Drew Lepp encourages us to learn the business side of technology in order to achieve greater success with our designs. She encourages us to always know why we’re doing what we’re doing, and to be able to clearly articulate why every element on the page is there. She inspires us to fight on in our work especially when we grow weary because what we’re doing can make a world of difference in the lives of many. She also motivates us to be our authentic selves and to follow our values and what we think is important.
Drew Lepp (Pizazz) is the UX Director and Co-Founder at TimeKat which is a delightful time tracking, task and project management tool. She’s runs her own UX Design consulting biz where she designs incredibly beautiful and usable digital experiences. She believes in putting her heart into everything she creates while focusing on delivering thoughtfully simple experiences that are engaging, compelling, memorable and fun. She lives almost entirely on sugary snacks.
020: Stay Enchanted with Jeffrey Zeldman (Part II)
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Don’t miss Part I of this unforgettable interview with Jeffrey Zeldman.
Jeffrey Zeldman inspires us to not underestimate our users by always testing our assumptions–because we’re often wrong. He reminds us of the tremendous value of writing and synthesizing our thoughts. He teaches us to never underrate our gut instincts. He also encourages us to stay enchanted in our work.
Jeffrey Zeldman is the Godfather of Web Design, and unquestionably the greatest friend of the Web. He’s a guy behind highly esteemed Web Design content initiatives such as A List Apart, An Event Apart and A Book Apart. He’s a prolific speaker and heavily influential blogger. He’s the Author of the our industry’s staple: Designing with Web Standards. He’s the host of The Big Web Show. He’s also the founder of renown Web Design studio Happy Cog. Back in the day, he played synth and Casiotone with The Insect Surfers, a DC post-punk techno-surf band.
[RESOURCE] I think it’s your brain. Everything else is replaceable. If you’re bored, start learning something new. If you’re bored, you shouldn’t be in this field. If you’re restless and easy easily distracted–that’s good. That means you’ll keep learning.
[BOOK] Don’t Make Me Think
Don’t miss Part II of this unforgettable interview with Jeffrey Zeldman.
Jeffrey Zeldman dives deep into his origin story to enlighten us on how he got started on the Web. He inspires us to not get caught up in the buzzwords, but to keep it simple and clear. He also gets vulnerable to reveal how overcoming his biggest failure has led to his greatest successes.
Jeffrey Zeldman is the Godfather of Web Design, and unquestionably the greatest friend of the Web. He’s a guy behind highly esteemed Web Design content initiatives such as A List Apart, An Event Apart and A Book Apart. He’s a prolific speaker and heavily influential blogger. He’s the Author of the our industry’s staple: Designing with Web Standards. He’s the host of The Big Web Show. He’s also the founder of renown Web Design studio Happy Cog. Back in the day, he played synth and Casiotone with The Insect Surfers, a DC post-punk techno-surf band.
DESIGN SUPERPOWER
I think it’s my ability to talk and communicate. I never learn the buzzwords. As long as I’ve been in this field, I still speak in down-to-earth terms and I think it’s really helpful. I went through a period of extreme pretension in my early 20’s in the way I expressed myself. I wanted everyone to know how smart I was it was…like the one thing about myself that I was proud of I guess–and man it’s a big mistake. I’m able to listen, synthesize and feed-back what seems to be happening in a way that makes sense.
DESIGN KRYPTONITE
Bullying. People can steamroller me. I hire good people, let them do what they do, and try not to interfere. My worst characteristic is that I’m not always strong enough with my people. I’m better with clients. I’m not afraid of clients–it’s mainly people that I’m close to, and I don’t want to confront them.
SUPERHERO NAME
Zeld Man
HOW DO YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR USERS?
It’s a combination of listening, research, testing, and also just gut instinct. I don’t want to underrate gut instinct. I think you have to have a tremendous instinct as a designer, and say I wouldn’t do it this way. And then you have to test those assumptions because you’re often wrong. The longer we’re designers, the more we think differently about other people and therefore the natural way we would do something isn’t the way that everyone else would do it. You have to have a feeling for what things work, and then you have to test. I think we underestimate users a lot.
FUTURE OF UX
I think all the principles we’ve been discussing are going to stay the same. We’re still going to be facilitating people uploading their own content and interacting with their friends’ content. We’re still going to be facilitating people watching professional content, and reading professional content. There’ll be a continual blurring of the the lines between both. More wearables, smaller screens like watches. They’re going to be more things we interact with using part of our bodies. Where we interact without looking at something. There will be many more sensors in place to make people’s lives easier, more convenient and more fulfilling. Those are the challenges. The other challenges are keeping it human. I think we’re going to have to be protecting people, and liberating and empowering, but not enslaving. And that’s always tricky.
HABIT OF SUCCESS
Writing. I would not know what I believed if I didn’t write it down and express it. I wouldn’t have design opinions. I love instincts and working on instincts, but I really need to use words to just step back from the trance of doing design as a physical practice.
BEST ADVICE
Don’t be discouraged. Don’t stop. And don’t settle.
USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.
Design for Real Life with Eric Meyer & Sara Wachter-Boettcher
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Design for Real Life is a profound and inspiring book. The more things become automated and robotic, the more evident the need to remain human becomes. This book compels us to strive to stay human especially in our approach to how we design for other humans. It deeply challenges the long-held status-quo of resistance to serving so-called edge-cases in our work. It shines a floodlight on our biases that prevent us from looking at the harmful effects our design decisions can have on others when they lack thoughtfulness, compassion & empathy.
Sara Wachter-Boettcher is a content strategy consultant, writer, and the former editor-in-chief of A List Apart. She is the author of Content Everywhere from Rosenfeld Media. She’s also a frequent conference speaker and content strategy workshop facilitator. She’s lived in South Philly for three years, but has still never had a cheesesteak.
Eric Meyer has been working on the web since late 1993 and is an internationally recognized expert on HTML, CSS, and web standards. He’s a widely read author and the founder of Complex Spiral Consulting. He’s technical lead at Rebecca’s Gift, non-profit organization dedicated to providing healing family vacations after the death of a child. He’s also the co-founder of one of my favorite Web conferences…An Event Apart. His first paying gig was working the fry station at a very busy McDonald’s.
USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.
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.
[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
USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.
