How to own the UX for your product before it owns you. — Have you heard of the Mockup Monkey? Or his less put-together cousin, the Mantled Wireframe Guereza? Myth has it that they sneak up on designers, altering their state of mind and replace one’s curiosity with cowardliness and self-doubt. Designers afflicted by the Mockup Monkey curse work tirelessly to please —…

Poor collaboration is all around us. Change how you communicate to get to mutual understanding faster. — During the past nine years of building products, every good product manager, designer, and engineer I’ve worked with has had a collaborative mindset to building products. Yet, despite good intentions, many of us still struggle to collaborate with one another effectively. In this brief article, I’ll cover the concept of…

Getting to know your users should be easy, yet many of us slip up along the way. Why? — As we gain more experience in our field, we become susceptible to blind spots. We may formulate bad habits or take shortcuts without even noticing the implication of our actions. In this five-part article series, we’ll dive deep into each stage of the Design Thinking process and discuss the most…

Tactics to avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in product design. — If you’ve been in tech even for a short while, I’m sure at some point you, your coworkers, or company execs have fantasized about a full product redesign. I’ve been building digital products since 2014 and I’ve seen my fair share of redesign efforts. The thought of a fresh start…

Let’s face it — 2020 was a tough year. For me personally, I embarked on a 6 month job search, relocated across the country to a new city where I knew almost no one, and, like most of us, had to skip many holidays and family celebrations. …

If you’re a designer, it’s not hard to find evidence and support that backs up the importance of getting you involved during the early stages of projects. We’re talking about the decisions that set the project SCOPE, strategy, requirements, and success metrics. Google Venture’s Kate Aronowitz covers this topic in…

Perhaps you’ve gotten your feet wet as a designer, and after some time you’re approached with an opportunity to move into a new role as a design manager, team lead, or whatever your organization calls it. Congratulations! One question remains — Should you take the position? To help you better…

Derek, a new designer, was working with a small multi-disciplinary team tasked with improving the company’s flagship product — a learning platform for people who want to learn how to code. This was a huge opportunity for Derek to get his name out there, and he couldn’t wait to get…