I have four new designers on my team. That’s alot of people to get up to speed on the product, process and people. Rather than teaching them myself, I assigned my most experienced designer to be in charge. He has not previously managed people and this is his first time training other designers. There are…
I’m looking for awesome new people to join my team. Check out the UX Help Designer job description: What’s a UX Help Designer? At Marketo, the UX team is responsible for the way a feature works. We collaborate with engineers, product managers and other various groups. When we are ready to launch a feature, help…
I have a few new designers starting at Marketo in the next 30 days. One of the most important, but neglected, aspects to having new employees is giving ample training time before they are asked to do critical work. I can’t even count the number of times I saw someone doing something poorly because they…
I recently had to fill out a “Self-Review” for work. Evaluate yourself for the year and write down what you think. The hard part is deciding how much to stick your chest out and how much to pick on your weaknesses. If you write it too “puff-piece” then the management will not trust your point…
Some people get lucky, but how the heck can you work at that? Let’s focus on the ways to get promoted that you can control. The following is based on my personal experience of how people get promoted to managerial roles. Following this advice doesn’t guarantee anything, but it will give you the best chance…
Interviewing is like golf. Anyone can do it, but it’s hard to be good at it. The goal is to quickly ascertain if a candidate is a worthy member of your team and if they are then to inspire them to want to work with your company. Here are tips to be successful: Blink (From…
I am interviewing people to hire a Sr. UX Designer. Guess what is the first thing I do whenever I receive a resume? If you guessed “Look at the resume” you would be wrong. The first thing I do is search for the person’s name in Google. Unless you live in a cave, you have…
Marketo is growing on all fronts. As the engineering team grows, their appetite for more shovel-ready projects increases too. Thus, the design team needs to scale. I am looking for a UX Designer who can run design initiatives within a fast-paced multi-disciplinary environment. That’s greek for “lots of people all talking at once”. The company has something special…
Of course, I have a vested interest. I am the first hired employee and the head of UX for Marketo, but I feel I can be objective. Well, just take it with a grain of salt anyway. It was awesome. Last year, we had about a hundred and fifty people. I thought that was alot…
My first few weeks at Marketo have been great! The sales have been so strong that they have been growing rapidly to support all the customers. In fact, there are alot of positions open right now. Marketo is growing rapidly, which means that there is alot of opportunity to make an impact that will last…
I’ve heard this story many times. The big boss is right in front of you. Normally, you never see him up close. You are in the middle of the organization somewhere and he is the leader. You start to feel butterflies in your stomach. Then, he asks that incredibly insightful question: How’s it going? Arrghhh. …
Made to Stick has a great concept called the Curse of Knowledge. (Highly recommended reading) Here is a summary of the curse: Imagine a song (not Happy Birthday) in your head. A common familiar song. Then ask someone listen while you tap out the song on your desk. See if they can understand it. They…
I remember when Kokopelli (company I ran from 1994-2002) moved offices. It was a short move just across the street. While we were checking it out, we looked out the window and there was our crew waving at us. I almost started crying. The new space was extremely nice and very big. At Marketo, we…
I forgot to post this. I took this picture with my new phone (HTC Touch Pro 2) on my first day of work. The rainbow actually ends at the office building at Adchemy! Is that a good sign or what?