Hello Reader,
Last week, I did something I probably should have done earlier this year: I took a week off. I spent most of the week repairing old windows in our house. While it might not sound like your typical way to relax, I tend to find that doing things that are far removed from designing digital products is the most relaxing.
Before I took off, I posted a thing called “The Importance of Kindness and Alignment in Building Exceptional Teams”. Perhaps you haven’t seen it yet and find it interesting.
What have you been up to this summer? Hit reply and let me know!
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Other Updates
- I’ve been eyeing this Paid Design Advice service from Anthony Hobday for a while and reached out to a couple of coaching clients to see if something like this would resonate. It did! So I’m trying async coaching/feedback now with a couple of select clients. Is this something you’d be interested in if I launch this? Let me know!
- I don’t have a ton of “data and metrics” about who all of you are, so this might be totally irrelevant. However, if anyone else is playing Premier League Fantasy League, I created a league for all of us. Come watch me lose!​
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2x newsletters, 2x links
- My friend Aaron recently started a quest to write at least 100 words for 100 consecutive days. I have been loving them so far!
- What does a UX (actually) designer do?
Four years ago, Maureen signed up for my newsletter and asked me a very valid question: what does a UX designer actually do? I did my best to answer her question here - which then became one of my most-read posts.
Since then, Maureen has made great strides in her career and with her own newsletter. If you’re looking for great content and thoughts on building products, Maureen’s newsletter is one of the few I’ve stayed subscribed to for years. Subscribe here​ - ​The ROI of Branding: Best Practices for a High-Impact Project​
- ​What is Simple?​
- Ok, one more: Why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter​
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Quote
“Some designers are amazing at imagining things, but not as amazing at imagining them surrounded by the universe. That beautiful thing you’re working on, it lives in a window on your monitor tucked under a title bar, and that’s as tricky as it gets. What if you can’t imagine your thing in its final context? What if you aren’t great at predicting human behaviors other than your own? What if you push a worst-case scenario out of your mind because you like your idea so much that it’s “at least worth trying”? (I’ve done this!) Maybe you’ve forgotten how you would goof around with your friends to make them laugh way back when. Or maybe, a little bit sadly, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to experience the world as a kid. Not everyone will, or can, have these skills.”
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​Fantasy meets reality​
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Until next time,
Anton