What would be the 10-star experience & beyond?

Trained academically as a computer science student, I was used to/still sometimes evaluate feasibility too early. When a solution appears, my mind starts asking “is this feasible” very quickly. That’s the downside of having an engineering mindset: you may run “feasibility evaluations” for your design solutions your head too early, rather than putting all the solution options onto the table, and waiting for your engineering partners’ expertise. This resulted in eliminating certain solutions prematurely. When you care about “what is feasible” too much too early, you stop going an extra mile to add a level of star experience for your users.

“Perceived Performance” – Eli Fitch

Waiting in a line at DMV. Enjoying an exciting concert. Working on a project with a tight deadline. People perceive time differently in various situations. How would a bit front-end engineering effort make a difference in people’s perception on applications?

I have some learnings from Eli Fitch’s excellent presentation “Perceived Performance”. The quality of presentation is as amazing as the content.

Event Notes: On Some Soft Skills for Designers

This session was hosted by DocuSign, as part of SF Design Week 2018. The designers at DocuSign talked about how soft skills helped two of their past projects.
There are a number of things I’m sure we’ve heard over and over again as designers. And it doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves once again, because soft skills will make you a truly great designer.