Sara Frailich

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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Nine contributions designers are making to health system transformation.

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If you're a Designer or Design Leader, you should sign up to receive the upcoming Ecosystem Leadership Report: Design 2024 from friend and colleague Diego Núñez. I had the opportunity to sit down with Diego a few weeks ago to provide insights and views on what the future holds and why it is important for Designers to live life creatively. The report delivers an in-depth exploration of the transformative trends in design leadership from top industry leaders and voices sharing actionable strategies on innovation, team dynamics, and leadership in the digital age. Link to sign up to receive this report is in the comments section below! #design #designleadership #trends #creative #ux #product #business #impact #insights #ai #ethicaldesign #collaboration #ecosystems #report

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Whatever you know about Trauma Informed Design principles, I assure you, if you've been in the design community the last 10 years, chance are you've experienced some level of it. From CV19, Layoffs, RIF, RTO, the systematic removal of all DEI and ESG programs as well as removing support for LGBTQ community, hiring and recruitment practices, GenAI, Inflation, gaslighting employees, etc. Lots of things that just seem very inhumane. These actions just feel antagonistic to many of us. Workplaces responded to org-level trauma with a set of go-to tactics meant to keep the organization moving forward and afloat while navigating organizational entropy, employee trauma and hardship. These initiatives, frequently celebrated by organization leaders as support for employees, were just as harmful as the problems they were meant to address. They prioritized efficiency and productivity over the care of individuals. Machine and factory manufacturing cadences are all the rage. they are also anti-human. These efforts and management frameworks exacerbate the traumatizing dynamics within organizations, contributing to a collective of emotional disharmony and stress that compounds exponentially without a legitimate plan for relief in sight. Here are some great Trauma-informed Design Resources on a website for learning about trauma, trauma-informed care, and digital design.

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More UX and Product leaders need to hear Diana DeMarco Brown (she/her)'s wisdom. Diana is a pioneer in the UX field who takes a thoughtful and nuanced approach to assessing the current state of the tech industry. In our recent conversation, Diana shared many insights, including: - How to evaluate a company's culture during the hiring process - Why private equity ownership can result in design divestment - How Product and UX leaders can effectively influence business decisions - Why we don't need to panic with the rise of AI, but we need to think critically and prioritize regulation during this early stage Link to our full conversation: https://lnkd.in/eemDimVb

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🚀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲! In the latest episode of the "UX Consultants Lounge," I chat with Elizabeth Creighton, owner of Brazen, about scaling your UX consultancy through newsletters, online courses, and investing in your deliverables. Plus, we discuss the emotional journey of having to pause your consulting practice in order to take a leave of absence and how to bounce back. Tune in for practical advice and inspiring stories that every UX consultant can relate to and learn from! 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱: 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Elizabeth discusses how starting a newsletter helped her connect with clients, maintain visibility, and generate new business. She shares practical tips on managing the workload and gaining subscribers. 🔹 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀: Elizabeth explains her experience developing a user interview skills course on Maven. She provides insights on choosing a platform, balancing course creation with client work, and the impact of teaching live cohort-based courses. 🔹 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀: Elizabeth shares her experience in hiring a presentation designer to elevate the quality of her client and course presentations. She shares the value of investing in high-quality templates to improve professionalism and efficiency. 🔹 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Elizabeth and Kyle also touch on the challenges consultants face when needing to taking breaks for personal reasons, like maternity leave, and how to bounce back afterward. 💬 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: "𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦.” “𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥; 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵.” 🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘄: You can find The UX Consultants Lounge on your preferred podcast platform, or visit the podcast website to listen to all the episodes (𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀). 💡𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲:  You can easily jump around to different parts of the interview using the chapter links in the embedded player on the podcast website, YouTube, or your favorite podcast player. - - - - - #UX #Consulting #UXConsulting #Freelancing #UXFreelancing #UXPodcast #UserExperience #BusinessStrategy #WomenInTech #UXResearch #ConsultingLife #Newsletter #OnlineCourses #PresentationDesign

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What if telemedicine wasn’t just a backup for traditional emergency response—but a revolutionary platform for public health? This was the vision of MD Ally. Imagine using telemedicine to enhance not just efficiency, but the long-term effectiveness of our public safety systems. What if we could transform outcomes for those who rely on 911 for all their healthcare needs—connecting them with primary care providers, mental health specialists, and community organizations? MD Ally challenged us at Delve to help communicate this fresh perspective on telemedicine in public safety. We designed a website that: — Clearly differentiates MD Ally’s comprehensive approach from standard telehealth services. — Demonstrates the ease and value of collaborating with MD Ally. Curious to see how we brought this vision to life? Check out our digital design for MD Ally: https://lnkd.in/dVkcTD_f #Telemedicine #PublicHealth #DesignInnovation

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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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In my latest podcast, Dr. Jodi Forlizzi and I discuss a subject key to designers working today: the impact of AI on the discipline. Check it out! 👂👇 https://lnkd.in/gEKbvFQ6 #Design #UxDesign #InteractionDesign #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

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It's true—Small UX Research Can Have Big Impact. Many product teams 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 believe UX research requires a ton of time, resources, and participants to be valuable. This bullsh*t leads teams down the path to foregoing research altogether. Because the reality is that even small, focused research efforts can provide crucial strategic insights that inform product decisions. Consider a "minimum viable research" approach. Just as MVP products help validate ideas quickly, lightweight research methods like 5-user usability tests, contextual inquiries with 2-3 customers, or analyzing existing support tickets can reveal meaningful patterns and pain points. These targeted efforts often surface the most critical issues while requiring minimal investment. The key is asking precise questions and designing focused research activities that align with immediate business needs. Good things do come in small packages. 𝗣.𝗦. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 about how to use detective-grade investigation techniques to rapidly conduct research: https://zelmanow.kit.com/ ===== 👋 I'm Ari...a criminal investigator turned customer investigator. 🤝 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵? Try Customer Forensics. DM me for details. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁: 👍 Like it 🛟 Save it ♻ Repost it 🔔 Follow me 💌 Subscribe (link in carousel)

