Nejal Patel

Struggling to level up as a designer? Companies I work with have design teams eager to be heard and secure a spot at the 'grown-ups' table. BUT… 1. They don’t lead teams to success. 2. They neglect problem-solving and results. 3. They focus on delivering outputs. How do I build trust and get heard? I listen and diagnose problems. My best work comes from an 80% understanding of the problem and 20% uninterrupted work. How do I tap into the specifics? 1. Get the right people involved early. 2. Complete a detailed product spec. → Why are we doing this? → Who are we targeting? → What evidence or data do we have? → How will we measure success? → What are the key risks? → Are there any known limitations? 3. Focus on solving problems and delivering results. Without a deep understanding of what we are designing, I would waste company time, money and effort, not building the trust I need to get heard. It's 10x harder that way! --- 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲? ♻ Repost this post and comment "SPEC" (I'll send it to you)

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NOW HIRING: Principal Product Designer. These are extremely high level IC roles reserved for the absolute best of the best top % of Designers. True Principal Designers are extremely rare, but finding a home as one is also pretty rare - not all companies fully understand how to utilise you. Not the case for this team! You'll be surrounded but exceptional talent where your already high bar for design will be well and truly maintained and beyond. This particular tool their building has some unique features; - Highly intuitive Tool that is both powerful and very easy to use. - Think No Code, Web Editors, Creator Tools, Canvas/Composer style tools I'm looking for that rare designer out there that still believes whole heartedly in the beauty of UI/Visual design and want to work in a team where no UI is compromised. You're the kind of Designer that's probably gotten frustrated with the lack of next level craft out there and finding a team that gets that is hard...until now. #designjobsusa #designjobs #productdesignhiring #productdesignjobs #jaredtredly #principaldesigner

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In the past, it was hard for a product designer to find a good team in the UK (or Europe). Even harder if you're a woman. Meta hired me 9 years ago to build their first design teams outside the US. What I found moving from the US to the UK was that, although there were many great UX/UI designers, few UK companies had mature design disciplines. Designers rarely had the chance to exercise their product thinking muscles. Many had the potential, but lacked the opportunity. Even fewer were women, non-binary, or from a marginalised background. That has changed with Meta's design team in London growing in leaps + bounds, and other companies like Google, Apple, Airbnb, ustwo + frog building tech teams in the UK + Europe. These are places where designers' voices are amplified, and they are empowered to solve complex problems. Great startups like Deliveroo, Bumble Inc., FARFETCH, Klarna + Monzo Bank have also emerged and their design practices matured. But many designers are left in the gap. They may have developed solid product thinking, interaction design + visual design skills, but are often still looking for a place where they can spread their proverbial design wings and own entire products. If you're that person, or know a designer like that, a great next career step can be a startup, especially one with product managers, engineers, or designers as the founding team. They may be more inclined to invest in talent who are earlier in their career if they're good at rapidly ideating + prototyping. But we still have the challenge that only 24% of designers in Europe are women or non-binary folx. We know that women with a female ally in their workplace are more likely to be happier, grow faster, and land higher-level positions with greater authority and higher pay. When I saw London startup Sidekick were hiring their 2nd designer to report to Kelly Hutchinson, I knew this was a special door opening. There aren't many startups with women design leaders as part of the original team. Kelly and I hired together at Meta. She was passionate then about opening doors for women and people from underrepresented backgrounds, as she is now. She's an exceptional designer, and good people. So if you know of any senior designers in London frustrated with evangelising the value of design, who want to create something innovative and new, and learn alongside a world-class, ex-Meta female designer, check out the link in my comments and apply. And if not, that's cool too. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments about other companies that are pushing the boundaries of design in the UK + Europe, and being led by gender-diverse teams. ``````````````` 👋🏼 Follow me for career tips + follow Good Maven for design jobs #ProductDesign #UXDesign #UXJobs #VisualDesign #UX #UI #UserExperience #DesignJobs #Hiring #Design #DesignSystems #BlackInTech #LatinxInTech UX Jobs Ladies That UX Ladies that UX London Tech Ladies®

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Designers - thoughts on the new Figma #UI3?? I've been hearing a few people voice concerns about the usability of the tool throughout the day, and I'm keen to hear my network's thoughts. The new update will be rolled out to all Figma users on 10th October, but the beta is currently live if you've not yet had the chance to check it out. #figma #ui #design Salt

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Sorry to break it to you, but you’re NOT a product designer (or industrial designer for that matter). Read on to see what you actually are, or at least what you should aspire to become. 🎙️ 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 The Design Journeys Podcast 𝐢𝐬 William Gordon, 𝐕𝐏 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐭 BlendJet®. 🎙️ Amongst other things, we discussed why product designers should embrace story telling and how relationship building can propel your career. William’s design journey has taken him from designing sanitary ware at Kohler Co., FMCG at SC Johnson to leading design at BlendJet®. Our conversation goes beyond design—it’s about the 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 in building a successful career. We talk about: 🔗 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, even in difficult times. Your journey is shaped by more than just the projects you take on; it’s deeply influenced by the connections you nurture along the way. William also shares some memorable experiences from his time at SC Johnson and CamelBak, including a funny and revealing story about how Herb Kohler, the CEO of Kohler, would test toilet seats. 🚽 Key takeaways from this episode include: ✔️ Handling challenging work environments  ✔️ Storytelling’s role in design  ✔️ Understanding how design impacts people and society Whether you're just starting out or have many years of experience, this episode provides valuable insights that can help you grow both personally and professionally. 🎧 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰 on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple, Google Play, and Amazon Music.

