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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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 –…
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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…
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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…
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The Empathy Advantage: Enhancing Stakeholder & Customer Relationships, Part 1
Part 1 of 3: This is Part 1 in this series of blog posts on empathy. Being a designer is being a therapist. “Designers, like therapists, are ‘people of the ear’” (Jeremy Hamann, Design Like a Therapist, 2019). The entire design process is filled with opportunities to listen: user interviews, design critiques, design workshops, usability…
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Mentoring Sessions Are Now Open on ADPList!
I’ve teamed up with ADPList to provide mentorship opportunities. Use the link below to book a session with me. Looking for Mentorship in Your Career? I’m excited to announce that I’m now mentoring on ADPList, a global platform connecting professionals with mentors. Whether you’re looking to boost your skills, navigate career transitions, or tackle specific…