Phillip Golub

A Product Narrative is a powerful tool for Product Managers and UX Designers. It is a great way to take your User Research and build consensus in your team around key takeaways. It is also a tool to help your stakeholders understand and remember the issues. In this particular example, I have focused on some issues related to nurses. Here the focus is more on the issues and less on the solutions. But, your needs will shape your narrative structure. If you have tried this tool or if you have questions, I would love to hear your feedback.

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Don't fall prey to the urge to replace #authentic #stories with #wishful data: Rather than describe what we hope is true about the people we want to serve, instead strive to understand what is true about the people who want us to serve them. https://lttr.ai/AYr5g #UXDesign #UXResearch #MagicalThinking #GreatExperience #Freelance #Uxdesign #HardWork

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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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With enough #compute, one could imagine a cloud-hosted UX research platforms like @UserTesting building specialized analytical models. But it's likely out of reach for most small UX research teams, and certainly for any #independent UXResearcher. https://lttr.ai/AR3uS #UXResearch #UXDesign #uxresearch #HundredThousandPounds #UXR #Freelance #LargeLanguageModel

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Skipping strategy in UX design isn’t just missing a step—it’s missing the chance to lead. My latest post explains why UX strategy is essential to project success and how it transforms designers into strategic partners. https://lnkd.in/gtmnFA7a #userexperience #uxstrategy #businessalignment #productdesign #leadership #designleadership

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On this "Get To Know Your Customers Day", organizations need to make their experience design initiatives more powerful, more impactful, and more repeatable engines for growth—and that takes knowing what their customers really want. Learn more here: https://hubs.ly/Q02G-ZLD0 #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay #CustomerIntimacy #EmpathyInBusiness #CX #CustomerExperience

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The other day I shared my accessibility fail about a brand using bright yellow and white. I mentioned it causes incredibly low contrast and the bright yellow can cause me great eye pain with my photophobia and optical nerve damage. The designers response was "Another example of a designer choosing to pair yellow and white implies designers should never do it. I mean, I really hate that... I never want to limit someone's creative options". Well I'm sorry, when someone says please stop, it hurts, I don’t believe anyone should say, I don’t like you limiting my creative options regardless of the pain so I won't stop. They questioned my comment about yellow being an irritant and I’m not going to flood this post with the many articles I’ve read but heres just a small selection of snippets. 1. Pure, bright lemon yellow generally is considered the most fatiguing color. The reason is that since more light is reflected by bright colors, the result is excessive stimulation of the eyes, hence, eye irritation Source deseret.com 2. Pure bright lemon yellow is the most fatiguing color. Why? The answer comes from the physics of light and optics. More light is reflected by bright colors, resulting in excessive stimulation of the eyes. Therefore, yellow is an eye irritant.  In practical application, bright yellow - when used in large areas, will irritate the eyes. Source https://lnkd.in/eVGHYG7e 3. Bright light in any color, especially white light or intense yellow and green light, can also cause discomfort and potential damage to the eyes. It's important to protect your eyes from excessive exposure to bright lights, regardless of color, to prevent strain and long-term damage Source: color matters.com 4. Yellow is harshest on the eyes and therefore stimulates our emotional side. As a result, if you are going to use yellow as a primary color for your website, make sure you choose the proper shade of yellow so it lifts the viewer’s spirits rather than irritate the emotions!  Source intechnic.com 5. The color yellow can be bright and intense. Yellow can quickly grab attention, but it can also be abrasive when overused. It can appear warm and bright, yet it can also lead to visual fatigue. Source Verywellmind.com I was purely talking about the incredible pain it causes me, but the quotes above talk about why bright yellow can be a culprit and the importance of protecting our eyes. So when someone says, I hate when someone says don’t use a colour combination as it limits our creativity, it really gets to me. Your creativity shouldn’t inflict pain on someone and that’s one combination in the hundreds of combinations available, so perhaps you’re better off questioning why your ‘creativity’ is so limited that you can’t find a better solution. They also said and I quote ‘low contrast is a bold move’, the irony in this one sentence is beautiful! #AccessibleDesign #GraphicDesign #DigitalAccessibility #UI #PhotoSensitivity #Photophobia #LowContrast

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Thanks to Erika Hall for articulating this 🫡 My first 2 jobs were in market research agency-type organizations. We honed our research craft, yes. But, we were literally external voices, separate from the teams making decisions. That experience helped me appreciate cross-functional collaboration so much - when I shifted into design research in tech teams in my late 20s. I know the common "take" these days is to rail against the democratization of research. But, man, we worked so hard to be in the room, and to actually have environments where other members of the team want to be involved in the research - that I don't want to "demerit" the democratization itself. But, instead, recognize the gaps in skill-building when we involve others in research (especially, qualitative methods). I *do not* want to go back to the days of shiny 60-page reports that don't get acted upon. Thanks, Erika, for always being a voice for practical, actionable research.

