Samyukta Sherugar

Overcoming the fear of uncertainty is key for designers. My workshop at uxindiaconf (ux-india.org) focused on helping creatives recognize the link between ambiguity and innovation to drive positive outcomes, acknowledge their emotions, adopt a growth mindset, and develop strategies to navigate uncertainty effectively. Leaders, listen up! Neglecting your team's input can lead to a toxic environment. I want to thank Kaladhar Bapu, Jabeen Shaistha, and all the wonderful volunteers of UX India 2024 for helping to make this workshop a success! #design #innovation #uncertainty #ambiguity #psychologicalsafety #UXIndia2024

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One of the most important aspects of UX design is affordances and signifiers. It helps users know what they can interact with and how. Sriharinath GP has a great overview on this: https://lnkd.in/gUH5uicV

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The surprising ROI of kindness. Today, as I launched ZenShifu on Product Hunt, I realized a beautiful thing that I just have to share with you all. For months, I've been getting loads of DMs on LinkedIn. Some were pitches, some were questions, some were just friendly hellos. Most of them are from Product Hunt asking for support on their launch. I decided to be nice to every single one of them and support them as much as I could. Fast forward to today. As I'm reaching out to folks about my launch, something magical happened. All those conversations, all that kindness and all those supports - they were coming back around. I wasn't just another random person in their inbox. I was someone they remembered, someone they wanted to support. Here's the kicker: I felt GOOD about it. There was no awkwardness, no "sorry to bother you" vibes. Just genuine connections and mutual support. So here's my challenge to you: Be kind. Always. Even when you're busy. Even when it doesn't seem to "pay off" right away. Because trust me, it does. In ways you might not expect. Who knows? The person you help today might be the one championing your next big project tomorrow. Have you ever experienced the unexpected benefits of kindness in your professional life? Would love to hear your story! Let's spread some positivity on LinkedIn. 🌟

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I'm hearing a lot of pain and confusion from a lot of designers and technologists and other folks trying to navigate jobs in these times. You as an individual worker (or as a customer or user of the products of design and technology) will never be valued for your own sake by an organization striving to maximize shareholder value. Collective action is the only way to counter this mandate and increase the cost of unethical, inhumane, or otherwise unreasonable practices. Sometimes this means working together more or less formally to influence policy and regulation, sometimes this means unionization. Asking nicely isn't going to do it. Nor is throwing your peers under the bus. If you need a pep talk (only $9):

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Allowance either in cash and/or time to spend on fitness or related activities. The reason a lot of people claim for not being fit, and in turn healthy, is that they don’t have time for it. Their job takes up most of it. I’d say time is more important than cash. So, a good workplace in my opinion, should aim to keep their employees healthy. Some companies provide gym memberships, reimbursements, subscriptions to random nonsense. But what’s the point if you keep your employees working from 9am to 9pm? Instead incentivise them or remove any barriers that could keep them from pursuing some form of physical fitness. Be it the gym, pool or badminton. Even the richest of folks struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle because of stress/lack of time. So I don’t think money is actually an issue. It’s the motivation + having time + the right kind of people around you. As a company you can’t control point 1, but you can definitely provide point 2 and foster point 3.

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to have a keynote talk, “Unlocking Your Impact: How an #Outcomes-Focused Approach Empowers Designers,” at uxindiaconf (ux-india.org). The conference was a massive gathering of talented designers from around the world, and I was thrilled to be a part of it. Here are some of the things I covered in my keynote: - By adopting an #outcomes-focused approach, you will gain a deeper understanding of how your actions contribute to achieving organizational goals and ensuring the successful execution of your #vision. - By defining clear outcomes, you will foster a more focused and aligned team, eliminate unnecessary work, and ensure your efforts are centered around meeting #customerneeds. - Using the #JobsToBeDone framework helps align your organization’s outcomes with your customers’ needs, ensuring that your products and services meet their needs. I want to thank Kaladhar Bapu, Jabeen Shaistha, and all the wonderful volunteers of UX India 2024 for helping to make this keynote a success! I also want to thank the thought leaders who came before me: Tony Ulwick, Joshua Seiden, Alexander Osterwalder, Jim Kalbach, John C. Maxwell, and Marty Cagan. https://lnkd.in/ePHXh4cq #teamwork #alignment #empowerment #outcomesoveroutputs #ux #india #userexperiencedesign #userexperience #jtbd #UXIndia2024

