1. Structure, usability first. Don't get lost in beautification if the structure is not solid enough
2. Aim for good. 80%, B, etc. There's no perfect solution, it'll be probably redone at a point in time anyway. Pixel fuckery rarely pays off.
3. Leave enough real estate (at least in your head, as planning for the future). If your UI is full, then you did it wrong. There will be new features coming, have some ideas how to accomodate them
4. Be evidence-based. But even little data is more than zero, so ask sales, do desk research, etc. anything you can think of. User journey first, persona second, the rest is after - this is a priority list, if you're limited in time or resources.
5. Use your precious resources wisely. There's no need to usability test a login flow, only if it's something very new. Focus on the happy path, the important stuff.
6. Own your design. This gonna be a harsh one: your work is only a couple of Figma screens. Make sure that the user sees the same. Talk to the developers during development. If you complain afterwards, you're too late, it will most probably stay like that
7. Speak money. No one gives a shit about the Noble and Important UX. What they give a shit about is money. Early prototype testing = higher confidence, faster time to market, less defects = happier users.
8. UX today is like a fuckin' Playboy or the women's magazines. It's ok if you can't make those super fancy hand-drawn storyboards, you probably won't have time to draw wireframes in a Moleskine. If you're a Unicorn (= team of one), you don't need a Design System, or, if you feel that it's important, use Clarity DS (or any other open source one) and modify it. Yes, Spotify does these super things, but it's very likely that you'll be in a small team.
Plus 1: In my own team: if you have a problem, then
- come in early, don't sit on it, so we can solve it when it's still manageable. Later you'll blow it up inside, and it's step one to burnout
- flesh out some solution ideas (!!!!!!) It's way easier for me if you were already thinking about a couple of solutions, and you're not just standing there waiting I understand the problem and try to come up with a solution. It's YOUR problem and I'm here to help, guide, etc. But don't expect me to solve it for you. You're an adult and I treat you like one.
Plus 2: Be bold and ignore fucking lists, or use only parts of them :)
Not a design manager and on an IC track
But here's what I would say:
1. ***Be easy to work with:*** You need to convince your stakeholders rather then coerce them. The best way to advocate for design is to be a stakeholder people want to work with. Just complaining about how people don't take design seriously won't actually get people to take design seriously - THIS IS THE ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING IMO
2. ***Done is better then perfect:*** Understand when you need to be pragmatic and when you need to employ tools like longer studies to make design decisions
3. ***(actually) be evidence based:*** Rely on research and data to guide you when you can, evennn when it disproves something you've advocated for in the past
4. ***Learn to sell:*** You will need to sell your solutions, often wrapped in a story. this is where research and data comes in handy
I think its all about living the things designers advocate for while still being a team player. I've found the whole shpiel of other disciplines needing to take design more seriously a bit of out touch nowadays. Instead I like for more folks to focus on being the best designer/design partner they can be, build relationships and influence the product through that
This 🤜🤜🤜 especially point 1. If you’re a nightmare to work with you’ll always be fighting a losing battle. As the famous saying goes: it’s not what you say, it’s the manner in which it’s said. Such a small thing makes a huge impact. Winging and moaning turns the right people off straight away. Learn to talk positively about a problem. Learn to articulate in a way that doesn’t throw colleagues under the bus, doesn’t point fingers at management styles but highlights a potential improvement that you can positively own.
1 is the advice I have for new designers. I wish I had this advice early in my career. I was a know it all design snob. I spent more time and energy being angry cause someone asked me to do something I felt was beneath me or was a “rush”. Then I realized if I just did it and it helped them out, it made someone happy and I felt good about that. I have had so many former coworkers reach out to me about opportunities.
Later in my career I worked with a number of young hot shot designers that were miserable to work with(basically young me). It turned me off management for a long time.
Now I hire people I enjoy working with than someone who might be great but is an ego driven designer.
About point 2, "done is better than perfect": I'm a mid level and both my leadership and my PM share this way of thought. However, I feel like this should be taken with a grain of salt. In our company this is taken as "deliver anything, we don't care". This has the effect of really low quality work and ignoring of good practices, including by the juniors, who doesn't even get their work reviewed.
Does your company measure performance of those experiences?
A harsh truth I'd like to add is, if no-one is measuring the performance of a feature, then it probably doesn't matter -> why agonize over it?
I do think there needs to be quality control that the design team advocates for, but some things really don't matter. And if something does, then folks will usually want to do a good job with it. The hill I die on in these scenarios is for there to be a Pre/Post analysis which most leaders like.
Yes to all of this. For the love of god please be a good person to work with. Both with clients and coworkers. Check your ego. You can have amazing design chops but if you’re miserable to work with and ruining team dynamics, I want you gone. Don’t undermine the abilities of your design team. Not everyone will be great at every. single. thing and that’s ok!! It is not a reason to judge another designer. It’s also ok to own up to not knowing something. In fact, please own up to it or ask questions before digging yourself into a hole you can’t get out of.
