Tiffany Chin

O-M-G. Learn how to craft some seriously refined 3D letters using Affinity in the next Creative Session. Especially for those Designers that have recently downloaded Affinity and still running it through it's paces. You'll pick up essential Affinity illustration skills and tricks in seconds. https://lnkd.in/gYvsrdme #affinity #illustrators #canva

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Products like Recraft are like the Perplexity for creating images with #GenAI. They are leaning into the benefits of going beyond a conversational prompt-based interface ONLY and integrating traditional, familiar GUI-based workflows with prompts to provide outcomes that creative people seek. In this example, they've notably improved the experience of creating multiple #images in a consistent style using #AI. In addition, they seem to be among the few (only one?) offering SVG export, making them a great option for #illustration. https://lnkd.in/eiGPqbKU

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Is your product trio—product, design, and engineering—working in sync, or just going through the motions? At 8th Light, we know that magic happens when these three disciplines align. Teams move faster, make smarter decisions, and deliver products users love. We’ve helped teams break silos, nail the customer journey, and level up their skills to build products that don’t just meet expectations—they set new ones. Whether it’s strategic consulting, skill development, or product assessments, we’ll help you create an unstoppable team. Ready to build something unforgettable? Read more about aligning your product trio here: https://lnkd.in/g8NTWpFr #ProductDesign #Engineering #ProductLeadership #UX #8thLight #TeamCollaboration #SoftwareDevelopment #DesignThinking #HumanCenteredDesign

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OpenAI Spring Update happening live. Now. Here comes GPT-4o for FREE USERS... GPT Store, Vision, Memory, Browse and Advanced Data Analysis and a GPT API. https://lnkd.in/exxeMwha #gpt #ai #openai

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I've worked with enough engineer-designed interfaces to value design highly at even early stage startups ... but, man, they can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I mean that in a truly affectionate way, because I've realized over the years the context many of my favorite design-minded folks are coming from - a demanding world of perfection-seeking where critique is a core competency. While most of my engineering colleagues are coming from a world where nothing is finished, nothing is perfect, and everything is slightly broken everywhere. Shipped can be better than perfect. Until you get both sides aligned to the same goal, you'll find these two world views butting into each other in fun and exciting ways ... But once aligned, it's off to the races. https://lnkd.in/gVzDZaaY

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Check out this awesome article written by Jess Sattell, Lynn Hao, and Angelie Herreria- Tagle with help from Sue G. on lessons learned from bringing Spectrum 2 from idea to reality.

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"We need a business executive who can bring deisgn into the discussion" is the issue... until CEOs and recruiters start saying "We need a DESIGN EXECUTIVE who understands our business challenges." Additionally, design leaders need to learn to deliver results at every board meeting.

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Design hiring is overdue for a redesign. 🧩 Our industry values empathy, creativity, and collaboration, so why don’t our hiring practices reflect that? Many times, the answer boils down to, “Because that’s how we’ve always done it,” but is that really a good enough reason? Take-home assignments and exercises are so common in design interviews, but these tasks can leave behind talented candidates — and don’t really demonstrate a designer’s potential to succeed. Check out my latest post for the Executive Designer where I explain the inclusivity problem in hiring for design and share my take on addressing it. I also broke this all down in my recent interview for the Samelogic podcast (thanks again for having me!). Check it out (link in the comments! 👇) and let me know what you think! https://lnkd.in/gJ5Eqeby #designhiring #inclusivity #talentacquisition #ExecutiveDesigner

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When Dropbox shifted to #VirtualFirst, my Design team helped lead the efforts to create the new model in a way that actually reimagined modern work. By applying a human centered design approach to build Virtual First—understand what users need, develop hypotheses, design and pilot solutions, observe results and iterate— what we saw as a result was true cultural transformation. This way of working is intentionally designed to make space for creativity, tinkering and deep work, while also reserving time for synchronous collaboration and IRL time when we need it. Through this process, we quickly realized there was a need for more conversation around the unique challenges of working in distributed ways. That’s how we came up with the idea for Remotely Curious—a podcast where we dive deep into the world of remote work and the struggles that come with it. One of my favorite episodes is on the topic of setting boundaries, an art that can take practice while working remotely. It’s something we’re laser focused on here at Dropbox—83% of employees feel successful in designing their own work schedules, but we know our employees want continued support around boundary setting between their work and personal lives as we continue in our Virtual First journey. Psychologist, professor, and best-selling author Andrea Bonior joined Remotely Curious to guide us through the specifics of setting boundaries in the workplace. One lesson that really stuck with me from the conversation was the idea that "clarity is kindness." It’s easy to fall into the trap of people-pleasing, where we start equating saying “yes” as being nice and saying “no” as being “difficult” or creating an uncomfortable environment. But clarity—being clear about your limits and expectations—is actually one of the kindest things you can do for yourself and your team. As leaders in a distributed environment, this is incredibly important to maintaining balance and remaining in control of our work. Creating healthy boundaries in my life enables me to be both a better leader for my team, and a better father and equal contributor at home. By being intentional in supporting myself as well as having a support system, or a “Team Alastair” around me, I can maintain better balance so that I can be the best version of myself, maintain peak-level performance and continue to scale both professionally and personally. I highly recommend giving this one a listen, and would love to hear your thoughts. https://lnkd.in/dn8As9zG #productivity #innovation #futureofwork

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Craft infuses everything we do at Slack, across all functions. It's been that way from day one. It helps us make people's working lives more simple, productive, and pleasant. It's something we can always improve upon, and that we are ever committed to. Tomorrow I share my perspective at #config2024 on how care and attention to craft leads to great software design. But if you don't want to wait, you can read about my perspective here, on our Slack.design blog. Craft is a commitment we all have to our customers. It's something software makers should care deeply about. If you have ideas, questions, or feedback on the topic, drop them in the comments and let's get the conversation started!