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I love Figma's FigJam Boards, they have been a game changer in collaboration within my team. Mihika Kapoor - I started using it after listening to your episode on Lenny Rachitsky podcast, Thank you :) In the spirit of giving back, #Figjam boards can get very busy and wordy as they tend to be living docs, so I started giving screenshots of it ChatGPT/Copilot to summarize key takeaways - what if that was built in capability with some pre-built use case-based prompt engg. Just a thought! #AI #Figma #featurerequest

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Have you ever wondered how the design system team has been able to accomplish the greatness that is the Adobe Spectrum Design System? Come learn from Garth Braithwaite who's been working on it at Adobe for over a decade and has had the experience to show what's worked well and what hasn't at this years Front: a UX & Product community conference next week. Garth will share how effective communication and collaboration between product managers, designers, and engineers are paramount in the dynamic landscape of digital product development. However, teams often need a systematic approach to codifying design decisions to maintain consistency, scalability, and efficiency across projects. His talk explores integrating design systems, tokens, and tooling as critical components in codifying design decisions. You'll learn how these elements can streamline the design process, enhance cross-functional collaboration, and ultimately contribute to creating exceptional digital experiences. You might hear a good dad joke too. No promises though. :) #frontutah #ux #designsystems #designtokens #conference

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An absolute gem in the realm of UX podcasts, offering unparalleled insights and holistic discussion. Rushab Kataria delivers profound takeaways that resonate long after viewing this episode. Here's to more of such enriching content! Cheers, Rushab Kataria. 🎊

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Hiring for design system roles differs from hiring for other design or engineering roles. Clarifying what makes the roles unique is essential for screening candidates. Here are some nuances that I've found to be helpful. When asking for a presentation, stop using the word "portfolio" and start using "case studies." They tell similar stories but change the expectations from traditional visual portfolios. Include clear bullet points about expected responsibilities; don't just copy and paste requirements from other similar, existing roles. Just because they have the word "designer" or "engineer" in the title doesn't mean the job is the same. If your org still insists on doing a design exercise, tailor it to reflect what you expect from a design system practitioner. The day-to-day is unique, so don't waste time on an exercise that provides no value for you and sets the candidate up for failure. If hiring a design system team manager, you're not hiring an independent contributor and vice versa. Managing and building design systems is a lot of work. One person can't do both roles well simultaneously, so pick one and focus the interview questions on the expected role. What did I miss?

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✨ podcast: everything I’ve learned about design leadership ✨ We sat down to discuss my early days of transitioning to Design, all the way to becoming a Design Leader. Here I share everything I have learned in the last 4 years about Design Leadership, shared as candidly as I could. Special thanks to Kedar Nimkar and Shreyas Satish for this absolute cracker of an episode:

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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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This episode of the Finding Our Way podcast articulates, with such clarity, what’s been on my mind about the value proposition of design as a function. A business could leverage creating a stellar user experience as a strategic lever to succeed in the market, or NOT. The latter is totally acceptable where designers primarily focus on production tasks (like UI designs) in an org that prioritizes churning out features. Yet, it’s a bitter pill to swallow for many designers. They feel disgruntled and get exhausted speaking to the deaf ears about how great an outcome design can bring to the table and how influential they could be outside of Figma. This podcast talks about how many designer leaders are struggling to deal with this reality. As someone who is not in a leadership position, I feel the struggle too. But if I were to stay positive and constructive while prioritizing my mental sanity, these would be some options to consider. - Get hired by a company that REALLY values design (think Airbnb, Linear) - Be extremely good at your craft and find fulfillment in it, regardless of its direct impact on the bottom line—as long as you remain employed 🤷🏻‍♀️ - Elbow your way into cross-functional discussions as much as possible, at least within your team, to find opportunities to demonstrate what you can do outside of Figma. You can help expand the perspective on design that your cross-functional partners have, one person at a time. https://lnkd.in/gjheYY_f