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I have a few hot takes on "value based care," and I'll be sharing some of them on this panel next Tuesday May 14th. Here's a small preview: Value = Quality/Cost, but in systems where we know how to measure cost but struggle to measure quality, value = cost. Many hospital systems that espouse value based care rely on gatekeeping methods that measurably reduce costs by restricting access to "unnecessary" care (for example, reducing hospital stays), while relying on narrow measures of quality/outcomes (for example, readmission). Sending the person home to recover may have been the right decision, but did the patient have a quality experience? Did they understand why they were being sent home, and were they and their caregivers set up for success in caring for them at home? Did anyone think of that at all, except the one amazing nurse who found a few rushed moments to connect when she saw they looked dismayed? Value based care designs for the system, and perhaps the patient outcome, but does not inherently design for the patient experience (or provider experience, for that matter). I believe what patients experience while in systems of care matters. Both inherently, as people, but also in their long-term health outcomes. Know what value based care is? Join us! Don't know what value based care is, but care about designing for patients, caregivers, and providers? Join us. I'm going to try to keep it jargon free and use lots of examples. Designing for healthcare is confusing enough, so let's talk about what really matters. How can we design healthcare systems that work for patients and providers? https://lnkd.in/giYQYGy3 #valuebasedcare #vbc #patientexperience #healthresearch #servicedesign #healthcare #healthcaredesign

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This is an article I wrote 13 years ago, and it still holds true today. It was in response to someone criticizing American Airlines and redesigning the airline ticket, which alone is a challenging experience. There are all kinds of reasons why the experience isn't what we want it to be, many of them very legitimate reasons. We have to practice empathy and compassion because we aren't in their shoes. Scott Berkun and Bryan Zug's book "Why Design Is Hard" also covers those business reasons. Read on... https://lnkd.in/gCzncE5u

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Curious about what truly defines value in design and consumer behavior? Uncover how factors like cost, features, functionality, problem-solving, and self-expression shape our perception of value, and why traditional metrics often fall short: (https://lnkd.in/gp4iFP2v).

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We have a large project that's primarily handled by my Design Director and PM—it's straightforward, but has a very detailed process associated with it. Review, QA, documentation all needs to be handled very specifically. So when we had an upcoming client review and we knew these team members would be out on PTO—we got together ahead of time, documented the process and debriefed two brand new team members who would fill in. And oh boy did it go...great. Document or Die folks. #yesterlearnings #prepare #documentation

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UX Design for Specialized Domains is something we at Boston UX know a lot about. Check out this great article from my co-worker Dorothy Shamonsky!

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Check out my full interview with Troy Parke as a guest on our Results By Design podcast! He drops so many nuggets of wisdom that both designers and business folks can use... #uxdesign #uxstrategy #userexperience #businessstrategy

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I'm loving this article on how designers need to elevate their thinking on integrating AI at various stages of the user journey to tackle entire processes, not just one-off tricks. ✨ Enter the "Agentic era of UX". 🤖 https://lnkd.in/eWdHbeWv #ai #agentic #design #ux #ui

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"Impact eats process for brunch." Nice. Building on bullet #1, "The new market conditions require a pivot from a purely customer-centric approach to one that is more business-centric, where understanding and contributing to business models and product economics is as crucial as creativity and empathy," per Erika Hall's The Business Model is the Grid: (https://lnkd.in/gYyP9eKh). https://lnkd.in/gebNB-N7

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Incorporating inclusive and equitable design practices results in: 1. Reaching new users who are underserved by existing products by designing solutions that authentically connect with them 2. Developing more differentiated products with new features, potentially unlocking new market opportunities and revenue streams 3. Product designers experiencing more meaning and purpose in their work, and design participants (who are underserved by the current market) feeling heard and included in the design process Read more about our work here: https://lnkd.in/gDzFazm7

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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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