Unleash Your Mindset! by Low Fidelity

Show Notes

In this episode, I speak with Ida Persson, a Communications Design Lead at IDEO, on the topic of the biases in design education and what we as designers can do about it.

A few highlights from our conversation

• Learn about Ida's journey of becoming aware of the biases she learned in her design education.
• Learn about the challenges unlearning our biases brings and how to take small steps forward
• Learn how to expand your sources of design knowledge and information to include voices from around the world and break out of the biased design bubble
• Learn why it's important for designers to question everything, especially the beliefs we carry, to help us break free from the biases that can harm us.

Quotes from the episode

“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.” - Audre Lorde.

“Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety. And at such a moment, unable to see and not daring to imagine what the future will now bring forth, one clings to what one knew or dreamed that one possessed. Yet, it is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long possessed that he is set free — he has set himself free — for higher dreams, for greater privileges.” - James Baldwin.

Mentioned in this episode

Recording Note: A lot has happened since our conversation was recorded a few months ago, so some observations may not be accurate today. 

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In this episode, I speak with career strategist and coach for UX professionals Amy Santee.

Amy is a champion for UX professionals who want to design their careers with intention and bring their good to the world through a practice of self-research, self-respect, self-advocacy, and strategy.

With all the uncertainty and recent tech layoffs, it is good to know that we have amazing people like Amy on our side to guide and support us through change.

Amy’s coaching philosophy is to help her clients navigate change by being strategic, mindful, and intentional.

On Career Change

• Be intentional and strategic with your job search.
• Before searching for a job, figure out your why, your values, and how you want to work and live.
• Identify the limiting beliefs and behavior patterns that are not serving you well.

On Career Coaching

• A career coach can provide an outside perspective and validate or challenge your thoughts.
• A career coach can help you do your job search more effectively and strategically to help you stand out from the crowd.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques can be used in coaching to help overcome the inner struggles we face so we can reach our potential.
• If you want to work with a coach, identify what you need help with and research coaches by reading their blog posts and newsletters and talking with them to see if they are the right partner to guide you in your career.

On Self-Discovery For Your Career

• Collect data about yourself, such as your thoughts, behaviors, actions, and emotions, to understand yourself better so you can find a work environment that fits your values and supports you.
• Check the stories you tell yourself. Validate them instead of blindly believing them.
• Check your assumptions about external events such as the tech layoffs and make sure you're resume, portfolio, and presentations are all buttoned up and ready to go.

On Networking

• Always be open to new opportunities.
• On LinkedIn, turn on the feature that privately lets recruiters know that you are open to new opportunities
• Network, network, network.
• Start networking now, not when you need it.
• Find people at companies you are interested in and make mutually beneficial connections.
• Start interacting within the UX community to share your comments and thoughts.
• Networking isn't only for new people you meet; you can reach out to people you have worked with in past jobs as well.

Listener challenge:

Amy shared a great personal development challenge to help you identify areas of opportunity and how begin working towards them one intentional step at a time. Make sure to listen till the end!

Connect with Amy

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with transformational coach Kim Witten. Kim shares her interesting career path in which she worked as a graphic designer, a marketing professional, a linguist, a data analyst, and a web developer, then moved into UX research and design, all with the common thread of learning more about people and their behaviors.

As a transformational coach, Kim helps her clients discover their why and helps them achieve their full potential. We talk about the benefits of working with a coach and how a coach can help us overcome a lifetime of limiting beliefs.

Kim shares her coaching philosophy and her unique approach to helping her clients reach their potential.

• Learn about the difference between overthinkers and deep thinkers.
• Kim helps us see both from a new helpful perspective
• Getting unstuck can happen in a single moment and the whole world opens up to us as we get unblocked.
• Kim shares the behaviors and thought patterns that get in our way and can trip us up such as future tripping and overthinking and strategies to prevent the negative effects that can happen.
• Learn about rumination and how it is different from overthinking
• Naming the part of ourselves that becomes anxious and overthinks is a good way to identify it and deal with it when it shows up.