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I’m noticing an increase in the number of conversations I’m having about DesignOps Maybe it is the time of the year — people thinking about how they are set up for 2025? Some of the many areas as to why people are looking to DesignOps - tracking / reviewing the defined the process in how it’s consistently rolled out across different disciplines - creating the right teams structure, accountabilities & roles with the right progression framework - optimising and building on work to date around design maturity & design reviews - wanting to create new engagement models around innovation & PoCs - setting up ritual & meetings to establish communities of practice - reducing ‘busy work’ for LT and others as it scales down - making the best use of budget (+ cost savings) - solid growth foundations People are recognising it as one of the best things they can invest in The problem? Not knowing: - where to start - the areas that should be prioritised - how to do it without a DesignOps team (or any extra capacity in the team generally) - what will have the most impact As a result, am currently working with a few people to support leaders in these areas So if you are thinking about it / struggling let me know Too much to share on a post right now but very happy to have a chat about it! #Design #DesignOps #DesignLeadership

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Why is continuous discovery a challenge for PM+UX? “[continuous discovery] is deeply counter-intuitive to non-engineering executives and their departments. They think of software development as a manufacturing process with classic assembly-line success metrics: [a] building exactly what the “go-to-market” team tells Engineering to build, [b] in the order demanded, and [c] done as fast/cheaply as possible. Product Management (if it exists in old-style IT) is tasked with collecting each organization’s shopping list, then providing enough technical specifications that Engineering can build it.” Great post, Rich Mironov!

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I messed up... Business has been booming. BUT - The unlimited design model just isn't the right fit a lot of the time. I quickly realised clients don't know what they need. They want to lean on our expertise and have back-and-forth conversations that help get the best out of the design and build of their product. That's why I made the decision to pivot the model and add two new models to Technically Creative's offering. We won't just blindly rely on your team to submit design briefs they 'think' the business needs. We integrate into your businesses channels and work like part of your in-house team. We have tweaked our branding and built our new website to reflect the changes. Take a look and let me know what you think 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDcZYCeh

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When giving design feedback, remember: it’s not going on your fridge. You likely aren’t the user or audience. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the colour or your wife thinks it needs to be green. Stakeholders: help your designers out by asking what specifically they are looking for feedback on. Keep your feedback objective and in context of the objective and brief. Ask questions. Designers: give context, explain your designs and how they meet the brief or user story. Help your stakeholders to help you. Ask questions.

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A study found that if every adult in the UK sent one less "thank you" email, it could save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year — the equivalent to taking 3,334 diesel cars off the road. Did you know that as a UX/UI or product designer you can make a real tangible difference to climate change? Here’s a short list to get you started: - How can you make your digital application more efficient? A simple UI is not only good for the users, it’s good for the planet too! - Can you nudge your users towards more sustainable behaviors? Sending fewer emails, avoiding duplicate work, making more sustainable choices digitally or physically will impact on the environment. - Can you become an advocate for all living systems, not just human users? UX designers became the advocates for users 20 to 30 years ago, making sure their needs and concerns were considered at every step of a design process - now we need to expand and care for ALL living systems. Which living systems do you directly impact? - What are the ethical considerations of your digital application? Who or what is most negatively impacted by it, and what are the opportunities to address that? And with that I’m going to start writing about being a designer in the GreenTech or ClimateTech world. Let me know what you think, is this something you care about? What things do you do to design more climate friendly services? Find the above and a whole lot more on ClimateDesigners https://lnkd.in/etaXcRB6 And make sure to follow me or https://lnkd.in/eaHq5E8d for more like this!

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I’m interviewing some designers for a role at LOCAL. And I’m surprised to see how little research people do about the company they’re applying for. In fact they are also ill prepared with showing their portfolios. It is a massive waste of both our times and shows you don’t really care about your career with us. If you can’t convince me with your work, how will you convince the client? I would highly recommend that before you interview (especially with me) : 1. Study our work, have an opinion and be ready to reference it 2. See what project of yours you would like to present which fits our ethos and level of detailing so I may see how well we can work together. It doesn’t matter if it’s personal or client work, it should be a specimen of your expertise. 3. While talking about your work, please don’t waste time only explaining the clients business, spend more time on what design soluton YOU came up with and what YOUR process was. 4. Also be ready with a clarity of what you see doing at the studio with us. 5. And lastly know that we are a remote company. So don’t ask us where we are based out of. It’s the biggest giveaway that you haven’t done your homework. If you aren’t ready with all of this. Prepare yourself and then schedule a call. People hire people. People hire when you have struck a connection. Make sure you strike one. ✨

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I'm in a UR, UX bubble, so I have a question about life outside... Do other specialisms in technology, for example Business Analysts or Solution Architects to name but two, debate the merits or otherwise of using AI in their work as much as the UR and UX folk? If they do, can someone point me to some points of view from outside my bubble. (if only I could be bothered to make an AI image of me in a bubble to illustrate this post.)

