Laura Klein

This is a great post for designers moving into management/leadership roles. The nature of your job changes dramatically and it's important to figure out the most effective ways to help your team and the company. As noted in the article, it's very easy to have your time consumed by managerial tasks (operational work). Being deliberate about how you want to spend your time, focusing on the change you want to bring about and working consistently towards that end are critical skills to learn. #UX #Design #DesignLeadership https://lnkd.in/e_g4TRJx

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As a design leader, you work for your team—not the other way around. Learn how to keep your #UXteam happy, creative, and always on schedule. https://lnkd.in/eksZbUXM #DesignLeadership #TeamManagement #UXDesign #Productivity

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Federated design systems are great. In theory. But reality is a little more complicated. There are challenges associated with quality, consistency and follow through. In our latest episode, Davy Fung and I discuss the highs and lows of federated design systems. What's worked, what hasn't and how to come out the other side in one piece. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/g4W3SYqR #designsystems #podcast

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Have you ever wondered what makes independent UX design studios stand out in the competitive digital landscape? Having worked with both Fortune 100 giants and small startups, I've seen firsthand how independent UX design studios can provide efficient, creative solutions tailored to client needs—solutions that truly enhance user experience and foster innovation. In my latest article, I dive deep into why independent studios often outperform larger agencies and in-house teams when it comes to UX design. Here are some of the key highlights: ✅ Flexibility and Agility: Without the layers of bureaucracy, independent studios make swift decisions and adapt quickly to client feedback. Imagine getting changes implemented within 24-48 hours instead of the lengthy wait typical in bigger agencies. ✅ Specialized Expertise: We bring deep, diverse knowledge to every project. Our team members have worked across different industries, which gives us the ability to tackle UX challenges from fresh perspectives—something that in-house teams can sometimes struggle with. ✅ Personalized UX Solutions: We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. Each client has unique needs, and our personalized approach ensures the end product not only meets functional requirements but also resonates deeply with users. ✅ Freedom to Innovate: Independent UX studios operate without the constraints of corporate hierarchies. This independence allows for a creativity-driven environment where we challenge norms and propose innovative solutions, benefiting our clients with impactful, user-centred experiences. If you’re considering enhancing your digital product or need an agile partner to bring your UX vision to life, this article is for you. Dive in and discover how partnering with an independent UX studio could be your best strategic move. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eWTvXdea #UXDesign #UserExperience #IndependentStudios #Innovation #Agility #DesignThinking #AIinDesign #LeanUX

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Exciting news! 🎉 My book Design in Context: A Framework for Strategic Differentiation is now available on Audible! 🎧 If you’re a design driven company or a designer driving companies. This is the book for you ✌️ Design Thinking has evolved 🤔... meet Context-based Design 🚀 --- https://lnkd.in/eJqHAYVy #DesignInContext #Audible #BusinessStrategy #DesignThinking #Innovation #DesignInContext

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So, the dscout Research team has questions. 🤓 If conducting research is in any way a part of your job, Nathan would like to conduct research on you! Consider taking this brief survey of his -- you could get yourself a coveted pair of People Nerds socks, just sayin. #peoplenerds #researchersresearchingresearchers #uxresearch #designresearch #researchtools #justinitforthesocks

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Designing design systems: Supporting implementation and adoption https://buff.ly/3Y2OBTi Since every design system is in a “living” state of constant iteration, understanding the best ways to help others implement it takes time and experience. From documentation and communicating updates to encouraging collaboration and triaging feedback, we’ve built practices for supporting ongoing usage across design teams and navigating the inevitable challenges that arise from real-world use cases.Source: Designing design systems: Supporting implementation and adoption | by Adobe Design | Thinking Design | Sep, 2024 | Medium (https://buff.ly/4eZ8O32)

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Join me and my guest, Sarah Doody, for Episode 137 of the #DesignThinking 101 #Podcast: Designing Your Career + UX for Small Business. Listen to it here: https://bit.ly/45lUCgN #CareerPlanning #UX #UserExperience

