Product Management Archives - User Defenders®

073: The Unstoppable Designer with Jeff Gothelf

Product Management

073: The Unstoppable Designer with Jeff Gothelf

00:00 / 59:23

Artwork by Eli Jorgensen

Jeff Gothelf tells us how to be unstoppable designers. He debunks the mythical creature known as Phase 2. He shows us what a designer effectively working in Agile looks like, and enlightens us to how new UX teams can show immediate value. He articulates the need to differentiate between outputs and outcomes. He also motivates us to stay humble and curious since you can teach anyone technical skills, but you can’t teach someone humility and curiosity.

Jeff helps organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. He is the co-author of the award-winning book Lean UX and the Harvard Business Review Press book Sense & Respond and just recently Forever Employable. Jeff works as a coach, consultant and keynote speaker helping companies bridge the gaps between business agility, digital transformation, product management and human-centered design. Most recently Jeff co-founded Sense & Respond Press, a publishing house for practical business books for busy executives. Fun fact: Jeff’s first job was in a traveling circus.

How do Designers Most Efficiently Integrate into Agile? (6:43)
Why is it Important to be a Facilitator? (16:32)
Phase 2: Reality or Myth? (20:45)
How Do You Convince ENGINEERS to Get Out of the Software is Done Mindset? (28:06)
How Do You Convince DESIGNERS to Get Out of the Software is Done Mindset? (31:15)
Why is MVP the Most Bastardized Phrase in Software Development? (33:49)
Why Designers are Scientists Long Before We’re Pixel-Pushers (37:34)
How Does a New UX Team Show Immediate Value? (41:17)
What’s Your Why? (46:40)
What’s Your UX Superpower? (48:23)
What’s Your UX Kryptonite? (48:52)
What’s Your UX Superhero Name? (49:34)
Invincible UX Tool or Resource? (50:52)
Recommended Books? (51:55)
Best Advice for Aspiring UX Superheroes? (52:45)
Best Way to Connect? (53:45)

Continue reading 073: The Unstoppable Designer with Jeff Gothelf

036: No Designer Left Behind with Nick Finck

Mentorship

036: No Designer Left Behind with Nick Finck

00:00 / 1:20:41

Nick Finck teaches us the value of being a connector, and mentoring other designers. He gives us a really compelling, dare I say accurate look into the future of UX. He inspires us to make sure we unplug every once in a while. He also motivates us to find the sweet spot between users, the business, and technology.

Nick Finck at the time of this interview was the Product Design Manager at Facebook. Now, he’s a User Experience Design Immersive Instructor at General Assembly. Prior to Facebook, he was Head of User Experience at Amazon Web Services. He’s been working on the web for two decades solving complex problems for Fortune 500 companies such as Adobe, Intel, REI, Boeing, Google, and Oprah.com. He spent one of those decades also running one of our community’s leading blogs in the early days called Digital Web Magazine. He’s been an active speaker since 2001, who’s spoken at many of our esteemed conferences. He recently started a really exciting project called “UX for Change” with a two-fold goal: to bridge the experience gap many designers have after graduation, and address the mentor deficiency. He also happens to be runner up for Seattle’s Sexiest Geek thwarted by none other than “The Oatmeal’s” Matthew Inman.

Secret Identity/Origin Story (4:13)
What Inspired Your Career? (6:12)
Biggest Superhero (11:20)
Second Career Choice (14:00)
Biggest Failure (15:33)
What Do You Look For When Hiring? (20:40)
Awkward Testing Story (26:44)
Design Superpower / Superhero Name (33:23)
Design Kryptonite (36:56)
Fight For Users (41:28)
Future Of UX Design (46:58)
Rise Against The Machines? (54:28)
Habit Of Success (58:22)
UX For Change (62:13)
Book Recommendation (70:54)
Invincible Resource (73:12)
Best Advice (74:40)
Contact Info (77:35)

LINKS
Nick’s Twitter
Nick’s Facebook
Nick’s Website
UX for Change
We Make Seattle
[RESOURCE] People
[BOOKS] Design Is a Job , A Project Guide to UX Design

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Continue reading 036: No Designer Left Behind with Nick Finck

034: Great Products Start with Empathy with Jonathan Pimento

Product Design

034: Great Products Start with Empathy with Jonathan Pimento

00:00 / 1:07:28

Jonathan teaches us how product managers are the glue between design and engineering. He reminds us that the most important role we can play in the success of a product is being a voice for the customer. He encourages us to never give up on our personal projects. He also motivates us as designers to always stay inspired.