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Talk to your users, and if you don't have users... Do this: 1. Find out who your perfect user is 2. Reach out to them 3. Ask them for an interview, alpha test or prototyping session 4. Write down their comments 5. Promise them a discount once the software is out Not being live yet is no excuse to skip customer discovery. Pro Tip: Build a quick landing page to find even more test users. Any other tips to talk to potential users?

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Is your design team really speaking the same language? 🤔 That’s one of the challenges I’ve seen in design teams — especially when over 60% of designers today are self-taught. Don’t get me wrong, being self-taught often means you can acquire practical skills faster and get really good at what you do. But what many self-educated designers often miss are the core foundational concepts — the design principles, terminology, and methodologies that form the foundation of the profession. I’ve been there myself, working with teams where everyone is talented but communication breaks down because we’re not on the same page. It can get frustrating when you try to explain something as simple as white space, hierarchy, or design research methods, and it doesn’t come across clearly. Or worse, even other designers on the team have different understandings of these basic concepts. And this isn’t just a “designer” problem. When the whole product team — PMs, devs, analysts, and designers — aren’t speaking the same language, collaboration becomes a real challenge. Imagine how much more efficient we could be if everyone understood each other’s roles better — not just from a task perspective, but in terms of language and principles. At Uxcel, this is exactly the gap we’re trying to bridge. In our first days, we started with our UX Design Foundations course to help designers build that core layer of knowledge, but it didn't stop there. Our mission is to foster a shared understanding across entire product teams — so designers can talk to developers, product managers can understand design decisions, and everyone can communicate seamlessly. It’s not just about designers learning design — it’s about everyone understanding the basics of other roles too. Designers learning HTML/CSS and product metrics, product managers understanding value of design system and user flows, developers grasping design principles… that’s where the magic happens. At the end of the day, a team that speaks the same language delivers faster, communicates better, and produces great results. That’s the mission we’re on at Uxcel, and we’re excited to keep pushing that forward. #uxcel #designteam #uxdesign

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Some nice points in here to also keep in mind when you (finally) get an interview and discuss your project work... What Top Design Leaders Really Look for in a Portfolio via The Interaction Design Foundation #ux #interactiondesign #productdesign #portfolioadvice

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There’s a lot of talk about how designers need to communicate differently—especially with non-design peers. If you’re hitting roadblocks, it could be because you’re not explaining the rationale and best practices behind your choices, which builds authority and trust. Clear, strategic communication can make all the difference in aligning teams and getting buy-in. #DesignLeadership #EffectiveCommunication #Collaboration

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In today's world, data drives everything—from strategy to execution. But how can design managers and teams truly harness the power of data? 📊 https://lu.ma/nkku0f69 Join us on the 24th of October for the 3rd Product Design Leadership Roundtable, where we’ll discuss frameworks for building a data-centric culture, utilizing insights and integrating data into design processes. It's not just about numbers—it’s about creating smarter, more impactful design strategies. 🚀 #DataDriven #DesignLeadership #ProductDesign #Innovation #DecisionMaking

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Figma slides is a game changer .. specially adding prototypes within slides.

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Only 0.8% of designers that apply to join our network make it to our database of vetted designers. (Aside from poor portfolios) The most frequent reasons for rejection are: 1️⃣ Inability to explain design decisions “I think it looks good” isn’t enough. Great designers are able to articulate the problem they were solving with a particular design and how their design solved that problem. At the end of our design challenge, we ask designers to explain their decisions, and unfortunately, many candidates that do a seemingly decent job at the redesign fall short in this final step. 2️⃣ Lack of strategic thinking When discussing past projects, most designers aren’t able to articulate the impact those features or assets had on the business, why it made sense to design them in a certain way or why they were important to the business in the first place. When interviewing designers, we ask them to choose 1 project they had a significant impact on, and ask a few questions regarding the strategic impact of that project. Unfortunately, the answers we get are too often disappointing. 3️⃣ Poor communication The fast pace of startups makes great communication a non-negotiable. It’s totally fine to be an introvert, but designers must be able to articulate ideas clearly and concisely. Throughout our written exchanges with candidates and during interviews, we pay close attention to their active listening and storytelling skills, as well as their ability to give and receive feedback. 👉 If you’re a designer: do a good job at those 3 and you’ll likely be in that top 0.8%. 👉 For Founders, PMs and CMOs, keep those red flags in mind (or save this post) for next time you hire a designer, it will save you time and money down the road. #hiringdesigners #recruitingdesigners #recruitment #uxdesigner #uidesigner #graphicdesigner #productdesigner #branddesigner #startups

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