Erik Olesund’s Post

I was recently chatting with Eric Anderson about how common it is these days for engineers to rely entirely on PMs and designers to tell them what would make for a great user experience. It's as if many engineers lack (or don't trust their own) taste and product sense. Eric reminded me that back in the day, tech teams didn’t all have specialization between designers, engineers, PMs, etc. Instead, there were many full-stack "technologists". And that aligns with a book I read a few years ago called Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda, a former Apple engineer who designed and built the iPhone keyboard during the golden age of Steve Jobs. Kocienda didn’t have a PM or a designer. He was fully owning the keyboard soup to nuts. He was the PM, the designer and the engineer. I wonder whether we’ll see the pendulum swing back from the current state (hyper-specialization of functions) towards something more like full-stack technologists. This also maps to something Scott Belsky wrote back in 2018 about collapsing talent stacks: “a lot of the magic i’ve observed in teams over the years happens when the talent stack is collapsed - when a designer also codes, when an engineer has a growth hack skill set, when a product leader is great at copy.” My gut tells me that what Belsky observed will continue to be the case, with the most successful 0->1 products and new companies being built by teams that have collapsed talent stacks. Maybe not as collapsed as Kocienda @ Apple but more in that direction than where we sit today.

(Small repost here, as the original post was marked to be connections only.) Last night, I had the great pleasure to talk with Chris Tran; about my career, my position in the industry, and the various things I'm doing. I learned some great things, and had a lot of things I already suspected or knew on another level *reinforced* by someone with even more experience and perspective than me. I'm still ruminating on a lot of it, as it was a fresh professional perspective I was long overdue for. But I can say these things for now: First, our industry has some of the best people in it. When I reflect on the amazing human beings that have gone out of their way to try and be the healing influence our industry needs, I see so many people making the world a better place. I want to be that too. I know how to make games; I've been doing it a while, I've made my own products from scratch and sold units, and I'm constantly finding new hats to wear. Narrative design, level design, gameplay engineering, backend engineering, UI engineering, creative direction- these are all tasks/skills I've had to do multiple times in one capacity or another. Audio is obviously my wheelhouse, when it comes to my subject matter expertise, but I've always said I'm a game designer who got his start doing audio ten years ago. My projects are things I make because they're products that deserves to exist. Chris's great perspective and experience helped me see the action items that were always there, but I didn't have the experience to grip. Until now. I'm going to be a lot more active here now, and doing a lot less work in the shadows. And I'm going to be actively looking for key individuals to partner with on my projects. I'll be asking for advice and feedback from lots of people as I tackle new problems. And I'll do it while trying to build up something truly exciting. Lantern Bay Entertainment, my personal company of many years, is going to be showing some exciting stuff soon.

Designers, if you’ve not yet tuned into Ridd’s Dive Club podcast, this episode is a perfect example of why you should!

🌟 Join the debate: Light Mode vs. Dark Mode! 🌓 As a software engineer, I've noticed that choosing between light and dark mode can spark some lively discussions. Which side are you on? #LightMode #DarkMode #CodingDebates #SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperLife #TechCommunity #UIUX #CodingStyle #Productivity #TechTrends 🖥💡👨🏾💻

I had a great time at the Pixeltree Usabilitree workshop last week. The guys at Pixeltree clearly know their trade, I learned a lot about effective design sprints from that session which we can apply straight away. In my career, I've had the (fortunate?) opportunity to work for tech enterprises which religiously stick to waterfall methods, despite attempts from the tech teams to go agile. Slow processes, 12/18 month build cycles before any feedback and not uncommon for the main stakeholder to have changed their mind by the time it's delivered. "Oh, I forget you were build that - we aren't doing that now... just shelve it". 🤯 Fast design sprints are the key. Involve all the stakeholders, agree a design, test it with stakeholders/potential clients, then the gateway - will this work or not? Not a line of code written. Only a week wasted if it's binned, and lessons learned. What a revelation! I can see why PixelTree are doing so well! Great advice, met great people and ate decent pizza 🍕 Thanks guys for a great evening.

State of Job Opportunities in the Game Industry These days, it seems like everyone wants to be a game developer. Who wouldn't enjoy making games, right? I'm definitely one of those people. The gaming industry has exploded in recent years, becoming the biggest form of entertainment out there. It's growing like crazy every year. In my opinion, it's one of the coolest fields of software engineering to be in. It's fun, it pays well, but it's definitely not a walk in the park. Making a game that people love and actually play is tough. But the rise of indie developers and small teams has changed the game. So, what jobs are hot right now? Well, with everyone glued to their phones, mobile games are huge. That means jobs in quality assurance and testing are pretty important too. But what really matters is keeping up with the fast pace of the industry. Technology is always evolving, and new trends emerge constantly. Staying relevant means staying on top of the latest developments in game design, programming languages, and emerging platforms. It's not just about what's popular now; it's about anticipating what players will want next and being ready to adapt and innovate. Oh, and one more thing – you can work from anywhere, even with studios in other countries. In the end, there are tons of job opportunities in this booming industry. The key is to keep learning and getting better at what you do. If you're unsure, just give it a shot. You might be surprised at where it takes you.                    Thanks for reading today’s post! If you liked what you read, consider joining 50+ other engineers in my newsletter and improve your game development and design skills. Subscribe here → http://bit.ly/42oie31

