The Diary Of Design Thinking

Whether UX, UI, product, research or content design—this one's for all the job hunters and newly minted hiring managers. Our guidance and reassurance in the rapids of the 2023 job market.

We cover balancing the role versus culture, negotiating salary, optimising your CV, landing remote roles, the interview process as it is today, and how to onboard your first hire.

Yes, it's tough out there, but it's not impossible. If we can connect you to anyone or help review your CV for example, drop us a line on LinkedIn.

Dan Donald, previously Zeroheight and Autotrader, is not only an engineer, designer, and product person rolled into one, but an absolute generous gem of a human being.

We're privileged to have him with us to discuss all things Design Systems. How do we start one? What's the best tool? Will ChatGPT change how we approach them?

Plus: what our beers of choice were, Dan's celebrity doppelgänger, and some very wise words from Dan:

"Perfect is the enemy of the good".

What we discussed

• 0:00:00—Overview and introductions
• 0:01:00—Chuck, Simon, and Dan Donald’s introductions
• 0:03:58—Zeroheight, Storybook, and other design system tools
• 0:05:01—Maintaining culture as you scale, and hiring for culture
• 0:07:59—How Dan got into Design Systems
• 0:10:57—Types and patterns of Design Systems
• 0:12:15—Do you even need a Design System?
• 0:15:52—Scoping a Design System appropriately
• 0:17:28—Risk to your team’s velocity when starting out
• 0:21:20—Forget perfect, just aim for good
• 0:22:47—Auditing and documenting
• 0:24:30—“The best way to start a Design System for startups”
• 0:28:42—The technicals aren’t the challenge, it’s the people
• 0:31:11—Managing a Design System with a design team of 3
• 0:34:01—Outreach, and getting buy-in
• 0:37:18—Figma, file versioning, and branching
• 0:39:08—Do design and engineering need to version the same way?
• 0:42:40—Organising components and documentation in Figma
• 0:47:47—TLDR; the best way to organise or set up 
• 0:48:50—Comedic relief: Dan’s celebrity doppelgänger
• 0:49:49—What beers are we drinking? (scroll down to see!)
• 0:53:04—Does ChatGPT affect Design Systems?
• 0:59:18—How does ChatGPT affect the incoming workforce?
• 1:02:04—What do we lose by using ChatGPT
• 1:05:03—Hype cycles, and the future is both incredible and boring
• 1:06:40—Dan’s time at Zeroheight
• 1:08:52—What’s the best tool to host a Design System?
• 1:11:06—Alternative Design System tools
• 1:14:31—There’s no wrong way to do things
• 1:16:01—Uno makes an appearance
• 1:16:59—Dan’s wise words for anyone trying to build a Design System
• 1:17:41—First wrap-up of the episode
• 1:18:25—Dan’s next steps (he might still be looking!)
• 1:22:13—Dan’s content, ebooks, and Design System Triage
• 1:24:29—Last words of Wisdom from Simon and Dan

Post-pandemic, we’ve gone from home bound to remote whenever we can, but is it even possible for a modern Product Designer? We discuss the ultimate desk setup, the worst desk setup, what belongs in your “go-bag”, and what setup graduates and freshly minted designers might need.

Plus, a couple books we can recommend, and tips to avoid causing your colleagues ear bleeds.

What we discussed

• 0:00:52—episode begins
• 0:01:30—post pandemic desk setups
• 0:02:40—dedicated microphone, is it worth it?
• 0:04:15—adjusting gain levels, to prevent your team mates’ ears bleeding
• 0:05:20—Chuck’s ultimate desk setup items
• 0:08:00—posture, neck positions, and preventing injuries
• 0:10:00—Simon’s ultimate desk setup items
• 0:11:30—managing all the dongles and devices
• 0:14:15—notes and sketching during meetings: pencil and paper, iPad..?
• 0:17:10—desk setup tips for fresh graduates and early career
• 0:20:00—desk setup tips if you have a dedicated space or room
• 0:22:00—standing desk versus normal desks
• 0:26:15—history of Chuck’s setup and how it developed over time
• 0:29:40—history of Simon’s setup and how it developed over time
• 0:31:30—is there truly a de-facto ultimate setup? Show us yours!
• 0:33:50—ultimate bag setup for digital nomads and people on-the-go
• 0:46:10—what’s the worst desk setup item?
• 0:51:30—desk mats, decoration, and more
• 0:55:45—book recommendations to feed your brain
• 0:58:55—discovery by speaking to users… every week?!
• 1:05:00—a question for next time
• 1:06:45—final thoughts

Don’t worry, these are all affiliate free 😉.

Whether you’re struggling to reach Senior level, or spinning your wheels pushing to Lead and beyond, it genuinely takes some hustling and some luck to do it. We cover the trials you’ll encounter on your journey getting there, share some advice on leading your team through it, and tips on getting decisions made on your projects.

Oh, and a little first-aid for dogs.

• 0:02:20—Types of designers: visual, operational, and discovery
• 0:06:20—Dealing with being perceived as an artist
• 0:13:00—The non-visual side of designing great products
• 0:18:30—Getting non-designer team mates to use FigJam, Miro, or Lucid
• 0:23:40—Our first few weeks at our new jobs
• 0:26:30—First-aid and CPR for dogs
• 0:30:00—What’s it like to be promoted, and how do you earn it?
• 0:40:00—How to progress to Lead positions and above
• 0:48:40—Do you need a title in order to lead?
• 0:50:00—Leaders who are younger than yourself
• 0:55:00—Growing into your first leadership role
• 1:03:00—Uno makes a cameo and wants a cuddle
• 1:03:35—Delegating work to a team mate
• 1:08:32—When stakeholders disagree with each other
• 1:13:10—Convincing others to use a Design Sprint
• 1:21:00—A data-driven approach to decision making
• 1:23:52—How do break out of decisions going in circles?
• 1:26:40—What about when projects or decision making is too slow?

Get the full show notes here:

Finding a new UX job can be daunting in itself, but it’s miles harder if you’ve just been laid off. What’s worse? Imagine if on your first day, it wasn’t what you signed up for—your manager informs you the role has changed responsibilities.

Bummer.

We cover how we navigate these difficulties in our own career journeys, wrangle with Webflow, and shine a transparent light on professionally disagreeing with your stakeholders.

Hint: rhymes with shdata, and shmuser shmesearch.

What we discussed

• 0:00:00 – what’s happened to Simon since last season?
• 0:02:30 – Webflow, it’s learning curve, and comparing it to Figma
• 0:07:55 – Chuck’s childhood, and the “life stages” of brewing coffee
• 0:12:25 – Simons career update, and starting a different job than advertised
• 0:18:00 – advice for you if a job doesn’t match the description; it differs if you’re junior or senior
• 0:23:10 – Chuck career update, a legit design system, and navigating a layoff
• 0:30:00 – Elon Musk, Twitter layoffs, and main character syndrome
• 0:34:50 – what to do immediately after a layoff
• 0:43:08 – Chucks new gig
• 0:44:40 – a tale of disagreeing with a stakeholder
• 0:50:20 – when to push back, and how to make your case
• 0:56:34 – what if the data says no, but a stakeholder still says yes?
• 0:58:55 – should designers take responsibility if devs are busy or not?
• 1:05:44 – after 8 years, would you join UX if you could start again?