TB Bardlavens

Early in my design career I was incredibly narrow minded 😤 I looked at other digital products and questioned why their design was so bad. "Their design team must SUCK". And yet it was me that sucked 😄 I was oblivious to all the factors that went into that design. I knew nothing about: ❌ How good UX plays into commercial goals ❌ How technical limitations can impact solutions ❌ How to focus effort on what's really going to make a difference ❌ How the reality of digital design is that it's often in a state of flux ❌ How not everything has to be perfect all the time And so I was happy to just blame it on the designers. The truth is it probably made me feel better about the fact that I wasn't the best designer. But in hindsight, I was just stopping myself from being better, faster. The more I dug into areas outside of design, the more I realised the errors in my judgements. I branched out and learnt to: 1️⃣ Write Code I learnt HTML, CSS and JS so I could understand the cost of certain design decisions, even at a very high level. 👉 Recommended Reading: Patrick Morgan on how to understand technical complexity as a #uxdesigner https://lnkd.in/ej5Y22bY 2️⃣ Understand Business I got into conversations with Product Managers and other stakeholders to understand what their Commercial goals were and why 👉 Recommended Reading: Dave Huber on how to demonstrate business value as a UX Designer https://lnkd.in/ef3M-_Md 3️⃣ Read Data I setup goals and dashboards in Google Analytics and learnt SQL to query databases in Tableau. 4️⃣ Listen More Instead of making poorly informed, snap judgements on the output of others, I learnt to ask questions and listen. In the space of 12 months, these 4 things made me a FAR better designer than if I'd have stuck religiously to practicing design in terms of pure output. So to all you #designers out there - I encourage you to go wide in your understanding of design + business, not just deep into design only.

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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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More UX and Product leaders need to hear Diana DeMarco Brown (she/her)'s wisdom. Diana is a pioneer in the UX field who takes a thoughtful and nuanced approach to assessing the current state of the tech industry. In our recent conversation, Diana shared many insights, including: - How to evaluate a company's culture during the hiring process - Why private equity ownership can result in design divestment - How Product and UX leaders can effectively influence business decisions - Why we don't need to panic with the rise of AI, but we need to think critically and prioritize regulation during this early stage Link to our full conversation: https://lnkd.in/eemDimVb

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Diversity in design isn't just a buzzword—it's a business imperative. 🌈 As a hiring manager, I've seen firsthand how diverse teams boost creativity, product quality, and profitability. I believe in building teams that reflect our users and bring fresh perspectives to every project. How do you ensure fairness during the hiring process when you have to look at portfolios? Here is my perspective on the challenges of inclusive hiring. #DiversityInDesign #InclusiveHiring #TeamBuilding

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Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)! A day set aside to focus on digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people alive today who live with disabilities or impairments. A key designerly behavior is being an advocate for others - actively representing and championing the interests and needs of people, especially in their absence. All people. Including those with disabilities. In my consulting past, I’ve worked with companies across industries and of different sizes. There were a few companies that had employees focused on digital accessibility, and ever fewer who had employees with disabilities on those teams. But the vast majority of companies still do not. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮? Here are a few ways I’ve seen people kick-start accessibility efforts: ✔Find like minded advocates - Employee Resource Groups (ERGs / BRGs) are a good place to start. ✔Identify an executive sponsor - their support will be invaluable for digital accessibility initiatives. ✔Company-wide awareness - it may be hard to believe, but many people are unaware of the impact of lack of digital accessibility. ✔Hire a trusted accessibility vendor / partner - in some companies, it may be easier to get that approved than to hire a new employee. ✔Sign up for accessibility training that is tailored for different teams involved in designing, building, and testing digital experiences. ✔Find ways to embed accessibility in the design & development process. ✔Conduct periodic manual accessibility audits for your sites and apps. After each major release or at least once a year. ✔Prioritize and fix those accessibility defects uncovered by the audits. ✔Track these ongoing efforts to improve digital accessibility. 3 things to keep in mind about accessibility: 💬𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗔 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 “The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives. How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?” - Steve Krug (Don't Make Me Think) 💬𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 “Prioritizing accessibility on your website may take longer initially, but as the team becomes familiar with best practices, it becomes as second nature as the other tools, processes, and practices they use daily.” - Jeff Adams, CPACC 💬𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 “I'm a broken record about progress over perfection in accessibility and disability inclusion. It leads to a little change versus doing nothing. I’d take a little over nothing. Wouldn’t you?” - Meryl Evans, CPACC (deaf) Being an advocate for others is a designerly behavior. Today is a great day to start being an A11y! Attend a GAAD event today - link in comments.

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We all know how this AI feels about PRACTICE. I wrote an article for Medium's Generative AI publication about how UXers can harness the other AI who is thrilled to be your interview practice partner. https://lnkd.in/ej39PzkG As UX pros, we know the power of a stellar user interview. But how do you ensure you're always at the top of your game? The secret weapon? Dry runs, powered by the magic of voice-to-AI tools. 🎙️🤖 In my latest article, "Elevate Your User Interviews: The Power of Practice & Voice-to-AI Tools," I dive deep into why this combo is a game-changer: Conquer nerves and boost confidence: Practice makes perfect, even for seasoned researchers. Refine your questions: Get instant feedback and craft the perfect script. Perfect your flow: Ensure smooth transitions and optimal timing. Tech check for success: Avoid embarrassing glitches during the real deal. Adapt to the unexpected: Practice handling curveballs with grace. Plus, I share a step-by-step guide on how to leverage voice-to-AI tools to create realistic simulations, practice with diverse personas, and get instant feedback. It's like having your own personal interview coach, available 24/7! Ready to unlock the full potential of your user interviews? Dive into the article and start your journey to UX interview mastery today! #UXresearch #UserInterviews #AI #VoiceToAI #PracticeMakesPerfect

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Over the years I've tried many approaches to design critiques with the teams I've managed. Without fail these 4 simple principles impact the effectiveness of design critiques greater than anything else when established as ground rules. For presenters: ✦ Describe the problem you're solving ✦ State the target audience* ✦ Specify the feedback you're seeking All of the above can be done in less than a minute, either verbally or in written format. For participants: ✦ Ask questions before comments "I think you should go with blue instead of red" is less effective than first asking "Why did you choose red for this?" The additional context that comes from asking questions will lead to more effective feedback. Design critiques are the easiest and most important thing design teams can do to improve design quality. Alone they are not a silver bullet. But they are the foundation for all other improvements to design quality. If you're not holding regular design critiques (usually weekly), this is step 1 for improving design quality. If you're already holding regular design critiques but not doing the 4 principles above well, this is step 1 for improving your design critiques. Better critiques. Better quality. * "Everyone" is rarely acceptable as the target audience. Even if the feature being presented is intended for everyone, 99% of the time there's a specific segment or archetype you're aiming for. #design #critiques #quality

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Had a fantastic conversation on  UserTesting's Insights Unlocked podcast with Lija Hogan and Mike McDowell! We dug deep into the difference between outputs and outcomes in product development, and why it’s crucial for product teams to focus on creating behavioral change that truly benefits users. I also shared some thoughts on the ethical use of interventions, how AI can help us understand users better, and practical frameworks from my book "Bridging Intention to Impact". If you’re into user-centered design, this episode is packed with insights on how to align product goals with user outcomes. Take a listen! https://lnkd.in/gaWdkhzP #UserExperience #BehavioralScience #AIinTech #ProductStrategy #InsightsUnlocked #EthicalDesign

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