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Despite years of developing user-centric design methods, there's still a solution-first mentality in senior management. Senior stakeholders, typically won't come from a background in design, sociology or anthropology. They are more likely to have a business degree. Business thinking is all about KPIs, risk management, return on investment, efficiency, etc. They tend to want to deliver something tangible to shareholders, show progress and have something to measure, as their professional career is pegged to these types of achievements. Linear models give them a feeling the universe is deterministic and they are reducing risk. How can organisations become customer-centric? I worked on a couple of projects at Intuit, where they changed their 8,000-person organisation by embedding a Design-for-delight (D4D) culture. They used 'catalysts' to spread the knowledge. Intuit customers visited the office and were on first-name terms with the employees. The story is fascinating about how they changed from a product-led organisation to a customer-centric community. It's an old video, but back in 2011 they were going through a big change that included leadership training in UCD. (26 mins) https://lnkd.in/eV4dqcnn

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The automobile industry has always made user experience in the car a cornerstone of its success. They must lead the way in today's market, where the economy is driven by user experience. In-car user research is vital for exceeding user expectations, driving innovation, enhancing safety, and ensuring market competitiveness! #userresearch #UXDesign #automobileUX

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What power structures are inherent in your design system, and how does it perpetuate these structures? One of my favourite things is having theory (of any kind) applied to something you weren't expecting - here's a great example that properly made my brain fizz (in a good way!)

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It has been my continuous struggle to showcase the contributions of the design team to business. Slapping the rules at product level seems unjust. Finiding out a comparative for a specific feature becomes difficult to assess. I am on my journey towards putting a right measuring metrics for the same. Let's connect if you are also looking out or something that might have worked well for you. #uxdaily #productmetrices #designmetrices #productstrategy #designstrategy

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Many designers complain that they can’t get their ideas into a product backlog. Most of the time this is true depending on the maturity of your team and if your company sees value in the design field, but most of the time, backlogs are product driven. If you want to advocate how to get your ideas you need to convince how the designs are going to impact the business. Saying to PM’s: “The UI looks bad and outdated” is such a bad pitch and will fall on deaf ears. You need to speak “business” and as a designer you need to know how your ideas can make them money. Now, you’re probably thinking “well how can I do that” considering it’s hard to use ARR on designs. This is where we introduce the RICE framework. https://lnkd.in/exaD4xNY . Learning this will help you know the impact of your designs, the reach of the customer base, how confident you are on the designs and estimations and how much effort the business needs to invest in this idea. I will be writing an in depth post on this soon but thought I’d leave this tip on a Sunday night as I am having the designer insonomia.

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This d.MBA episode shares a ton of great nuggets on advocating for design functions and how to have more impact as a designer? #UX #ProductDesign https://buff.ly/47VixoZ

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Over the years I've tried many approaches to design critiques with the teams I've managed. Without fail these 4 simple principles impact the effectiveness of design critiques greater than anything else when established as ground rules. For presenters: ✦ Describe the problem you're solving ✦ State the target audience* ✦ Specify the feedback you're seeking All of the above can be done in less than a minute, either verbally or in written format. For participants: ✦ Ask questions before comments "I think you should go with blue instead of red" is less effective than first asking "Why did you choose red for this?" The additional context that comes from asking questions will lead to more effective feedback. Design critiques are the easiest and most important thing design teams can do to improve design quality. Alone they are not a silver bullet. But they are the foundation for all other improvements to design quality. If you're not holding regular design critiques (usually weekly), this is step 1 for improving design quality. If you're already holding regular design critiques but not doing the 4 principles above well, this is step 1 for improving your design critiques. Better critiques. Better quality. * "Everyone" is rarely acceptable as the target audience. Even if the feature being presented is intended for everyone, 99% of the time there's a specific segment or archetype you're aiming for. #design #critiques #quality

