Travis Wettroth

If we're not talking about design maturity, agile process, or craft, then us designers are probably talking about ✨quality.✨ I certainly see my interviewer's eyes light up when I mention this magical word. "Design is the one that has to hold the quality bar," I tell them. But what if that didn't have to be true? For a truly high-quality product, I don't think it should be design holding the line. It has to be something baked into the organization - everyone holds the quality bar. Even though "quality" is a slippery thing to define, if we can define it and hold ourselves to it, we can reduce the tension in the org and start to think less about the mere baseline quality for the product and more about raising that bar - delighting the user. I very much enjoyed Luke Anthony Firth's take on how they folded quality into their product building process. Have a read! https://lnkd.in/g4SenmYZ #designleadership #productprocess #productdesign #productquality #designquality #opentowork

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Worth reading this article on how Patagonia leverages Figma and Figjam to increase collaboration. https://lnkd.in/ejYZRuv6 #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

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Design Technologists, such a good topic, PJ Onori and I wanted to bring on friend Donnie D'Amato BFA., MA. for the convo. Back when we all started, it was a skill set I had dabbled with, but only with HTML/CSS. Donnie and PJ go head-to-head to talk about their roles as different types of design technologist/ux engineer and how this role is essential for product design and XFN growth, specifically if they can sit with design systems teams. #designsystems #podcast #designengineer #designtechnologist #productdesign #react #html #css

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I’m noticing a peculiar design related anti-pattern of sorts in the post ZIRP economic environment. It’s where companies have the budget to staff design talent, albeit in lower numbers, but the development budget is so limited that teams are unable to implement the work designers produce. This is the third economic downturn I’ve experienced and we always get pendulum swings. In this one, there seems to be a bias toward austerity and implementing the least expensive solution.

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At a talk at Figma Config, Nate Baldwin emphasizes the collaborative essence of design systems, stating, “Valuable opinions are not formed in isolation.” 🔁 He highlights the necessity of building and iteratively refining a framework to allow designers to contribute effectively. ✅ For those interested in the strategic development of design systems, Baldwin’s insights are invaluable. I recommend watching his full discussion for a deeper understanding of this iterative and collaborative process. Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/gNV3Jr7X #DesignSystems

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Senior designers are in high demand, but only a few stand out. Here are 5 insights from leading a design staffing agency: 1. Less demand for researchers, more for strategic roles 2. Requests for specialized roles like “design producers” 3. Tons of applications, but only a few match our criteria 4. More demand for permanent, not contracting roles 5. Most positions are private, and only shared with us A few examples of our previous searches are: - A ResearchOps lead, not a DesignOps lead - System(s) designer specialized in tokens - Head of Design for a 20+ design team - Fractional brand designer for an early-stage startup The market for designers evolves quickly. More specific demands than in 2023. - Many permanent roles - Fewer research roles - Many specific roles Companies want generalists. But select for specialists.

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Designers - are you being asked to provide measurable proof of how your work impacts business outcomes with metrics? Are you unsure of what to measure, when and how? Being able to assess the impact of your design decisions can not only have a positive effect on your product and end users, but is also a skill increasingly in demand for design roles. Recently, I wrote an article on this very topic, "How design teams can use product data to add value to the business" (https://lnkd.in/gYreMBm9 ). Today I'm excited to announce the release of part 2 on this topic, "6 ways Pendo's design team uses Pendo to add more value to the platform - and the business" (https://lnkd.in/gTgj2dmJ). Check it out! #DesignMetrics #BusinessOutcomes #ProductData #DesignTeams #Pendo

