Before today, I had only briefly been made aware of this push to redirect capital-D “Design” away from being a driver for increased consumption and commercial growth under the guise of helping our fellow humans and more towards “Post Anthropocene” Design (ie. where/when “human activities no longer exceed the planetary limits”). How this works in practice will take me much more time to digest, but this paper on “Considering environmental and ethical concerns in the design of interactive products" lays out the arguments and scene quite well and that is simply what I want to recommend you do today… read it.
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Let’s spruce up the blog with a GIF for once whilst a certain music video from ‘99 comes to mind…
Learn to Fly or: How I learned to stop feeling like a failure and love the process
Throw away your list of failed experiments, the projects that didn’t get off the ground, the books or screenplays that failed to sell. Keep the lessons you’ve learned in mind, but recognise that it may simply have been the approach, the pitch, or the conditions at the time that were not optimal for success - the idea may still have legs.
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Flower bouquet image courtesy of Francisco Menéndez via Wikimedia Commons.
Task-based personas to the rescue!
Created just-in-time around specific [and hopefully validated] scenarios and needs. Heavy hitting and unambiguous with their core values and present emotional situation clearly on display. Task-based personas give product and design teams the context they need for strong ideation, and here's an example why...
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Getting hired - a job interview guide
Recently, one of my colleagues came to me seeking tips and advice on how to approach job interviews so that they could have the best chance of getting a few offers to choose from. So, in reflecting on all of the advice I’ve received, read, and practiced over the years related to job searching, applying, and interviewing, I decided to combine it all down into one extensive guide that I could share with them and anyone else currently in the arduous job hunt. The sections in this guide cover my three key preparations for successful job interviews: interview skills, common job interview questions, and creative and challenging questions to ask…
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Woman with glasses smiling in front of a brick wall
You're more capable than what's on your title
“Working on complex socio-technical systems - that’s what we should be teaching to our young, aspiring designers.” This spoke to me (as Don Norman’s videos often do) as a message worth sharing to anyone feeling like they’re beholden to how someone else perceives their title and their supposed responsibilities within.
So, for all of my fellow “UXers” in the back feeling left out or stuck in a digital-only world, know this…
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