“So much wasted time.” ~David Cassidy

These words are weighing heavily on me.

David Cassidy, star and teenage heartthrob of the 70s sitcom, The Partridge Family, passed away in 2017 at the age of 67. These words were reportedly some of the last he uttered.

Wow…here we are, over 150,000 words later. That’s nearly the equivalent to J.R.R. Tolkien’s 156,198 words in Lord of the Rings — The Two Towers! The difference is, Mr. Tolkien’s books are much more exciting to read and continue to generate waaay more money! 😂

Even still, I’ve learned a lot in the past year. I almost lost my wife (twice) to suicide, contracted COVID-19, fought through chronic back pain, was sent home to work remotely, slowly started losing my vision, and had to stay away from family and friends for much too long.

Those events, on top of my…

I don’t particularly like acronyms. But in the world of product design and development, we’re suffocated with them. M.V.P. is a familiar, unavoidable one. The Agile Alliance defines MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, as “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

But I’d like to propose a new way to remember these three letters, which will serve as a simple framework if you want to improve. …

This one is likely to ruffle some feathers or get under the skin of a few…but it’s been eating me up inside. For far too long, I’ve watched as those in my professional network and close family members struggle to get ahead and experience fulfillment in their lives. Their fixation on the past, anxiety in the present, and worry for the future is crippling their ability to achieve progress.

It’s killing me to watch it unfold.

Based on my observations and close relationships with many in this situation, one thing holds true: They are not taking appropriate action related to…

Today, my oldest turned 10. It boggles my mind that 10 years have passed. Ten years ago, it was all so new. Those were days filled with fear, laughter, crying, love, exhaustion, and an adventure so fulfilling and wonderful. An enormous weight of responsibility and hardly a clue what to do…but here we are — we made it through and keep going.

I’m 40 now, a little bit older, and a little bit wiser — and I can tell you this: Nothing means more to me or gives me more purpose than the experience my children and spouse have of…

In the literal sense, look around you. What can you see in your peripheral vision when you’re at work? Who sits in your periphery? What are their stories? What makes their job hard? What could you do to understand their role and how it overlaps with UX? Could you make their job easier?

That’s the first step to improving your peripheral product vision. By doing this, you’re enhancing your vision and clarity as it relates to the roles and individuals around you. Great first step.

The next step involves the figurative sense of product vision. Get to know the systems…

Seek context.

My 6th-grade teacher taught me this better than anyone I know and his method contains a powerful lesson.

29 years ago, Mr. Barton surprised our class with an impromptu quiz. The quiz, he said, was to check our knowledge up to that point on the materials we were learning. He passed out the quiz on a piece of paper, laying them face down on each student’s desk.

He then walked to the front of the classroom, looked at us, paused briefly, then said, “You may begin.”

We turned over our quizzes and started. Only a few minutes went…

In the latter part of 2013, I exchanged a few messages with my older sister. She was in a rough spot. She was desperately trying to figure out her life again at the age of 41 and faced many challenges in doing so. The first message from her landed in my email on a chilly December morning.

Amy: “Can you help?” She asked, and continued…“I need a job.”