There is a fascinating cultural phenomenon called Information Asymmetry. It means that one person or faction has access to information that others do not. This is the foundation of intelligence (spy) services through history. You have advantage over enemies when you have more data. In the work environment, your goal is (usually) not to defeat…
I was thinking about the applications that companies put on your work laptop. Most serve a business function like Zoom for video conferencing or a VPN. However, I had an unpleasant thought about how AI could be used for employee surveillance. There have been services that monitor how your mouse is moving during the day.…
To me this is obvious, but somehow everyone gets this wrong. Everyone is way too verbose. Slides presentation Use speaker notes. Don’t put every word on the slide. Don’t make long bullets. Don’t over explain. If you are worried about a leave behind, make a separate document for that. For your presentation, less than 10…
There is a job role I have been experimenting with for the last couple of years called UX Producer. In my humble opinion, it has been a terrific success and has helped in countless ways. I thought it would be helpful to share the concept and how it works. Mission of UX Producers UX Producers…
Who is this post for? This is a true chronicle of an experiment for my youngest son to skip college and directly enter the workforce. If you know a young person who is considering skipping college, this may be helpful to see what someone else did. Fair warning: It’s long. I tried to be as…
Sometimes a large portion of the world believes something is true, despite the fact that it is not true. Here is one that is especially annoying to me. Myth: Companies use AI to auto-reject your job application based on your resume I have used multiple different recruiting tools over the years. Lever, Greenhouse, Bamboo and…
Our bodies need constant oxygen. Even a minute without it can do serious damage. Our organs, our brains, our plants, our pets, our stoves…everything needs oxygen. It is the single most important thing in our lives. We need metaphorical oxygen too. I am going to skip all of the ways kids need intellectual oxygen growing…
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…
One technique that I teach almost every mentee is to conduct informational interviews as often as you can. This is especially useful in the early stages as you graduate from school, start your first job, and navigate your career. Informational interview 101 Simply put, it is a meeting (in person or remote) where you ask…
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…
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…
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.…
There is a philosophy of management I believe in called Servant Leadership. The easiest way to think about it is that the goal of a leader is to help those around them succeed rather than focus on themselves and their own aspirations. Notice, I didn’t say manager. Anyone can be a leader, even the most…
It’s weird advice, I know. This comes from a person who has (mostly) been working for 35 years straight. There were several moments in my career when I optimized for happiness, and I regret almost all of those decisions. Ill explain my logic. Financial Independence The reality is that life is very expensive. Housing, health…