Listener challenge:

Kim shares a self-discovery challenge to learn about your wants and how to identify the ones that matter the most. It's a tough but rewarding challenge. You don't want to miss it!

Mentions

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Hilary Cluett, creator of the UX Vocab Club, a network of professionals, and a certified face reader, to help you improve your communication skills to power your career.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

• Hilary shared how to use the Bubble Method to help you quickly explore ideas. This is an excellent tool for designers, writers, and content creators to power their communication skills.
• Hilary shared the fun stories of how she overcame her camera shyness and spoke in front of groups by getting out of her comfort zone.
• We both are fans of improv because it forces us to be present and in the moment with all our senses, especially our listening skills.
• Learn the science of face reading and how it can benefit you and help you communicate your message to give it the best chance of success.
• Hilary is a Level 5 Certified face reader, and she shares the exciting techniques involved in how exactly a face is read.
• I had my face read by Hilary; amazingly, she was very close in her understanding; you don't want to miss that part.
• Learn what your eyebrows, eyelids, and nose say about yourself.
• Plus, I do a live Bubble Method exercise with Hilary to help you see how to do this exercise on your own, and wow was it eye-opening.

Connect with Hilary Cluett

In this week’s episode, Jonathan Bowman, a Design Leader at Machinify and co-founder of the Board of Design, provides his insights on the critical topic of design feedback. He helps demystify feedback and helps us view feedback as a powerful tool for collaboration and our own growth so we can become more impactful at work.

• Should designers know how to code? Designers should learn to talk to developers and learn about the basic frameworks and structures to have better conversations.
• Jonathan shares what he loves about design.
• We dove into the topic of feedback to learn how to approach it with a productive perspective.
• Jonathan helps us see feedback in a new light which can help us put our guard down and gain the benefits of this powerful tool.
• Learn how to get good feedback, curate it, and synthesize it to make the most of it.
• Jonathan shares concrete ways to set yourself up for success when seeking feedback.
• Hear how to manage different types of feedback that will empower you to lead a feedback session.
• Learn how to lead with curiosity instead of emotions to get the feedback you need.
• Learn how to prevent emotions from creeping in when seeking feedback.
• We also explored how best to give feedback to others.
• Learn what matters when you provide your own feedback and how to make it actionable.
• Designers can't be lazy when it comes to feedback, both when seeking and delivering feedback. It is a lot of work to prepare. So be a prepared designer, not a lazy one!
• Learn how to take steps toward becoming better at getting feedback.
• Learn how to set yourself up for success when seeking feedback within a design tool like Figma.
• Learn about Jonathan's new initiative to bring licensure to the design and research field. This idea works well in many other fields; is it time to bring it into UX?

Sana is a personal brand experience consultant who helps her clients stand out from the crowd and helps them monetize their unique edge. In our conversation, Sana shared her transition from consultant to creator. We explored how to show up as our authentic selves and how you can begin to develop your own personal philosophy, something that is crucial if you're building your brand. 

Highlights from our conversation:

• Learn about Sana's transition from a consultant to a creator. There are a lot of insights we can take from her story to apply in our own lives.
• Understand why creative freedom is something we need to plan for and not take for granted.
  Why giving ourselves permission to achieve our goals is crucial for our creative freedom
  It's not about achieving but about doing the work to uncover what is within us, it's about us becoming.
• Learn what emotional reasoning is and how it can be a dangerous behavior.
  What is authenticity and how can we show up as our authentic selves?
  Learn having a personal philosophy is at the core of developing who you are.
  Want to begin developing your personal philosophy? Start by asking yourself why you believe what you believe.

On pushing forward
Many people feel the same way about how they experienced more success in their business from this ability to just not BS and to not fret and to not worry about things that don’t make sense and to do the hard work and lean and make the hard decisions that they need to so that they can learn and so that they can move forward.