Jonathan Pimento is a Product Manager for Adobe XD. He has a deep passion for design, technology and their intersection. In 2009, he had to pick one of his passions to pursue academically so he chose computer engineering at the University Of Mumbai. He’s been a freelancer, worked with a few startups and has taken many small steps up the big ladder. Solving problems and connecting with the end user is what drives this passion. His interests span across design to writing code, and balancing both with research & data. He also enjoys running and swimming on the weekends.

This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD

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LINKS
Jonathan’s Twitter
Jonathan’s Website
Signal Noise (Portfolio of James White)
[RESOURCES] Dribbble
[READING] UserTesting.com, Twitter, Medium, Airbnb Lottie

Continue reading 034: Great Products Start with Empathy with Jonathan Pimento

026: We Are Not Our Users with Nikkel Blaase

Design Thinking

026: We Are Not Our Users with Nikkel Blaase

00:00 / 59:04

Nikkel Blaase reminds us that we are not our users. He encourages us to make time for deep thinking. He teaches us that without failing, there’s no learning. He guides us to not spend too much time figuring out a solution if we don’t know what the problem is. He shows us how creating value for our users creates value for our business. He also motivates us to never stop learning, practice as often as we can…and stay curious.

Nikkel Blaase (Deep Thought) is a product and interaction designer from Hamburg, Germany currently working at XING. He’s the founder of “Design Made For You” studio. He’s a fantastic writer who’s published viral articles on Medium, FastCoDesign and InVision. He’s passionate about bringing product thinking to the world of product development in order to as he says build products that people actually want. When he was a teenager, he played guitar in a punk rock band.

Secret Identity (2:55)
Origin Story (5:18)
Biggest Superhero (7:55)
What Is Product Thinking (9:26)
Second Career Choice (11:10)
Biggest Failure (12:08)
Do Designers Lack Empathy For Their Businesses? (17:32)
Awkward Testing Story (20:45)
Design Superpower (24:17)
Design Kryptonite (26:42)
Design Superhero Name (29:51)
Fight For Users (35:46)
Future Of UX Design (39:01)
Generalist vs. Specialist (44:05)
Habit Of Success (44:58 )
Invincible Resource (46:11)
Book Recommendation (48:24)
Favorite Conference (51:13)
Best Advice (52:20)
Most Excited About (54:07)
Next Big Blog Ideas (55:07)
Contact Info (56:00)

Continue reading 026: We Are Not Our Users with Nikkel Blaase

018: The Beauty of Simplicity with David Demaree

Product Management

018: The Beauty of Simplicity with David Demaree

00:00 / 57:53

David Demaree reminds us of the value of simplicity, brevity, and editing. He encourages us to know who are users are and where they’re coming from. He inspires us not to get too wrapped up into the closeness of our own material and not take the criticism of our work too personally. He also teaches us the importance of staying in touch with the community and to read as much as we can.

David Demaree is a software maker, speaker and blogger. He’s the author of newly released A Book Apart published, Git for Humans. He’s a product manager, designer and web developer for everyone’s favorite groundbreaking font-service software, Adobe Typekit. He’s one of the lucky ones who can say he works really close to a great coffee place…called his kitchen.

LINKS
David’s Twitter
David’s Website

[RESOURCE] Following other product and UX people on Twitter and clicking on interesting links. Staying in touch with the community. Read as much as you can.
[BOOK] The Idea Factory

SUPER-CRED
Artwork by Cesar Lemus | Editing by Chris Combs | Music by Wyman Gentry

Continue reading 018: The Beauty of Simplicity with David Demaree

This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD