Lise Rubarth

Consumer apps and AI - I want an app that can take my bank statements for a decade, and accurately categorize my spending, and show me my actual historical budget. This should be so easy to create. Anything that can't be categorized with certainty could be "personal spending" and I'll teach the AI as we go. What consumer AI apps would you like to see? Right now AI news is all about Can businesses make money? But I want to use AI at home. How about you?

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What do we stand for as a professional practice, particularly our leadership community? I appreciate Peter Merholz for raising the topic of advocacy and design. We need more spaces to grapple with this question actively and openly. Vague assertions of our fundamental humanism will no longer cut it given the active role we play in shaping so many tech products and platforms.   Designers did not have the same prominence in the industry during the rise of social media and were left with many many regrets. We won’t have that excuse this time around. The tech platforms are building their GenAI moats and rolling up their drawbridges. How might we use our collective voice to advocate more effectively?   From recent conversations it seems like there are two different (but interrelated) needs related to advocacy that continue to surface. I am hopeful that some signals will emerge out of the current design diaspora (which I have been writing about for Fast Company) and the new forums and networks that I profiled in my recent piece.   1. Professional Association: There seems to be growing interest in formalizing elements of our profession in a set of standards, norms and ethics. Mike Monteiro, have been beating this drum for a long time. But there now seem to be increased concerns around the “democratization” of various design disciplines within business (particularly product-first companies) that is creating additional unease with the elimination of so many specialized design and research-specific roles. This concern dominated the recent Advancing Research Conference. I fear that we could chase our tails for quite a while given the qualitative nature of our work and the heightened emotions on all sides of this debate.   2. Advocacy Agenda: I am more concerned with the broader question of advocacy as it relates to the techno-humanist ethos taking hold across the industry, super-charged by the rise of GenAI capabilities that have the potential to cut “users” completely out of the equation in terms of any meaningful participation in the design process. There are a number organizations that we could partner with that are grappling actively with these issues. Some, like Omidyar Network have the interest and capacity to fund fundamental research into the human experience, risks and hazards related to AI. But research reports will only get you so far. And legal / compliance risks are generally seen as afterthoughts, with the exception of the strong commitment to inclusive design from Microsoft and product equity from Adobe.   I believe there is a role for designer leaders like Timothy “TB” Bardlavens Albert Shum to step into this gap and be an active part of a design advocacy movement. In past eras giants like Victor Papeneck, Buckminster Fuller and John Thackara gave voice to our values and vision for more sustainable, equitable and imaginative futures. In this era, it may not be singular voice but rather a network or community that will serve as our beacon.

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Love this thoughtful and balanced argument for resetting expectations for what design (lowercase d intentional) and design leaders can and can't fix from Sarah Gallivan Mitchell. Andy Polaine, in his response (https://lnkd.in/eC959VEc) to the some of the same rhetoric Sarah responds to, has likened the growth of the design industry in the past 15-20 years to the Cambrian Explosion. It bears considering that the real Cambrian Explosion was followed in relatively short order by multiple mass extinction events. Some species that were less well adapted to the changing conditions for life on Earth didn't make it, but this allowed new forms of life to develop and flourish. My hope is that some evolutionary selection may take place over time in regards to which voices are anointed to speak for All of Design, so that voices like Sarah's may, too, be heard and flourish. #design #designleadership #futureofdesign https://lnkd.in/eQ-PGgBM

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Excited to dive deeper into design systems! 🌟 This article breaks down the “parent-child” relationship between design systems and style guides, showing how they work together to keep designs consistent and efficient. A great read for anyone passionate about design! #designsystem #styleguides #uxdesign https://lnkd.in/eUamsNTH

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I'm thrilled to share that my latest product and design discovery article is live on Mind the Product! As a consultant, I've observed that the term 'Discovery' can have varying interpretations across different teams. It's not uncommon to encounter a team deeply immersed in a solution yet lacking a shared understanding of the customer opportunity they're addressing. At Lab Zero, we meet clients where they are and advocate for discovery while maintaining flexibility. We often employ lightweight methodologies to foster a shared understanding, even when work is already underway. Teresa Torres' book “Continuous Discovery Habits” is a guide to developing the mindset and practices that enable teams to discover and deliver value to their customers throughout the product development process. Her explanation of the 'Opportunity Solution Tree' helped me articulate a process for asking questions and bridging gaps when joining a new team. The first part of this two-part series looks at reversing the 'Opportunity Solution Tree' to establish a connection between the ongoing solution, customer opportunities, and business outcomes. The second part (coming soon!) will explore strategies for identifying gaps in your team's understanding of customer needs and the necessary measures to mitigate risks before launch. This series will help consultants, new team members, or a struggling team connect with that all-important why and launch valuable experiences for their customers and their orgs. Have you tried something like this with your team? Feedback is appreciated! If you haven't explored Mind The Product's extensive content library, I highly recommend it! In addition to articles about discovery and understanding customer needs, the community has shared insightful perspectives on product leadership, business, and teams. It's a great place to see perspectives on processes and theories informed by real-world use.  #ProductDiscovery #Design #Discovery #ContinuousDiscovery #Onboarding #Risk #CustomerOpportunity #Value #BusinessOutcomes

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As AI, VR, AR, & MR continue to dominate conversations in and about our industry, I’ve been prompted to think about what kind of change I hope these advancements will spur in the product design practice. Here are some of my thoughts and how more technology could save us from the robots.