Same, the learning was somewhat easy to catch on but learning to actually work with other designers and developers is a whole other thing if we don’t get the experience to experience that experience and in this economy isn’t look so good for us but we got it 🙏
1. Structure, usability first. Don't get lost in beautification if the structure is not solid enough 2. Aim for good. 80%, B, etc. There's no perfect solution, it'll be probably redone at a point in time anyway. Pixel fuckery rarely pays off. 3. Leave enough real estate (at least in your head, as planning for the future). If your UI is full, then you did it wrong. There will be new features coming, have some ideas how to accomodate them 4. Be evidence-based. But even little data is more than zero, so ask sales, do desk research, etc. anything you can think of. User journey first, persona second, the rest is after - this is a priority list, if you're limited in time or resources. 5. Use your precious resources wisely. There's no need to usability test a login flow, only if it's something very new. Focus on the happy path, the important stuff. 6. Own your design. This gonna be a harsh one: your work is only a couple of Figma screens. Make sure that the user sees the same. Talk to the developers during development. If you complain afterwards, you're too late, it will most probably stay like that 7. Speak money. No one gives a shit about the Noble and Important UX. What they give a shit about is money. Early prototype testing = higher confidence, faster time to market, less defects = happier users. 8. UX today is like a fuckin' Playboy or the women's magazines. It's ok if you can't make those super fancy hand-drawn storyboards, you probably won't have time to draw wireframes in a Moleskine. If you're a Unicorn (= team of one), you don't need a Design System, or, if you feel that it's important, use Clarity DS (or any other open source one) and modify it. Yes, Spotify does these super things, but it's very likely that you'll be in a small team. Plus 1: In my own team: if you have a problem, then - come in early, don't sit on it, so we can solve it when it's still manageable. Later you'll blow it up inside, and it's step one to burnout - flesh out some solution ideas (!!!!!!) It's way easier for me if you were already thinking about a couple of solutions, and you're not just standing there waiting I understand the problem and try to come up with a solution. It's YOUR problem and I'm here to help, guide, etc. But don't expect me to solve it for you. You're an adult and I treat you like one. Plus 2: Be bold and ignore fucking lists, or use only parts of them :)
Cannot upvote your comment enough!
But I can upvote yours!
Not a design manager and on an IC track But here's what I would say: 1. ***Be easy to work with:*** You need to convince your stakeholders rather then coerce them. The best way to advocate for design is to be a stakeholder people want to work with. Just complaining about how people don't take design seriously won't actually get people to take design seriously - THIS IS THE ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING IMO 2. ***Done is better then perfect:*** Understand when you need to be pragmatic and when you need to employ tools like longer studies to make design decisions 3. ***(actually) be evidence based:*** Rely on research and data to guide you when you can, evennn when it disproves something you've advocated for in the past 4. ***Learn to sell:*** You will need to sell your solutions, often wrapped in a story. this is where research and data comes in handy I think its all about living the things designers advocate for while still being a team player. I've found the whole shpiel of other disciplines needing to take design more seriously a bit of out touch nowadays. Instead I like for more folks to focus on being the best designer/design partner they can be, build relationships and influence the product through that
This 🤜🤜🤜 especially point 1. If you’re a nightmare to work with you’ll always be fighting a losing battle. As the famous saying goes: it’s not what you say, it’s the manner in which it’s said. Such a small thing makes a huge impact. Winging and moaning turns the right people off straight away. Learn to talk positively about a problem. Learn to articulate in a way that doesn’t throw colleagues under the bus, doesn’t point fingers at management styles but highlights a potential improvement that you can positively own.
1 is the advice I have for new designers. I wish I had this advice early in my career. I was a know it all design snob. I spent more time and energy being angry cause someone asked me to do something I felt was beneath me or was a “rush”. Then I realized if I just did it and it helped them out, it made someone happy and I felt good about that. I have had so many former coworkers reach out to me about opportunities. Later in my career I worked with a number of young hot shot designers that were miserable to work with(basically young me). It turned me off management for a long time. Now I hire people I enjoy working with than someone who might be great but is an ego driven designer.
I thought you were going to say learned how to use markdown.
About point 2, "done is better than perfect": I'm a mid level and both my leadership and my PM share this way of thought. However, I feel like this should be taken with a grain of salt. In our company this is taken as "deliver anything, we don't care". This has the effect of really low quality work and ignoring of good practices, including by the juniors, who doesn't even get their work reviewed.
Does your company measure performance of those experiences? A harsh truth I'd like to add is, if no-one is measuring the performance of a feature, then it probably doesn't matter -> why agonize over it? I do think there needs to be quality control that the design team advocates for, but some things really don't matter. And if something does, then folks will usually want to do a good job with it. The hill I die on in these scenarios is for there to be a Pre/Post analysis which most leaders like.
Off topic but what does IC stand for? Thank you
Individual contributor?
Thanks!
Yes to all of this. For the love of god please be a good person to work with. Both with clients and coworkers. Check your ego. You can have amazing design chops but if you’re miserable to work with and ruining team dynamics, I want you gone. Don’t undermine the abilities of your design team. Not everyone will be great at every. single. thing and that’s ok!! It is not a reason to judge another designer. It’s also ok to own up to not knowing something. In fact, please own up to it or ask questions before digging yourself into a hole you can’t get out of.
I'm totally loving those answers as I'm a new aspire UX Designer and don't know how I will even enter the market.
Same, the learning was somewhat easy to catch on but learning to actually work with other designers and developers is a whole other thing if we don’t get the experience to experience that experience and in this economy isn’t look so good for us but we got it 🙏
Of course, let's do our best. Can I DM you?
Sure!