Why Technical Fixes Get Overlooked in Sprint Planning? Often, engineering tasks get sidelined not due to their lack of importance, but because of a disconnect in communication. Here’s a tale of two approaches: 🔧 Scenario 1: - Engineers highlight "Frame Drops" on the cart screen. - Product teams, unfamiliar with the term, shift focus to redesign the payment screen instead. 🔄 Scenario 2: - Engineers explain how cart screen performance issues lead to higher cart abandonment rates - Product teams immediately see the business cost and prioritize the engineering task. 🔑 The key is in translating technical metrics into business metrics. When both teams understand the direct impact on user experience and revenue, prioritizing becomes seamless. #Engineering #ProductManagement #UserExperience #BusinessImpact #TechCommunication #android #ios #androiddevelopment #softwaredevelopment #softwareengineering #engineering #softwaredeveloper

SUPERSTAR SPOTLIGHT: Navigating the countless systems that comprise the framework of mobile gaming requires a diligent and agile mind, and few engineers bring more of that prowess to the table than our own Software Architect, Evan Thomas. Joining our New York-based team in 2019, Evan quickly brought his years of experience in the software engineering and game development spaces to bear on Tilting Point's growing portfolio. As of today, he is a key designer of our publisher data strategies, integrating multiple disparate technologies into a powerful stack that provides partners with needed product and business insights, rapidly and accurately, across petabytes of data. When Evan began his career at Tilting Point, one of his first major tasks was to develop our framework for technology due diligence, helping studios uncover and understand the pinch points and opportunities for improvements in their tech. As a true engineering journeyman, he built the development processes that allowed us to get all of the cats into a herd, and to keep them together at every step, from technology planning on through to execution and delivery. Thanks to these efforts, developer partners have come to rely on our insights to help their games excel in the mobile marketplace. Within the company, Evan is known not only as an innovator, but as a consistently positive and upbeat presence. Always on hand to chat and to problem solve, his is a familiar face to anyone who's sought out his particular brand of wisdom. A true technical visionary, Evan stands as a leading architect in Tilting Point's arsenal of Superstars, generating fresh ideas and producing stability to help us meet the challenges of a fast-moving industry. Eager to experience Evan's mastery firsthand? Follow Tilting Point's channels to learn more about how you can join our network! #EmployeeSpotlight #coworker #gamesindustry #gamebiz #engineering #software #softwareengineering #softwarearchitect #coding #gametech #innovator #TiltingPoint #raiseyourgame

Evolution of the Mini Studio Project: Now Producing 8 News Programs in Parallel 10 months ago, we shared with you the bold vision of implementing hyperlocalism in the Amazon region through the Mini Studio Project. (https://lnkd.in/dKf9prXn) Hyperlocalism, involving the creation of content deeply rooted in the peculiarities and needs of microregions, was a colossal challenge when applied to the vastness of the Amazon. However, the Rede Amazônica Group embraced this challenge head-on, and the results achieved since then have exceeded our wildest expectations.   From a simple empty room, the project was born that gave rise to 3 mini studios, with a multi-purpose and self-sufficient concept, to provide a news program focused on each microregion of the Amazon. The initial success, despite complaints about the program's aesthetics, served as a launching pad for the continuous evolution of this visionary endeavor. And thus, the "Mini Studio 2.0" was born.   Maintaining the fundamental principle of exploring materials from local and national stores to facilitate maintenance and equipment replacement, we faced the challenge of creating a virtual studio. The high logistical complexity and prohibitive costs of traditional virtual scenarios led us to explore innovative alternatives. The solutions we found were diverse:   • Software for Virtual Scenario: Aximmetry Technologies • Journalism Control: ARION (SNEWS - Automation for News) • Camera and Content Control: Vmix • Control Desk: NEOiDTV • Cyclo Background: Crafted by a local woodworking shop • Chroma Key: Coral Green Paint • Illumination: LED Tubular Technology • PTZ Camera: Sony BRCX400 FreeD   The result exceeded all expectations. Today, with immense pride, we are already producing 8 news programs in parallel, all from our Mini Studios. The capacity to expand even further is always on the horizon, with the possibility of serving up to 12 news programs simultaneously if needed.   The video we are sharing today is a vivid demonstration of what we have achieved so far. Keep following our journey, as the story is just beginning.   #MiniStudio #HyperlocalJournalism #Amazon #RedeAmazonica #Aximmetry #VirtualStudio

If you have been recently affected by the tech downturn as a Designer. This article helps puts things in perspective hang in there folks.