Cara Marin’s Post

If your 1:1s feel more like a status update than a conversation, you may need to rethink how you're running them. Here are some of my considerations when running 1:1s - - Focus on mentorship, not tactical discussions (no status updates here) - Actively listen and don't do most of the talking - Invite vulnerability by being vulnerable with your own goals and challenges - Set an example for what to prepare by sending your notes in advance - Choose cadence based on the needs of my report (junior = shorter, more frequent meetings and senior = longer, less frequent meetings.) What are your considerations when running 1:1s? How do you make sure they're valuable for everyone involved?

At the end of each customer research session, I always ask if I can take a screenshot - just for internal use in my notes. It's a strange question to ask. But, especially when doing a number of calls, there's a risk of them blending together. I have my notes, of course. But having a picture of what the call looks like makes it easier to load that conversation back up in my brain. Taking a picture also creates a little celebration moment at the end of the call. Most people will smile for the screenshot and we get to celebrate closing out our research session together. Learned this from David Hoang 🙌🏻 Here's a picture from a session where David and I tag-teamed.

It’s always cool to see how people who have a little distance from what you do describe your work. Excited that Stashpad’s earned a place in Tool Finder and, despite being much younger than most tools on there, a pretty high rating.

Amazing to see Jeffrey Tedmori’s pitch for E-Fish, Co on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars on Hulu. E-Fish and Stashpad were in Techstars Anywhere together and I’ve been in awe of Jeff building his business over the last few years. You can’t find fish better than this 🐟🐟🐟

"You're selling healthcare, not software." That's what a Stashpad customer said to me today. He's a small business owner and looks for software that can help him be more efficient with his time. Stashpad decreases friction so it takes less time for him to get instructions from his clients. Reducing friction frees up his time to pursue a better work-life balance while still offering his clients the best possible experience. This means he can reduce stress and improve his health. It's not just docs, it's healthcare. 

Days stacked with back-to-back meetings can feel more like an episode of Survivor than work. 🏝️ You're stuck on an island (at your desk) without knowing when you'll have your next drink of water or meal. You're parched, tired, and maybe getting a little grumpy. Does it have to be this way? No. These are my favorite ways to make back-to-backs more productive and less taxing: - Use the 25 or 50-minute model for meetings to leave a buffer for note-taking and bio breaks - Request an agenda and don't attend if there isn't one, so you know your time is being used wisely - Set time limits on each topic. Have a timekeeper during the meeting, so you stay on track - Consider different formats, like silent meetings, that help support documentation / note-taking - Use a parking lot for important tangents - Write in a collaborative doc that gets out of the way and is easy to format as you type (like Stashpad Docs!)

Anyone looking for help with this, Ģirts Graudiņš has been one of our most helpful beta testers of new features at Stashpad. He'll help you take your QA / software quality thinking to the next level.

Although most people who use Stashpad are technical, some of our most passionate users aren't. And they love Markdown. Markdown is a simple syntax for formatting text as you write without leaving your keyboard. There's a *very* small set of rules so it's easy to learn. And once you get the hang of it, you can write without any need to use your mouse to click on toolbars and break your flow. It's especially helpful when you're writing a lot - e.g. in back-to-back meetings or during brain-dumps. Because it lets you focus on what you're writing, not how you're writing it. To make it easy to learn Markdown, we've put together a Tiny Markdown Course. It's a one-week email-based course that teaches you markdown in less than 100 words / day. So if you want to learn Markdown or brush up on your skills, try it out and let us know what you think.

Writing without spell check is a feature, not a bug. When we asked people why they don't use Stashpad, the lack of spell check came up again and again. But, writing without spell check is a feature, not a bug. Seeing typos and mispellings causes people to hesitate when writing because they don't want to look or feel stupid. E.g. is it "beachhead, beech head, beach head?" It breaks your flow. Spell check is valuable before sharing a doc (but can get in the way of writing). That's why spell check is now available in Stashpad Docs, but only when you want it.