Sometimes life sucks. Stuff happens. Things seem overwhelming and like they’ll never get better. You have 4 options: Curl up in the fetal position and give up on your dreams. Whine about it for the rest of your life and blame all of your problems on it. Ignore how you feel and eventually explode. Let... Continue Reading →
Contribution: Women in Tech Share Positive Experiences and Advice for Landing a Great Gig
Lately there have been a lot of blog posts outlining stories of battles women have won to represent themselves in the technology industry, and hurdles they’ve overcome to fight for gender equality in the workplace. What there aren’t many of, though, are posts explaining that not every company puts those hurdles in the way or... Continue Reading →
Work-Life Balance: Workaholic Designer Edition
I’m a workaholic. Finding a solid work-life balance has been a lifelong battle for me. My brain never shuts off, and I have a really hard time pulling myself away from something I’m passionate about. And it seems to be a REALLY common trait among designers, both the guys and women I’ve talked to in... Continue Reading →
The Design Community Always Has Your Back
Have you ever sat at work, looked around the room and grinned because you love your job so much? If you're a UX Pro or a designer, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've done this more than once (a day). Your People I was sitting in my office this... Continue Reading →
Women Outnumber Men In Our Product Design Team
"So wait... you have more women than men in your product design team?" "Yep. Why do you ask?" "Well, that's just really unique!" Before I attended my first conference, I legit didn't realize that it was considered "unique" to have more women than men on a product design team. And honestly, for the longest time I... Continue Reading →
So this definitely happened last week. A good friend bought a brand new car. I went for a ride in it for the first time: smooth ride, sexy interior, and the entire time I was analyzing ways they could have improved the layout of the digital controls, the cup holders and the seat adjustment apparatus.... Continue Reading →
How to Build An Amazing In-House Product Design Team
While conversing with some of my UX pro peers recently, I discovered that in-house design teams at software companies are extremely varied in make up. Some places have great team dynamics and others really don’t. At my company Schoolwires, we have a completely awesome Design & Innovation team with members that work incredibly well together, not only... Continue Reading →
How much money is your life actually worth?
Yesterday I had the opportunity to video chat with a friend who I haven't seen in years, we just recently reconnected. When I met him he loved his line of work and the company he worked for. He worked as a designer at a startup with an awesome culture and amazing management. He was healthy mentally... Continue Reading →
Titanic Workflow Mentality: How To Lose Talent & Sink Your Company
Today I had a sad conversation with another UX pro who is battling a really tough workplace culture problem. I have now dubbed it "Titanic Workflow Mentality". Sometimes you come across a person in an organization, or a band of people who slam on the brakes when new workflow ideas come through. Rather than constructively... Continue Reading →