Rob Fitzgibbon

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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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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Highlighting my new article on the timeliness of the Design Process and the standards that drive its evaluation. https://lnkd.in/ee_X-kqP #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui #ai #genai 

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Anyone have UX/Usability research or articles on "DSV" or digital signatures best practices? This has been around for a LONG time now, and I don't want to believe that Docusign is the gold standard... is it? #UXResearch #DigitalSignatures #BestPractices #Usability

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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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I had an interesting conversation with a non-design colleague whose design sensibility I greatly respect yesterday as we discussed some product vision work we have been collaborating on. They referenced a flow in a widely used enterprise software platform as a well-designed example of one of our target features. This was immediately followed by the obligatory “I can’t believe I like something [software company] did” comment. We’ve all said similar things, I am sure, about a range of products we regularly use that we find less than optimally usable either in part or in whole. It’s easy (and cathartic) to blame our tools.   But then I felt a little bad.   I felt bad because I know what the designers of that product are up against. And I know—for a fact!—I have been on the receiving end of similar comments about products that I’ve worked on. And that kind of sucks.   No one sets out to design and build a flawed, frustrating product. It is easy to forget that making good, usable software is hard. We need to remind ourselves that all product teams face many of the same challenges around overstuffed backlogs, legacy technical constraints, frighteningly aggressive timelines, etc., that we do. Poorly designed products are often a function of an environment structured around other priorities. The primary goal of design leadership is not to enforce a process and structure that causes design to get better; that’s bottom-up stuff. We need to focus on changing culture to enable better design practices to take root and flourish. This won’t prevent those snarky little usability digs at your expense overnight, but it is the only way to help them fade away over time. #software #design #ux

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Hear, hear! Designing and executing brilliant solutions to the wrong problems is certainly easier (and therefore more common) than poking at the underlying assumptions and pivoting to a more fertile problem space. This piece does a fantastic job highlighting the huge value of doing the latter. Old joke: Q: How many designers does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Why does it need to be a lightbulb?

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The user experience for Government portals like The Department of Unemployment in Massachusetts is absolutely horrendous. Try to log in and the experience becomes a 1990s nightmare. A complete overhaul is needed, but for an MVP can we start with login pages? Here's my prototype of how it could be simplified and redesigned for a better user experience. Executive Office of Technology Services and Security #govtech #stateandlocal #UXgov #UnemployedUXUI #openforwork https://lnkd.in/etjNpHgV

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This week in Cue: What does Jaguar and Hacı Bekir have in common? What does the excellent State of UX report say about the future of digital design industry? What do influencers really do? I hope you enjoy the read! https://lnkd.in/dsgUkABx

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"The strategic design gold rush is over." While this might sound like a scary sentiment at first, I'm choosing to see it as an opportunity for design leadership. It's a chance for reinvention of what role design led teams can play in corporate settings. Users are increasing their demand for simple and straightforward user experiences. Every company continues to need more user and customer advocacy and design leaders are perfectly positioned to be the fabric of that advocacy and stitch together the functions required to deliver it to market. Rather than being relegated to a subordinate capability in product-led companies, design leaders can now redefine their purpose, leveraging their skills in user empathy, strategic experiential planning and continue to tie together the often disparate agendas at play in organizations. #Design #Leadership #Reinvention #Innovation

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Highlighting my article on Designing product solutions leveraging Data. https://lnkd.in/eAJhsZKX #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

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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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Popular, but not often discussed opinion: It is significantly more fulfilling to support Product Managers/ Owners who "get" the value of User Research and data than those who don't. So this series, at least for now, is dedicated to them. After you watch it, let me know what else we should discuss.

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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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Columbus Site review of the week: Loop Oh, so many good things to say here. "Must-haves" for an effective software site: ✅ Clear, not clever, product demos and copy. ✅ Modern and clean design (appealing to digital product users) ✅ Engaging Interactions that encourage scroll. This one accomplishes all those and isn’t too "in-your-face" with its colors and branding elements. I would argue that of all the industries we've reviewed so far, an intuitive interface likely plays the biggest role in software sites. If the presentation of your own platform is confusing and janky, that doesn't set a great precedent for a user to build what you're selling into their own workflow. Rating: 9.6/10 What do you guys think? Anything you might change? __ If you’re new, I’m Andy Milligan 😊 I design + build websites that actually return on the investment, and I'm sharing my journey building MMG Design along the way. ___ #webdesigner #brandbuilder #columbusohio #columbusohiowebdesign

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Learn about how typography can impact the Legibility, Readability, and Comprehension of your designs.

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