Chapters

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. ~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe It’s fairly common in design portfolios to see an explanation of one’s process or the steps a designer took to arrive at the final design. Within reason, this can be…

Technology and tools are useful and powerful when they are your servant and not your master.~Stephen Covey You are a designer. You have excellent taste and are able to craft compelling digital products that help or delight other people. You are able to put together interfaces and paths that help users get what they want…

Bad design is like wearing a rumpled suit. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person,but it may give people the wrong impression.~Unknown You cannot have an ugly design portfolio. Period. Absolutely unacceptable. “But I have great case studies!” Doesn’t matter. Make it look better. “But I’m primarily a UX designer.” That doesn’t forgive ugly. Make…

Be stubborn on vision but flexible on details.~Jeff Bezos You will sometimes know deep in your heart, guided by all the empathy and experience you have, that a particular design decision is the “right” one. You will be convinced to fight for it with every fiber of your being, to “win” for the sake of…

Focus on the excitement and it will lead you through the obstacles. ~Piya Sorcar There comes a time in every project where the details become absolutely critical to success. The key, though, is to understand when that time is and when they are a hindrance. Let’s run through a scenario. A leader comes to the…

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.~Gilda Radner Demanding perfect clarity on a project before you get started greatly diminishes your value and your potential. If you create a scenario where you can’t possibly begin your design work…

Coming together is beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. ~Henry Ford Grab a coffee with anyone who’s worked anywhere for a couple of years and it’s guaranteed you’ll hear a coworker horror story. It’s near impossible to navigate a career without having terrible run-ins with those you work with day in…

Whether we’re fighting climate change or going to space,everything is moved forward by computers,and we don’t have enough people who can code.~Richard Branson A quick search on job boards usually shows four to eight times as many positions for developers than for designers. Developers are constantly in demand, in greater quantities, in a more diverse…

The most fundamental problem in software development is complexity. There is only one basic way of dealing with complexity: divide and conquer. ~Bjarne Stroustrup With the rise of “Design Thinking” and “Design is the how the thing works” concepts, designers can be forgiven for thinking that developers are serving them. They are the ones who…

Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~Vince Lombardi Nobody likes to stay late at the office. Ideally, you’ll work at a place that respects work-life balance. But as an important milestone nears its deadline, or your team is striving for…