On Authenticity
Authenticity is the feeling of congruence from your internal way of being and the way that you externally express that internal way of being.

On Self-awareness
Getting in touch with the core of who you are and reflecting on that, doing the hard work to really think about what that is for you, and then taking the steps that you need to express what that is. And it can be very, And it can eventually be very big. Or you can start very big, cause a lot of ruckus, break a lot of ties, burn some bridges, and then go off doing your own thing and start over. But I think it’s either way that you do it; you have to understand that it’s gonna take some work to get to the point where you feel like I can totally be who it is that I wanna be.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Chris Tomasso, a gamification consultant, and podcast host.  We talk about creativity, personal development, self-awareness, and the path to awakening. This was one of those conversations where we could have kept talking because as you will hear we are both passionate about the topic of awakening.  

A few highlights from our conversation:

• Use data cautiously. Use multiple data points to begin to identify trends in what you create to see how audiences are connecting with your message.
• We talked about the qualities of good and bad gamification and how gamification is now part of the fabric of our reality.
• Learn how self-awareness can bring more freedom and joy into our lives.
• There are no boundaries in our life and work so unblocking ourselves in one area in our lives will help all parts equally.
• Learn why the parts we hide about ourselves are the parts that are essential to who we are.
• If you're stuck then moving your body, whether it is through dance, running, or biking can help release the negative energy stuck within you.

Enjoy!

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Patricia Leveque, a writer, educator, and procrastination coach. I first met Patricia in the Ship 30-for-30 program, a writing program to help you build a consistent writing habit. Her wonderful essays about creativity and joy in ordinary moments helped me be more grateful and appreciate the time I spend with my family. She also helped me understand how to be more focused and procrastinate less with her SPARK To Action framework which she explained in detail. 

A few highlights from our conversation: 

• Change takes time and an important part of change is accomodating your needs by becoming more self-aware
• We need to be mindful and make the choices that actually move us forward toward our goals
• Reduce your to-do list to help you reduce your mental clutter to gain clarity
• The Spark To Action Framework can help to make sure you are working on the tasks that align with your values and goals
• Focus on growth over perfection 

You can find Patricia on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/patricialeveq

In this episode, I have a fun conversation with Samanta Aquino, a product designer, creator, and mentor based in Stockholm.

Samanta is a Latina product designer who is passionate about web accessibility and helping designers overcome their career struggles. 

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with William Willis (@william3willis) - The Prolific Creator.

William is the co-founder of the brand new Co-Create Community where creators can encourage and inspire each other to unlock their full potential.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Candice Yee, a product designer in Toronto. Candice has traveled to Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur to work as a UX designer to learn how design is done abroad. She took action to make opportunities for her instead of waiting around. She started a meetup group in Kuala Lumpur to meet other UX people which helped her grow as a designer and build her network. In today's episode, Candice has a challenge for us all, what could it be? I won't spoil it for you, you have to listen. :)

Enjoy!

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In this episode, I have a conversation with Shujaat Syed a designer based in Toronto. Shujaat noticed very few opportunities to help out the designers from underrepresented groups so he created a mentorship program to help them level up their skills so they can be successful in their careers. It’s a great story with lots of lessons for us all.

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Lately, there has been a familiar voice that has appeared back in my head. As I work to get the Low Fidelity podcast up and running, the voice constantly reminds me that the podcast should be perfect right from the start, or it's not worth putting out there. The cover, the interview, the guests, the sound, the speed at which I work, they all need to be perfect. This voice is very opinionated and is a constant reminder that what I am doing is not up to par with the expectations of a great podcast. 

Maybe you have a similar voice in your head that pops up as soon as you are taking steps towards your goals? In this episode, I share a simple but effective way I overcome the nagging voice of perfection when it appears. 

In this episode, I have a conversation with Louis Salguero, a learning experience designer based in Melbourne. Louis gives us a peek into what a learning experience designer tackles on a daily basis and he shares solid advice on how to grow as a resilient designer. 

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