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I managed to send out the 10th issue of Cue! Thank you so much for your support along the way! In this issue, I cover the most important aspect of user experience. There is also a new section - reader questions. Here is a preview, please subscribe if you want to get the full content:

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We built Blueprints for Publishers, and the first results are here! 🎉 Key benefits of the Blueprints include: * Perfect #CWVs * Clear #taxonomy & optimized #UX * Improved on-page and #TechnicalSEO When there is an outstanding editorial team (like The Fulcrum) and a great product solution (like Blueprints), the results are remarkable, with 📈 a 50% increase in users after just 28 days. Learn more about Blueprints 👉 https://lnkd.in/ddw9Xef5 #SEOforPublishers #SEOBestPractices #TechSEO

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🤹‍♂️ “I had no idea you could do that” As we attempt to scale and white-label our design systems, we've run into providing some options that leave our team a bit stumped and scratching our heads. After doing some research, I’m appreciating all the efficiency gains you can pull off with just a few Figma tricks and tutorials. → Small components are easy, but as components get more complex or resemble layouts, tracking all the possible nested variations is impossible. → Sometimes components have optional elements that show and hide depending on the needs of a specific client or context. → “You get a logo, you get a logo, everyone gets a logo“ Everyone has their own branding, which means toggling between multiple logos and lockups. With some digging, we found resources to help with all of these use cases: 🖼 Building flexible components with "slots" by Luis Ouriach is a super useful walkthrough for experimenting with the concept of slots in Figma. “Slots” allow you to create a placeholder component inside a more complex “container” component allowing you to build more flexible and context-specific layouts. https://lnkd.in/gp2JEFFU 🙈 An Introduction to Boolean Variables in Figma by UI Collective offers a simple overview of how to apply use the hidden gem of variables options. Boolean variables allow you to show and hide elements not just in prototypes but in component variants. This was useful when we wanted to toggle elements within components for various themes. https://lnkd.in/gWt8QRit 🎭 Modes: Changing a Branded Header by Nate Greenwall was exactly the solution I was looking for when I needed to offer multiple logo options from a centralized library. The playground file maps out how you can pull this off with string variables and modes. https://lnkd.in/gJhcemcm 💎 I hope some of the resources that we've leveraged at Exygy can be helpful for you and your teams working in Figma. → Leverage slots for nesting smaller components within larger container layouts. → Utilize boolean variables to show and hide elements across variants. → Experiment with using string variables to switch elements like logos for different brands. #figma #ui #design #DesignSystems #variables

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🌟 Behind the Scenes 🌟 We’ve been busy working behind the scenes to make the product journey easier, and one way we’re delivering on this is through our comprehensive FAQ page! This resource is designed to answer your most common questions about Design Anthology’s services, processes, and unique approach to design. Whether you’re exploring product development for the first time or have a specific vision ready to take shape, our FAQ page is packed with useful insights to guide you every step of the way. You’ll find answers on everything from our end-to-end design services, prototyping, and sustainable practices to our manufacturing capabilities and cost modelling. Curious about how we assess the commercial viability of ideas? It’s all in there! Take a look at our FAQ page to learn more about how we can support your next project: designanthology.com/faqs If there’s something we haven’t covered, of have any questions on Hardware Development feel free to reach out. #DesignAnthology #Innovation #FAQ #CustomerSupport #ProductDesign

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✨ It's not about the artifact, it's about the insight. ✨ Heidi Trost shares her experience with personas that made an impact. 📝 Instead of complex deliverables, she focused on capturing core insights in a few simple phrases in an infographic. These insights tied behaviors to business goals – and that’s what resonated. 📊 It wasn’t about how it looked, but how well it communicated across the team. 🌟 #UXResearch #BusinessGoals #EffectiveCommunication

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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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QDD 154 Myths of Product Development – Part 2 https://lnkd.in/gxEtggH9 A Quality During Design podcast with Dianna Deeney. By integrating insights from the concept phase, teams can make more informed and strategic decisions throughout the development lifecycle.

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Great writeup on the value design can bring to product organisations irrespective of technoöogical shifts such as AI.

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4 ways AI can help designers? • Generate ideas to inspire creativity • Create illustrations for personas and journey maps • Plan out workshop agendas • Create alt text and image captions for better accessibility It's all about the prompts and refining them to work best for your project!

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I love this article on what we've learned over the past 10 years of Material Design at Google: Form should follow feeling. We need variety as well as consistency where it matters. Just start designing with others and see where lots of iterations take you. And put human connection first to make it interesting. Material has come a long way from "digital paper" and what the world needed 10 years ago, a focus on consistency above all to make the exploding world of apps understandable. I'm super excited by where we're at right now and everything the next 10 years of Material will bring to create unique, but still highly usable, digital products that embrace the feeling of using them. https://lnkd.in/gQC93JdW

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My colleague Anthony Sanchez and I had a conversation about good design vs. beautiful design on the latest episode of Currents on the Funsize Show Podcast by Funsize. I'm interested to hear your personal thoughts on the topic. #design

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