How do we measure design quality? This question has been asked at every company where I’ve led design, and it comes not only from designers but from stakeholders and executives as well. Solutions range from “we’ll know it when we see it”, to principle-based evaluation, to detailed and rigorous product…
We’ve all gotten career advice. Work hard, don’t settle. Ask for what you want. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Dress for the job you want. Love what you do.
Yada yada…
What is the most important skill you can hire for when bringing on a designer to your team?
I’m going to guess that many of you value skills like visual design, prototyping, or sketching, and you wouldn’t be wrong. There are certainly some core design skills that are basic table…
My friend asked me today how I write. She’s thought about it herself, picks up the rhetorical pen, but can’t go through with it. She asked me to write about writing.
The short of it is, you just write. It’s really that simple.
How, you say? …
A crucial part of product design is learning how to approach user problems with empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of others. …
When someone says, “I want to be more autonomous,” what does that mean? Autonomy is independence, freedom, self-government. In the context of design, autonomy can be perceived to mean: “I want to do this on my own, I can do this by myself.”
I’ve often heard young designers ask for…
You’ve graduated from design school, you’ve landed your first job, you’ve made it! Congrats! You’re a real live, practicing, money-making designer. And yet, people aren’t treating you like you’ve made it. Why?
You’re trying to make strides, but teammates aren’t valuing your contributions. You constantly have to defend your design…
It’s that time of year again, the time when we start throwing together resolutions, albeit some more well thought through than others. …
“How do I get better at visual design?”
This question comes up a lot. I coach and mentor a lot of students on product design by tutoring for the Academy of Art in San Francisco, reviewing for AIGA’s portfolio reviews, hosting interns at Facebook and so on.
There’s a bridge…
At the end of our interviews for Product Design at Facebook, we reserve a few minutes for the candidate to ask questions. …