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“Be who and where you are.” I’m still processing all of the amazing insights that came out of Clarity: A design systems community conference last week but several themes have been bouncing around in my head since then. → Get smaller and connect - Dan Mall and others talked about a trend towards smaller core design systems with surrounding layers of shared patterns like recipes, all being consumed by teams managing their own local libraries. This results in teams being able to move faster and eliminates the need for design systems folks to feel that have to be a bottleneck. → Be who and where you are - John Voss and others talked about building the system that your users and team need rather than conforming to what larger companies are putting out there or the oversimplified “stereotype” you yourself have unintentionally created for your product. → Listen - Ben Callahan and others talked about the need to reset our current mental models for how design systems teams see our roles and responsibilities. How do we move away from our perceived tactical responsibilities towards more listening and validating of the needs of our consumers and users? 💎 My personal takeaways from all of this have me reframing my own journey with my team from "a series of mistakes" towards "the necessary growth to become the team we are today." → When we implemented that now outdated framework, tried to centralize everything into a single bloated design system, or wrote all of that verbose documentation, we were doing what we needed to do to mature and are a better team as a result. → What my team is going through, we're all going through. The role of design in general is changing across the industry, not just in my organization. How lucky are we, that we have the opportunity to learn from each other as designers? → As team roles change, I’m curious to pivot my default stance away from “defend the designer's role”, and would be curious to see how I can facilitate “design” activities regardless of whether they are done by a designer, product manager, or engineer. I feel so very fortunate to be a part of such an amazing community and love the reminder that when you get a bunch of systems thinkers together in the same room, you're going to see patterns. Thanks again 🖤 Jina A. and all the speakers last week. #clarity2024 #designsystems #design

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I'd argue that design system adoption is going through the typical cycle of novel thought to accepted practice to braindead, box-checking obligation. And this is coming from someone who considers adoption measurement invaluable... There's a lot of detail and qualifications to adoption measurement. Ignoring them turns a valuable health marker into a quota. In our latest episode, Davy Fung and I talk all about adoption, our relationship with it and how use the measure in our work. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gGy2FSSf #designsystems #podcast #adoption

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Following up on my recent post about design systems vs style guides, I've realized that understanding how these two relate makes their similarities and differences clearer for me. I like to think about the relationship of these two as a parent-child dynamic. The design system is the parent. Style guides (along with pattern and component libraries) are the children. If you missed my other post, you can check out the article on Nielsen Norman Group: https://lnkd.in/eRazWE2j #ux #designsystems #uxdesign

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For an organization committed to the practice of user experience design, the Interaction Design Foundation doesn’t seem to value their own ideology. I’ve been a member for years and recently served as a local leader (of which I resigned a year ago and they have yet to remove me from the role). I’m finding their billing processes to be on the verge of questionable UX practices: ·     My membership increased 31% with no notification before billing. I was told that a single notification had been sent a year ago buried in an email with a subject line of “We have updated our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Pricing Structure.” Do they not realize that subject lines such as this are white noise in people’s inboxes and begs to be deleted without reading? ·     To prevent the upcoming charge, the user must contact the main office and have them remove the store payment details. There is no ability for the user to do this themselves. ·     There is also no option to opt out of recurring charges. This is akin the dark practice of subscription services that lure users with trial period in hopes the user will forget to cancel before the period expires.   ·     The user can cancel their membership. However, the user loses access to all materials, content, and account details even though the user has prepaid for the upcoming year. This entices the user to delay cancelling only to encounter the same pain points the following year. ·     User is sent an invoice AFTER the charge has been applied. No notification of upcoming billings. ·     When asked to refund the membership charge, the admin basically responded with “The reason we’re unable to offer a refund guarantee on the renewal of memberships is that we already have a money-back guarantee after sign-up . . . we’d have to charge higher prices if we offered unlimited refunds and that’s why we make our policies crystal-clear, doing everything in our power to ensure members understand our fair terms.” This statement basically has the overtone of: It’s not that our communication and user experience is insufficient, it’s the user’s fault. IDF needs to reassess their membership and billing practices if they want to maintain any integrity in the field. As a hiring manager, I do not look at organizational memberships as having any influence in hiring decisions.  My advice for those wanting to increase their knowledge and break into design, rather than pay a yearly $264 membership fee, there are many free resources, podcasts, and articles that will help you achieve the same results. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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