Essential social skills UX designers need to master in order to thrive in the industry and achieve long-term success. — Of all the UX deliverables you provide to your team, don’t forget: You are the most important design deliverable. All too often, we get caught up in the minutiae of pixels and methodologies. We’re experts at obtaining a deep understanding of the problem space. We know how to unveil what…

Becoming confident with the concept and entering the solution space. — A familiar scenario in product design How do you know when it’s time to move on from the brainstorming phase of a project? What pivotal event happens or what trigger goes off to tell you and your team it’s okay to proceed to the next step? Often, we talk too much. …

Recognizing the signs that are clearly telling you it’s okay to take a break. — This is my kitchen sink tonight. I walked away from it. My 4-year-old came up to me after dinner as I started doing the dishes and asked, “But Dad, why do you have to do the dishes tonight?” I didn’t have a good answer. I thought about it for a…

Use these as your roadmap for individual growth and product team success. — Who is John Wooden and what does this have to do with UX? “Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, [John Wooden] (1910–2010) won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row.” — Source You don’t need to be a basketball fan to immediately recognize Wooden’s accomplishments…

Helpful career advice and goal-setting ideas to launch your career forward and get you where you want to be. — Ever since my career change to UX, I’ve made it a point to deliberately include UX-focused goals in my end-of-the-year goal-setting strategy. …

Do the work with gratitude and apply the design skills you already have to the way others experience you. — Sometimes you need to step back and take a break. Whether you feel it physically or deep within your soul, a pause from all the noise may be precisely what you need. As the year rounds out, I’ve taken a good chunk of time to reflect on what it means…

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein — “The company wants someone with experience, but they won’t take a chance on me. How am I supposed to gain experience if they‘ll never give me a shot?” This is the ultimate paradox of a career in tech. You dedicate months and years to learn, give up your time and…

First principles (like being a decent human) far outweigh which design tool or method you use. — In the martial arts movie, “Ip Man”, an intense fight scene between two skilled masters captivates the audience and teaches a powerful lesson. Set in the southern city of Foshan, China in the 1930s, martial arts reigns supreme on every city corner. …

How to remove the mental obstacles blocking your potential. — This article was easy to write. Why? Because I’ve painfully lived all of the topics I’ll cover here. Reflecting on the past 26+ years of working and navigating careers, I’ve come to realize how impractical and ill-judged many of my assumptions have been — many of which held me back. …