• 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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,…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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.…

  • 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…