Spencer Everett

It’s easy to get caught up in functional ratios and its often a losing battle stuck in idealisms. With that said there’s a real business risk when design and supporting teams aren’t invested in. This video does a great job explaining how efficacy and efficiency across product and development teams drop when this happens.

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Design leaders, the red flags you miss during interviews are setting you up for trouble down the line. 🚩 🚩 🚩 Hiring is rarely easy, but if you want to build a thriving design team (without creating a toxic culture!), it’s so important to know what to screen for in candidates. It’s always easier to avoid bringing on the wrong person in the first place than to have to clean up the mess later. What’s the secret? I’ll give you a hint: Sometimes you have to dig deeper with your questions—including the questions you ask yourself. 👀 In my latest post for the Executive Designer, I discuss red flags, green flags, conflicts, and other hiring pitfalls. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts! https://lnkd.in/gwcYyR_j #ExecutiveDesigner #designteam #hiringtips #redflags

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Leaders of #Product, #UX, and #Design teams are reporting feeling a crunch in the wake of so many layoffs in the last year. "It appears companies are not backfilling [research] roles, either—14% now say their company has zero dedicated Researchers vs. 6% to 8% historically (2020 to 2023)."* The Guild can help you find and hire experienced freelance and contract researchers who know how to collaborate with an existing team and bring relevant insights that drive your product goals and company direction. If you're worried about the lack of research expertise on your team, schedule a time to talk to the Guild - we'd love to show you all the ways we can support a team that needs research expertise. Learn more on our website: https://lnkd.in/gaNY44uZ or request research help now: https://lnkd.in/eGngWy9G *Data from the UserInterviews.com State of User Research Report 2024; link: https://lnkd.in/e5i8pxW4 #UXR #UXResearch #ContractResearcher #FreelanceResearcher #FractionalResearcher #HireAResearcher #ResearchHelp #ResearchOps

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For the past couple years, something I've been hearing from the highest levels of UX/design leadership is a need to re-engage with craft. That we've lost sight of the importance of craft. That they need to elevate craft within their organizations. But what I never hear is a clear definition of craft. And that causes anxiety, because "craft" is one of those words that can mean different things to different people. There are so many components to UX/Design—planning and conducting research; analyzing findings and developing insights; strategy development and solution-framing; information architecture; interaction design; service design; UX writing and content design; visual UI design. Each of these are practices. Each of them have their craft. But if I were to be able to witness people's thoughts, I think that, for most designers and design leaders, the primary association with "craft" is "visual polish." An attention to visual detail, a care for placement, composition, typography, color. And, I'm not saying visual polish isn't important; but it's just one aspect of many. My concern is that this emphasis on 'craft' leads to a narrowing of focus on the superficial aspects of design, at the expense of the less apparent, but more foundational qualities that impact the user experience. So, when you talk "craft," it's imperative that you define your term. And I hope you're doing so with the robustness necessary to create and deliver deeply satisfying user experiences.

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I wrote about one of my favorite parts of the design process - refining concepts through user research. One key part as you're prototyping out your concepts is to ground your participants in actual reality and be selective. Check it out, and let me your thoughts about concept testing! https://lnkd.in/gNUkA_pR

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If you want to be really, really good at UX... Focus on what really matters and avoid making dumb mistakes. What matters: -Stakeholder buy in and commitment -Good user research -Iterative design + testing with users -Detailed specifications and robust component libraries -Extensive QA testing to flush out the bugs before shipping Dumb mistakes: -Berating design suggestions from non-UX team members -Behaving like design prima donnas, thinking that designers can do no wrong -Whining about not having a seat at the table when you have neither earned it nor demonstrated the capacity to sit there -Criticizing engineers and PMs for behaving like engineers and PMs Note: both lists are incomplete, but hopefully they give the gist #ux  #userexperience  #userresearch #design

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Every UX/design org I've supported has struggled with critique. Which is unfortunate, because critique is essential to developing quality work. There are many reasons for this struggle (e.g., lack of understanding what critique actually is, lack of psychological safety, lack of time), so I've published some work I've done in the past to help organizations 'operationalize' critique. https://lnkd.in/gn3amwEC I'd love to hear from folks with strong critique practices, about how they 'made space' for it to happen.

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Great visualisation of the things UX researchers do throughout the research process. Often I've had stakeholders say "I have a list of interview questions already" but as shown below, it's not that easy or simple to craft good questions, and how to ask good follow-up questions during interviews. It takes skill and practice. #uxresearch #invisibleprocess #userinterviews

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40 amazing *legitimately available as of today* Senior UX Research positions are open and on The List, including 3 open roles from Microsoft, 2 at ServiceNow, and many more from Reddit, Inc., Meta, Google and GitHub. Almost all of them are #remote and #senior positions, and either #UXResearch or #SeniorProductLeadership jobs (which tend to be a natural progression for some very senior UXRs.) And although it's research-adjacent and somewhat junior, there's a Full Time role as a User Research Operations Specialist at DonorsChoose that sounds amazing. For those of you who, inexplicably, are not on the monthly mailing list, a few stats of interest: 🚀 Of the 40 jobs listed, 33 are newly-added just since June 16th. 🚀 19 have been removed from employers' websites or job boards in the last 30 days 🚀 On average, listings come and go in *26 days*. These jobs are highly-sought, and although I think I'm doing a better job of spotting them and getting them posted more quickly, my rough guess is that most positions are open to applications for less than 30 days. So: <shamelessplug> Get on The Mailing List! </shamelessplug> https://lnkd.in/eJkpDx7J

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Check out this listing of opportunities!