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Another week, another handful of conversations about pace layers and design systems: https://lnkd.in/d7BVsrAy This article by Big Medium's own Josh Clark continues to be one of the most-important concepts that we apply in our work. Product teams need to be able to move fast and innovate, and it's important to not put crap in the design system: https://lnkd.in/epK_X95r One of my favorite things about coaching design system teams is helping them establish clearer boundaries, transition from pattern police to helpful sherpas, and navigate the architecture, people, and process of everything. #designsystems #uidesign #uxdesign #frontenddevelopment

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“Be who and where you are.” I’m still processing all of the amazing insights that came out of Clarity: A design systems community conference last week but several themes have been bouncing around in my head since then. → Get smaller and connect - Dan Mall and others talked about a trend towards smaller core design systems with surrounding layers of shared patterns like recipes, all being consumed by teams managing their own local libraries. This results in teams being able to move faster and eliminates the need for design systems folks to feel that have to be a bottleneck. → Be who and where you are - John Voss and others talked about building the system that your users and team need rather than conforming to what larger companies are putting out there or the oversimplified “stereotype” you yourself have unintentionally created for your product. → Listen - Ben Callahan and others talked about the need to reset our current mental models for how design systems teams see our roles and responsibilities. How do we move away from our perceived tactical responsibilities towards more listening and validating of the needs of our consumers and users? 💎 My personal takeaways from all of this have me reframing my own journey with my team from "a series of mistakes" towards "the necessary growth to become the team we are today." → When we implemented that now outdated framework, tried to centralize everything into a single bloated design system, or wrote all of that verbose documentation, we were doing what we needed to do to mature and are a better team as a result. → What my team is going through, we're all going through. The role of design in general is changing across the industry, not just in my organization. How lucky are we, that we have the opportunity to learn from each other as designers? → As team roles change, I’m curious to pivot my default stance away from “defend the designer's role”, and would be curious to see how I can facilitate “design” activities regardless of whether they are done by a designer, product manager, or engineer. I feel so very fortunate to be a part of such an amazing community and love the reminder that when you get a bunch of systems thinkers together in the same room, you're going to see patterns. Thanks again 🖤 Jina A. and all the speakers last week. #clarity2024 #designsystems #design

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For anyone wanting to learn more about how we're working on AI as a design team here at Klaviyo, have a listen to this interview with Alexandra Holness

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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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How I’m Incorporating "Jobs to be Done" into My Design Process💡 Over the past few years, I’ve been refining my approach to design, and one framework that’s really resonated with me is "Jobs to be Done" (JTBD). It’s not just about designing for users anymore—it’s about understanding what people are really trying to achieve when they "hire" a product or service. 🔍 Lately, I’ve been actively working to incorporate JTBD into my design process, and here’s why: ► It Keeps the Focus on Real-World Needs 🌍   Instead of getting lost in creating flashy features, JTBD pushes me to dig deeper into what problems people are facing and what they’re trying to solve. It’s helping me shift my thinking from “What should this product do?” to “What progress does this user want to make?” ► A Broader View of User Context 🔄   I’ve always found understanding the user’s environment important, but JTBD takes it to another level. Now, I’m more conscious of the user’s journey and the circumstances surrounding their needs. This has made my designs more practical and aligned with real-life challenges. ► It’s Personalizing My Process 🎯   Incorporating JTBD means I’m learning to step away from general user personas and focus on individual progress. This has been a big shift in my thinking—designing not just for who the user is, but for the transformation they want to experience. ► It’s an Ongoing Process 🛠️   I’m still working on fully integrating this mindset, but already it’s changing how I approach problem-solving in design. By focusing on the jobs people need done, I feel I’m creating more meaningful, impactful solutions. The journey isn’t finished, but JTBD has become a vital part of how I design—and I’m excited to see how it evolves in my work. 🚀 #JobsToBeDone #DesignThinking #ProductDesign #UX #ContinuousLearning

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For AI Assistants like ChatGPT and Claude, CARE is a prompting format I've been using with a lot of success, and find it very valuable to return consistent results. This article covers the CARE format. #ux #ai

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#conversational #design is the path forward. DM to get your product started and on the road to revenue. Reach out for help with #Aivoiceagents or #AIproductdesign implemention and strategy🔥 #Triggers #userfirst

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I love thinking through how things work, and I love games. For fun, I've written an article documenting my lightweight process for thinking through how an existing application is defined and built, and I've done it with one of my favorite NYT daily games – Connections! I tear down the UI, think through scope, and then build it! It's a quick exercise to flex my background as designer, PM, and engineer. Admittedly, it took me longer to create the write-up than it did to build the app 😅. I used Figjam for my initial heuristic, built the app using React and deployed it on Vercel, and used Notion to document the process and share it here. I gotta say, the integrations between all these services really made it fun and easy. You can check out my write-up here: https://lnkd.in/grW446uE What should I build next? Happy Friday!

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In a competitive job market, leveling up your skills is crucial. I highly recommend this course at The Designership - it's a great and inexpensive way to enhance your design abilities. No kickbacks involved. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eGfV5kXC #Design #SkillDevelopment #CareerGrowth #productdesign

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