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From a personal perspective, I've observed a troubling lack of respect for designers within Indian companies. Many organisations undervalue designers, not fully appreciating how impactful good design can be on user experience and overall growth. This lack of recognition can be disheartening, especially when design is crucial in creating effective, engaging products. I believe it's time for a shift in perception. If you've faced similar challenges or have insights to share, I encourage you to comment and join the conversation.

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Could Design Directors/VPs transition to Principal Designer roles? Would such a shift signal a relinquishing of design leadership within an organisation? It depends on what you view as leadership. This shift, while not explicitly proposed, actually aligns with a leveling framework outlined in "Org Design for Design Orgs" (Merholz & Skinner, 2016). It outlines levels like Principal Designer, where leadership means setting the tone for system-wide design and architecting scalable solutions. This recognizes the value of individual contribution at the highest levels of seniority. This demonstrates that the concept isn't radical, and a framework already exists for companies seeking expert contributors over traditional management structures. See the framework here: https://lnkd.in/dCPqbcyU #designleadership #designops #orgdesign #principals #designthinking

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https://lnkd.in/euvDKQHH Great article on fhe importance of building a strong UX design culture today and exponential long term benefits of in-house teams vs hiring external short term resources and consultants. In the ever-shifting digital landscape, I am thriving with a lean in-house cross-functional product design team of committed people who are willing to always pivot, adapt and learn as we pioneer new optimum user experiences. The complexity and rapid evolution of innovation today calls for agile, innovative thinkers to iterate and adapt in real time and that’s exactly what the last 6 months has been for my team. Time and time again, wins rack up when I invest in internal solutions and talent - upskilling my small by mighty team along the way. I find myself leading a culture that embodies the spirit of collaboration and creativity. At Kyra Group, we are pushing boundaries and ourselves in the process. #CultureBuilding #Innovation #UX #TeamCulture #AI #Leadership #Teamwork

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Mihika Kapoor builds successful 0-to-1 products without writing any PRDs. Here's Mihika (product lead at Figma) on why she doesn't like PRDs and what she does instead. If you enjoyed this clip, you'll love my full interview with Mihika about how to: - Build internal excitement for your 0 to 1 idea - Get leadership buy-in for your vision - Overcome the odds to launch a great product 📌 Watch now: https://t.co/SwGSgbpIY4

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I’ve had the privilege of working with designers and engineers so deeply committed to creating exceptional user experiences that they go beyond their defined roles, stretching the boundaries of design and engineering alike. Designers start coding to bring interactions to life exactly as they envision—something hard to achieve with design tools alone. Engineers move beyond just “making it work” to crafting every detail, caring about the nuances that make an experience delightful. In previous roles, to support and amplify these talents, I’ve set up "design prototyping" or "design technology" teams that bridge engineering, product, and design. These teams help close gaps, allowing designers and engineers to collaborate seamlessly and push their boundaries. At Slack, we’ve established the Design Engineering function—a role critical to our mission of elevating craft, accelerating prototyping, and strengthening design-engineering collaboration. This function came to life through an ongoing journey of learning and adapting how best to align design and engineering to unlock product innovation, led by Chris Delbuck. Big thanks to Ethan Eismann for the support. Transformations like this happen only with passionate leaders and doers like Chris, Gleb Denisov, and Naman Kedia, work together to unlock their skills and people superpowers. Their dedication and example drive change. Chris and Naman have documented this journey in a blog post, where they also lay out the career paths and foundational blueprint for Design Engineers. Their insights can serve as a guide for others setting up design engineering teams for success. 🔗 Check it out here:

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