Tag: UX

  • Feature Success Metrics

    Every tech SaaS company has Pendo or Amplitude or a similar analytics tool. The question is whether we are using these tools effectively. Spoiler alert: I think not. The key to using any analytics tool actually starts in the mind of the designers and product managers. (namaste!) The most important question that never gets asked…

  • Speed vs Flexibility

    In complex B2B systems, you often have to pick your poison when dealing with data accessibility. I remember when Marketo was first developed and we asked how many leads/contacts a company would have. The answer we received was about 3k. Little did we know that the real answer would be closer 1 million leads and…

  • Design vs “Design”

    In LinkedIn, I will often see someone ask what is the better UX or UI design. Something like this: This drives me crazy. In my B2B design world, this is a meaningless detail that doesn’t make any difference. This is B2C mobile design and they don’t do what I do, and I don’t do what…

  • Breaking down a problem

    One of the most important skills of a designer is the ability to break down a problem into coherent building blocks. Unfortunately, I find most designers struggle with this task. It seems that there is an expectation that breaking a problem down is a PM or Engineering thing to do. This is the kind of…

  • Nauseously optimistic

    I heard this phrase on the news from a Kamala Harris advisor. I kind of love how it captures the feeling I often have, not just about the current political situation. Over the years, I have worked on many big projects. At least a half dozen times over the years, my project would be in…

  • Unseen features

    Many PMs love to play the feature checklist game. It’s a strategy to win against the competition by having the highest number of features. Many salespeople convince themselves that they lost a deal solely because of a missing feature. In my opinion, this can sometimes work, but often omits more important efforts. There are other…

  • BeMore Festival 2024

    Im scheduled to be a speaker at the upcoming BeMore Festival. The festival is put on my ADPList. It’s a free service for designers to get mentorship. I have been an active mentor on that platform since Feb 2022. My talk is specifically for designers in the beginning of their career, but much of the…

  • Software Designers

    I made a presentation recently of the evolution of software. From desktop applications (from way back like VisiCalc and XTreeGold) to modern web applications. The thing I find interesting was the split in designers who make applications look like “websites” (with a sitemap) and those that make the application look more like software in a…

  • The job of product design

    I recently heard someone say that using a design system took all of the creativity away from the designer. I found this point of view troubling and ultimately think it leads to unhappy designers and poor software. Many designers get into design as a career because as children they liked to draw and be creative.…

  • Ode to Jim Henson

    I just watched Jim Henson, Idea Man on Disney+. I feel like he needs no introduction, but if don’t know who he is, you can certainly read about him or watch the documentary. To me, Jim Henson has been my Patron Saint and idol since I was a child. I first experienced Jim’s creations on…

  • Trusting vs Training Your Team

    I saw a post on LinkedIn that said, “Micromanaging is a sign of a lack of trust. If you don’t trust your team, you will never achieve great things.” This is exactly the kind of thing that gets tons of likes. Unfortunately, I think it’s highly misleading and taken literally will lead you to terrible…

  • How to make a difference

    I was just listening to Hold On a RadioLab podcast. There is a section where they ran an A/B test of the hold music for the national suicide hotline. Note: Suicide is a serious matter and I am sure there are trained professionals in charge of it making the experience as optimal as possible. If…

  • Design is everywhere

    Everywhere I look, I see design. Design is just decisions, after all. The height of your ceiling, the shape of your shoes, the sound of your doorbell, the way the road bends around natural obstacles; every single thing around you was decided by human beings in the past. Sometimes, that decision may have roots hundreds…

  • “Choose your own adventure” Portfolios

    Imagine a product designer portfolio that didn’t say “Hi! i’m <insert name>!” Imagine a portfolio that didn’t have long scrolling case studies and looked like everyone else’s. What if the Home Screen of the portfolio had two linked that said… What do you want to see? Let’s assume you use Hotjar or equivalent and get…