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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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Check out this insightful article, "Engaging Hard to Reach Populations: Three Principles Gleaned from UX Research with Rural Communities," by Ipsos UX’s Danielle G. and Jessica Arnold, MA. This piece explores the crucial role of UX research in reaching often-overlooked populations, particularly those in rural areas. Danielle and Jessica offer practical guidance, emphasizing the importance of flexibility, creativity, and community engagement in designing inclusive and accessible products and services. They use rural communities as a case study to illustrate the need for tailored approaches when working with hard-to-reach populations. A must-read for anyone looking to create products and services that truly cater to everyone. #ux #userexperience #uxresearch #userresearch #accessibility #inclusivity #ipsos

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Dr. Daniel C. Baumgart and I each comment on an important work about Health Data Integrity piece by Joe Lennerz, Nick Schneider, and Karl Lauterbach in Issues in Science and Technology (https://lnkd.in/gk5a6TBV) . Read the original! https://lnkd.in/gy_hxcyt

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Are you a change maker? If yes, I'm sure you have engaged in an age old conversation about the healthcare transformation and remote patient monitoring or home healthcare. Sure there are risks, but we all know at an aspirational level that it has positive impacts. Are we making progress? If yes, is it fast enough and from a design perspective, how do we need to change the customer experience and just as importantly how do we change the experience for the clinicians and administrators who provide the service. I remain curious but non-judgmental to understand the blockers be it human nature, regulation, costs, privacy, or otherwise. Listen to our guest Michael Gemmati share his perspective as a change maker about the challenges and opportunities of healthcare at home. #homehealthcare #organizationaltransformation #customerexperience

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What's inside #ReportRedesign: ☑️ Go Beyond the Report (our very first module is about using a mix of long-form and short-form products; designing one-pagers and infographics; and getting data out of PDFs and into scrollytelling websites) ☑️ Structure Your Report (next, you'll learn about the big-picture design of reports, like adding 20-Minute Covers, using brand presets, and reconfiguring the Table of Content so we don't bury the lede) ☑️ Design Each Page (these are the detailed, page-by-page and line-by-line edits) This once-a-year workshop is live on Zoom, October 7-10: https://lnkd.in/euecDdr4 (This is similar to what your replays will look like, if you can't attend live.)

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Design in Complex Systems: Doing Community Engagement Right How often do you communicate your design research findings to the end users? I’ve heard many experienced researchers talk about the importance of circling back, especially in communities with a higher likelihood of respondent fatigue. This hadn’t quite hit home for me. One of my current tasks is understanding the social, psychological, and environmental influences of how health data is reported and used for decision-making. There are multiple systemic influences, one of the biggest being the health financing structure and its ripple effects on reporting. Finding ways to package and disseminate learnings from our immersive research and prototyping activities in a way that enables strategic design but also minimizes the natural concerns of the potential negative impact on funding, training, and recognition has been a constant question.   This week, I participated in an experience-sharing workshop. Hearing end users explicitly ask for more in-depth findings to help them improve their day-to-day data quality and use activities has been such a strong signal that circling back, no matter the complexities, is always an effort in the right direction.

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Are you missing a $1.2 trillion market opportunity because your digital experiences aren't accessible? Our special guest, Dr. Miro Griffiths, a renowned disability studies scholar and policy advisor, provides valuable insights on prioritizing and implementing accessibility in your UX research. Joined by Ipsos co-hosts Leila Alavi and Jacqueline Hull, the conversation revolves around shaping research agendas around accessibility, understanding participant requirements, and the need for researchers to build trust and share power. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their UX research, make their products more inclusive, and reach a wider audience. Don't miss the opportunity to learn from the experts—tune in now on your favorite streaming platform. 🔗 Spotify - https://spoti.fi/4gt8RWm 🔗 Apple - https://apple.co/47DRNsP #ux #userexperience #uxdesign #accessibility #inclusivedesign #accessibilitymatters #uxresearch #designthinking #podcast #whatsnextinux #ipsos

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🗝 When I worked in Product the Kano Model unlocked a way to communicate the value of UX investment with senior stakeholders and build a business case for strategic UX investment. 🚀 Now, BehindLogin leverages the Kano model in Competitor Benchmarking to provide our clients with clarity on where to innovate and where to focus, helping optimise both customer satisfaction and resource allocations. Check out this blog I wrote that deep-dives into the Kano model and how we apply it. https://lnkd.in/eFJXUaVv

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This. I mostly do strategic facilitation these days, which evolved out of my team’s research and discovery practice. The gap was so stark in effective strategy development that as a facilitator, more and more clients would ask us to facilitate the strategy setting phase as a way to ensure the research findings were put to meaningful use. Strategic planning is difficult and requires effective stakeholder engagement and thoughtful interpretation and deliberation on discovery findings. Most leaders and teams do not have this capability or capacity, and UX or other research teams should learn to guide them through this process, but it requires us to develop those skills in effective strategic planning facilitation and leadership advising. Design research insights by nature will have broader business relevance. If a leadership team is open to it, building this capability can profoundly improve their product market fit, value proposition, and impact. But it does require developing competence in strategy development, not just research. #strategy #leadership #research #servicedesign

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