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TL; DR: Negativity curdling into toxicity stifles progress. The past few years have been difficult for many in the UX/Design field, with layoffs, uncertain futures, and being asked to deliver more with less. It's also been eye-opening, as we continue to awaken from the "Dream of UX" (https://lnkd.in/gSXJSQu ... I wrote that 4 years ago!), and many feel cheated or gaslit that about the potential of putting humanity at the center of the businesses we work for. And these realities have bred anger, resentment, frustration on the part of many UX/Design types. But what I find disheartening is when this understandable negativity curdles, disabling people from being their best selves. Instead their behavior becomes toxic, a kind of lashing out, exclaiming categorical beliefs (things will never get better), victim stances ("they" won't let me work), and melodramatic pronouncements (UX was better in the good old days when we did it ‘the right way,’ now it’s dead). While things feel more acute of late, I’ve witnessed this behavior for decades now (probably since starting Adaptive Path at the nadir of the dot com bust in 2001). Tearing things down is easy. Building back better is hard. Something that often comes up in leadership discussions (with clients; in my class) is how to address the challenge (and it is a challenge) of accepting the negativity, recognizing the authenticity of the negativity, but not to dwell in it. If you want things to be better (for yourself, your team, the field) you need to chart a course forward, which requires shifting that perspective from one of negativity to one of promise and potential. Toxicity is regressive, and inhibits positive change. (Edit: removed a reference to goat farmers, as it was flippant and distracting. Added context that this isn’t a recent phenomenon, and a common subject in my leadership development practice.)

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Career progression

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One of the most interesting UX research projects a #uxdesign er can do is presenting his/her own case studies. I've given a Walmart Health telehealth case study now, three times. Each time the presentation gets shorter, punchier and more compelling. The more you tell the story, the better it gets. The more fun it gets. The more exciting the story feels. Over time you anticipate where the punch lines are. The a-ha moments. And you quickly learn where they aren't. The best way to learn how to tell your case study stories is to practice. Wanna help me? If you're in health in any capacity—especially in enterprise digital engagement—and you'd like to hear my pitch, I'd love to practice. Hit me up on DMs. (If you're a designer at a related health tech company, like Hinge Health, Pair Team, Amazon Health, 25madison, CVS Health, Google Health, One Med, etc, even better.)

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Really annoyed at Figma's price gouging here. There is no reason other than greed: https://lnkd.in/gfdrEiWH Oh, and I emailed them about it and this line from their reply was particularly poignant: "Additionally the minimum for enterprise is a $5k invoice minimum. 6 enterprise seats or made up with other products." To put that in context... our monthly Adobe bill (for 8 CC, 7 PS, 6 Acrobat licenses) is ~NZ$2k... Amazing how quickly enshittification sets in... #Figma #Design #SoftwareLicensing

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Is it just me World Usability Congress or should your website adhere to at least WCAG 1.0 standards? Text as an image over video, days with no month or dates, white text on teal, no ability to tab through content, hover drop-down menus... woud be great to see this brought up to a level its intended to represent. https://lnkd.in/gwU5mGim #usabilitystandards #accessibility #customerexperience #designstandards #ux #cx #uxaudit

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Today on Fast Company, I have a new essay about the rise in coaching services for designers and a trend I'd observed of senior-level designers leaving the industry to become career coaches. When I first started reporting on this, I thought it might be the case of design over-reach — if you can redesign a product, could you also redesign your career? your life? — but quickly realized the market for these services was indicative of larger, structural issues in the design industry. Thanks to Renda Morton, Amy Santee, and James Victore for talking with me, sharing your insights, and helping tell this story. https://lnkd.in/g7ZKRJ3G

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UX Deliverables: Glossary Use this glossary to quickly clarify key terms and concepts related to UX deliverables. #UX #productDesign https://buff.ly/4coqpQ7

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Figma's recent blunder with their most recent "Make Design" release is hinting at a larger issue with the design industry that us designers have only ourselves to blame for. Clearly we continue to fall short on tying our work to dollars therefore organizations continue to see us as just a cost on a balance sheet. In a world where designers have latched themselves to a dead set need for a design system where their differentiating factor is they can use a tool to build and manage one, we have proposed our worth as someone who can arrange and construct pre-selected pieces on a screen together with color. Enter "Make Design". This enables any senior stakeholder to easily see what they perceive as significantly less time and effort to do what we do at a speed none of us can compete at. Naturally, this appears bleak because the floor has been lowered to a point where anyone can make an interface. Fortunately, after doing user research any designer will see that the majority of a customers experience occurs outside a screen. In fact, sometimes an overwhelming amount of their experience is spent never looking at a digital interface at all. The design field should be as focused as ever right now on our incredible interest in our fellow humans, their frustrations, and our unique skillsets we have to draw out their experience. From there, extreme cost incursions make themselves painfully evident which we can use to prove opportunity cost. And if we do a good enough job we can prove the cost of taking design seriously will be more worth the companies money than a blunder where the CEO of a $12bn company costs themselves their own personal and brand embarrassment. Now ask yourself, how much value ($$) today and in the future was destroyed because Figma had to walk this back? #uxresearch https://lnkd.in/euQZjyyX

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