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What Do I Do As A Designer At NASA?
I get this question a lot. And people have their own assumptions about what I do as a designer at NASA: My mom thinks I work on plans to destroy the Death Star.Friends think I float in space as an astronaut.Society thinks I do something with aliens.My bosses think I fight for the user.NASA engineers… Read more
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Sort the Chaos.
A Proven Process for Strengthening Stakeholder Relationships Sort the Chaos. It’s a term I use to describe my research and design process. This process happens at the beginning of a project, in the Discovery Phase. At this time, I don’t know much about the project, other than the goal. I start by collecting All the… Read more
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Design, It’s People!
I created this pop culture reference for my Config talk and I’ve used it in a few presentations since then. This scene, where Phil Hartman plays an over-dramatized Charlton Heston, is from a Saturday Night Live parody of the cult classic film, Soylent Green. Set in the year 2022 (!!), Soylent Green (1973) is a… Read more
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I’m Getting Older and Becoming More Like C-3PO
Reminder: Get Your Tetanus Booster I think I’m becoming more neurotic as I get older. I’ve never identified with the galaxy-far-far-away’s best known worrisome robot, C-3PO. But as I am getting older, I can understand his neurosis. A little over three weeks ago, I flew to San Francisco to escape the poor air quality from… Read more
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Working Together: Preventing The Homer Car Through Collaboration
I have an analogy to explain what happens when a user tries to solve a problem on their own without assistance. It’s The Homer Car. What is The Homer Car, you ask? This is The Homer Car: The Homer Car is from an episode of The Simpsons titled, “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” (Season 2,… Read more
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I Updated a Favorite Meme
When I joined my very first San Francisco Bay Area startup as an early designer, I was immersed in the world of product design. It was 2010. Here I was, new to the world of product design – fresh, eager, drinking the Kool-Aid, and working alongside my fellow designers. We were a solid team, united… Read more
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Confidence is Contagious: How to Persuade by Just Being Yourself
“Confidence is feeling safe to be yourself.” – Jason Harris, The Soulful Art of Persuasion Confidence is “a belief in oneself”. Confidence is an attitude that motivates action and commands presence. It is the conviction that you possess what it takes to succeed. Confidence is what allows you to get knocked down in life –… Read more
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The Empathy Advantage: Enhancing Stakeholder & Customer Relationships, Part 3
Part 3 of 3: This is Part 3 in this series of blog posts on empathy. Click here to read part 1. Click here to read part 2. In Parts 1 & 2, I covered the importance of listening to and creating connections with our stakeholders and customers to build relationships. In Part 3, I… Read more
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Los Angeles is on Fire. This is (NOT) fine.
Los Angeles is on fire. And I am in the middle of it. Despite being surrounded, I am glad to report that I am safe. Thank you to all of my friends and family who have reached out.❤️ Sadly, the Eaton fire has taken the homes of several co-workers and friends. Be a donor. Help… Read more
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The Empathy Advantage: Enhancing Stakeholder & Customer Relationships, Part 2
Part 2 of 3: This is Part 2 in this series of blog posts on empathy. Click Here to read Part 1 In Part 1, I encouraged being more like a therapist and covered the importance of listening to stakeholders and customers to build relationships. In Part 2, I will address how to build a… Read more