Alyssa Sheehan, Ph.D.

As a design leader, you work for your team—not the other way around. Learn how to keep your #UXteam happy, creative, and always on schedule. https://lnkd.in/eksZbUXM #DesignLeadership #TeamManagement #UXDesign #Productivity

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Usability experts sometimes use the word "bullying" with respect to UI designs. Here is a common and simple example: Bullying design: [Remind me later]  [Buy the product] User-first design: [Remind me later]  [Buy the product] [I'm not interested]

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Designers, do you annotate your wireframes for accessibility? If not, you should. Check out Stéphanie's guide to learn her method for documenting her work. And if you don't yet follow her, you should -- she shares lots of great design resources. #a11y #accessibility #UX #UXDesign #UserExperience #InteractionDesign #VisualDesign #ProductDesign #UserResearch #DesignResearch #FrontEndDev

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Design Systems folks — when was the last time you shipped something that really felt impactful? Design Systems is in a quandary right now: somehow both a necessary part of building UI, and recognized as "not delivering value." DS teams were heavily impacted by layoffs, and as Noelle Lansford said in her great article recently (link in thread): > The teams I spoke with emphasized that there was a significant deficit between what the design system team advertised and what was delivered. However, perhaps the more concerning point they made was: Even if all of the success criteria was met, when it came to downsizing, the design system appeared redundant at best. Yikes. How can we know design systems are a powerful tool for delivering consistency, velocity, and efficiency, and also know that we’re not delivering on that promise? And forget "impact as business value" for a second — doesn’t it just feel good when someone uses your work and turns to you and says, wow, that made my work so much easier, thank you. The reality for a lot of DS practitioners is more like grinding for weeks on a component that maybe one team half-heartedly used – incorrectly? Or writing thousands of words of documentation that nobody looks at. I don't think we're "not shipping impactful work" because we're collectively bad at our jobs, or because design systems don't actually help teams move faster. I think we're focused on the wrong things.

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I'm thrilled to share that my latest product and design discovery article is live on Mind the Product! As a consultant, I've observed that the term 'Discovery' can have varying interpretations across different teams. It's not uncommon to encounter a team deeply immersed in a solution yet lacking a shared understanding of the customer opportunity they're addressing. At Lab Zero, we meet clients where they are and advocate for discovery while maintaining flexibility. We often employ lightweight methodologies to foster a shared understanding, even when work is already underway. Teresa Torres' book “Continuous Discovery Habits” is a guide to developing the mindset and practices that enable teams to discover and deliver value to their customers throughout the product development process. Her explanation of the 'Opportunity Solution Tree' helped me articulate a process for asking questions and bridging gaps when joining a new team. The first part of this two-part series looks at reversing the 'Opportunity Solution Tree' to establish a connection between the ongoing solution, customer opportunities, and business outcomes. The second part (coming soon!) will explore strategies for identifying gaps in your team's understanding of customer needs and the necessary measures to mitigate risks before launch. This series will help consultants, new team members, or a struggling team connect with that all-important why and launch valuable experiences for their customers and their orgs. Have you tried something like this with your team? Feedback is appreciated! If you haven't explored Mind The Product's extensive content library, I highly recommend it! In addition to articles about discovery and understanding customer needs, the community has shared insightful perspectives on product leadership, business, and teams. It's a great place to see perspectives on processes and theories informed by real-world use.  #ProductDiscovery #Design #Discovery #ContinuousDiscovery #Onboarding #Risk #CustomerOpportunity #Value #BusinessOutcomes

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