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🌟The Power of Sketching in UX Design: Elevating Concepts to Solutions 🌟 Exciting read about the importance of sketching in the UX design process! Here are the key takeaways from the article "Real Designers Sketch" by Nate Schloesser: 🚀 Idea Exploration: Rapidly explore multiple concepts to reach innovative solutions. 📚 Communication: Use sketches as a universal language to convey complex ideas effectively. 💡 Concept Over Visuals: Focus on the concept, encouraging open discussions and reducing tension. 🔄 Agility: Enable quick iterations for rapid design evolution based on feedback. 🤝 Collaboration: Foster a collaborative environment by democratizing the design process. 🔍 Problem-Solving: Visualize pain points and solutions with powerful sketching tools. It's time to debunk the misconceptions around sketching and embrace it as a versatile and essential practice in UX design. Remember, sketching is not just for artists - it's a tool for all designers to transform initial ideas into clear and innovative solutions. Let's elevate our design work from pixel-pushing to true design thinking by incorporating sketching into our process! Share your thoughts on how sketching has impacted your design work and let's start a conversation on the power of sketching in UX design. Keep sketching, keep innovating! 💭💡 💬 Share your thoughts on how sketching has influenced your design process! #uxdesign #productdesign #sketching #designthinking --- Incorporate sketching into your design process today! 🎨💡 #designthinking #uxdesign #productdesign https://lnkd.in/eSVHDCJB

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I recently participated in the design hiring process, allowing me to observe how many designers set up resumes and portfolios. One thing that immediately stood out was the framework some designers used to stand out: setting up the Goal, Problem, and Solution of a portfolio piece. https://buff.ly/3VfdRFp #DesignCommunication #Jobs #ProductDesign #UX

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It's one of my favorite design interview videos. Legendary designer Dieter Rams visited ArtCenter College of Design ten years ago to discuss the questions designers care about most. I like mostly those four questions and responses below, which are still meaningful to designers today. 💎📝See all reorganized interview content: https://lnkd.in/gzfHNtpH. ➡1.  Was there a moment of feeling like you’ve “made it” as a successful designer?  👏Dieter Rams: I wasn’t thinking that ever. A good designer should always be aware that you are not good. And constantly try to be a little bit better. ➡2.   Would you change any of your design principles today? 👏Dieter Rams: I came to the decision by myself to change nothing.😃 I never said those principles should be written in stone, and they should be flexible enough. But still, I don't want to change anything today. The reason behind that is I still believe something is unchangeable. Yes, we have to look at what's going on around us. The world is changing, and design has to look at those changes. But we must be honest. We have to do honest things, which is the essential point of my philosophy. What I've always fought for in my life is to come back to the simple things. We don't need all unnecessary stuff. We must concentrate on basic necessary things, such as products. The essential things in life remain the same; our main objective is still to eliminate unnecessary things that represent the core of basic human life.  Back to simplicity, that's also what Steve Jobs and da Vinci did. ➡3.   Which companies today are doing a really good job? 👏 Dieter Rams: I don't know. Today, May It's Apple. Apple products are very simple and very small. Apple and Braun's designs are examples; with the help of design, the company can become worldwide now. In 1955, Gillette's president was surprised that Braun, in a relatively short time, became known worldwide with the help of design. So he wants to learn something from it. Companies like Olivetti and Apple were fighting for good design as always; they also became very successful worldwide companies. It tells us that design can help make our world a little bit better and help a company succeed. ➡4.  How important is it for designers to get into politics? 👏 It doesn't mean designers should be politicians. But we designers should grow the ability to influence politicians. When I was a student, we didn't like Raymond Loewy Styling😂. But I read about Raymond Loewy and learned he was very good at connecting with influential people like Kennedy. He was working with Kennedy to change the world. He had good international connections in the U.S., Russia, and elsewhere. He was president of the German Design Association. It was a surprise for me and amazing. He leveraged those social connections' ability to change the world through design. https://lnkd.in/gt2X3Xj6

