 17 years on the same product for this blog. It’s an absolute miracle that a single product could sustain itself, modernize, and innovate for that long. And frankly, they have dominated website hosting for small businesses. WordPress powers 455…
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How to: Inbox Zero
Inbox Zero is a technique (coined by Merlin Mann) for managing your email account with ruthless efficiency. I have been maintaining this technique for about 5 years and can show you how to achieve it. Note: The technique is possible in other mail tools, but for the purposes of this post, we will only be…
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Digital Dadaism
Dada: a movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values Merriam Webster Key dates: 1916-1924 Key regions: Switzerland, Paris, New York Keywords: Chance, luck, nonsense, anti-art, readymade Key artists: Hugo Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Hans (Jean) Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Hannah Höch, Man Ray, Francois Picabia Key characteristics: Humoristic, tending towards the absurd, satirical attitude towards authority…
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Adoption Marketing
Adoption Marketing is a concept I have been working on for over 10 years, but for some reason never blogged about it. Warning: This is a long post because it’s a big topic. Sorry. Adoption Marketing is the effort to influence existing users to adopt the new features you design and develop. Glen Background At…