WordPress Twenty Twenty Two part 2
I’ve been using WordPress 6.0 with Twenty Twenty Two theme for a little while now. I had a particular vision of how I wanted my homepage to look and work. This is a breakdown of how I achieved the effect along with thoughts on the new Full Site Editing in WordPress 6. It’s been an […]
Torn ACL for My Dog
My dog Leroy recently turns 10 years old. He is a black Labrador retriever. Like many dogs of his breed, he loves to run after tennis balls and frisbees. When he was a puppy, he ran so fast, I thought he must have a racing dog in his ancestry. He never got tired either, he…
1Password 2022
I just signed up for the family subscription of 1Password. This is a password management tool. We have not used something this before, but I am impressed so far. The cost for the family is $5 a month. Benefits Just to jump to the end of why you may want to consider doing something like…
The Rehearsal s01e01 Review
I watched the first episode of The Rehearsal last night on HBO. It was a unique experience and was brilliantly composed. (imho) The premise is that Nathan Fielder chooses a person to help them through a crisis by rehearsing the situation in a studio almost like it was a show. It was like Queer Eye…
My PM/UX Influences
I was thinking back over the last three decades in terms of product design and product management. There are certain people who made a significant impact on me. I thought it might be useful to list them down in a chronological order. Joel Spolsky The year was 1991 and Microsoft Excel was being produced. The…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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:…