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Etsy was recently seen A/B testing AND eventually shipping a more visible search with the help of a higher contrast orange background button color (instead of a ghost-like icon only approach). Full screenshots: https://lnkd.in/gVJThW3W Now I don't work for Etsy (as much as I'd love to design some experiments for/with them) so we can't see the actual numbers beyond this feint probabilistic residue from the public domain. However, the amazing Andrey Andreev who runs experiments at Metro recently ran a very similar one and shared a solid result on GoodUI - with a positive impact to sales and searches. N = 896,009 SRM Check = Pass p-val on Increased Sales = 0.0139 (I know some people might like this to be even lower for a primary metric; but there is also reinforcing evidence on increased searches with an even lower p value at "ultra stat-sig" levels using Ron Kohavi's language; p < 0.00000001). I inverted the a/b test and categorized it under the Filled Vs Ghost Button pattern - further weakening the ghosts and strengthening the high contrast filled button styles on multiple metrics. https://lnkd.in/gmD8Exvc Thanks Andrey for a somewhat of an unintended replication, as I know your source of inspiration came from somewhere else on this one. :) Have you tested anything similar or different. If so, what did you discover? I'd be super curious to see more examples where increases to search have either ❌ failed or ✅ succeeded. Please share independent of outcome. ps. We also have a handful of similar "visible search" experiments where companies tested adding or hiding search: https://lnkd.in/gvWqzrK5 - further supporting this direction. [EDIT]: Note the additional confounders / variables in the Metro test - a stronger border, a change in background color of the search box as per Jakob Nielsen comment. They may be similar along the lines of the increased visibility theme - but possible additional variables nevertheless. #experimentation #ecommerce #replication #optimization #ui #ux

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The uncomfortable truth about being a designer Design tools? Check. Mockups? Check. Prototypes? Check. Interviews? Check. Workshops? Check. These are the *easy* parts of being a designer. The hard parts? Generating $5M+ in market opportunity. Getting a company to use YOUR design system. Measuring the real impact of YOUR design. These are the things they don't teach you in design school. The things that keep you up at night. The things that make you question everything. But, here's the thing: The hard parts are the most important. You can learn how to use a design tool in a week. What will you do when you've worked on 100+ products, but none of them paid off? If you can't measure your impact, you're clueless. It’s like solving a complex math equation but not knowing what the answer means. So, what do you need to focus on to be a great designer? - Business acumen - Communication skills - Strategy - Analytics Become competent in these areas, and you’ll become unstoppable. #designcommunity #ux #design #uxdesign

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Product designers are busy people. They've got endless folks asking for endless things... endlessly. And then the design systems team is all up in their joint asking them to use components... It's not a surprise that people can get a little fatigued. It seems quite reasonable if you ask me. In our latest episode, Davy Fung and I discuss fatigue, its causes and ways to either avoid or blunt it. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/g7TZWiqv #design #designsystems #fatigue

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Isn't it strange how the types of process materials in portfolios is different than how real work is done in UX? I talk about what materials we commonly see in portfolios that are never used in real work, then I talk about some that we really do use. https://lnkd.in/g45JT7Qk

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If you are a UX Researcher (or just in UX) and curious about how to put together a good portfolio, this article sheds some light on the topic and has some great examples to use as inspiration.

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Someone has to say it! Tobias saying it makes it even more legit. Meet and work with a lot of young folks who are looking for mentors at workplace thinking they would be hand held at every step. While guides are there, one needs to walk the path and grind towards a path set by the mentor. Things don’t happen on their own. Blaming is another aspect of design folks where stakeholders are held responsible for what’s happening around them without introspecting why is it happening and what one can do to change that behaviour around by using design frameworks and improving the craft on a daily basis. So much of entitlement will never get us anywhere. #designlife

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Great article explaining design systems and how best to use them.

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Product designers often experience ambiguity in their roles. One might see themselves as a mid-level designer at one point and as a senior designer at another, depending on their industry experience. Additionally, the organizational culture can influence the perception of their role. For example, someone might hold the title of design lead but have minimal impact on the company's direction. Understanding your actual role requires a clear idea of the progression ladder. Your skills, contributions to the business, communication channels, leadership, and responsibilities all help define your role. The Progression Framework site provides a detailed overview of the skills and responsibilities associated with each role. You can find the link in the first comment.

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With over 7,500+ views within less than a month, my recent article published in UX Collective has been saved by over 1000 designers in their design lists on Medium. https://lnkd.in/gx64VpQH This article talks about minimizing the efforts on design and development to create better design systems for your product via utilizing a single set of scale for multiple purposes like dimension, padding and margins, border width and radius, and much more... Please give it a read and let me know your feedback and suggestions.

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