Derek Van Oss

Most designers are trained to present work to our peers, but as your career matures, your audience expands to include many other departments who don’t speak “design”. This article resonated with me and offers some sage advice about the use of storytelling and a “business lens” to craft more compelling presentations. #ProductDesign #Storytelling #UserResearch #BusinessObjectives

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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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My top 3 project selection tips for design leaders doing portfolio presentations: 1. Pick projects that have a good mix of what you did directly plus what the team did. Very rarely is anyone looking for a pure people manager while hiring a design leader. Your personal contributions need to stand out in your work. It doesn’t have to be IC work (but if you do that, show it). It could be a doc you wrote, an insight you uncovered, a strategy you formulated etc. Differentiate between what you did yourself, what you directed the team to do, and things the team might have driven independently. Make this distinction clear as you present your portfolio. People want to see you can do smart stuff yourself, can direct a team well, but will also build a high functioning team that does good work. Also, if you would like I can do a separate post in these 3 modes of operation for any design leader. 2. Pick projects based on the role you’re applying for. It doesn’t have to be and most certainly won’t be a 100% match. But for example, if what the team needs is scaling a successful product, pick examples where you enabled scale. This needs to be deeper than “I’m applying for fintech so here’s another fintech project”. Your project selection should show you understand the challenges for the company and have transferrable skills. 3. Pick projects where you can show both macro and micro user insights. Scale the macro according to your seniority and level. For example, if you’re applying for a Director role, you better have projects that show you driving user insights at Director scale (for instance something that drove resourcing decisions). At the same time, the project should also show micro insights appropriate to role. For example, key interaction design flows redone by your team for the goal. Or even things like font/color selection and how that drove impact. Use these guidelines and apply the filter for what fits with your past experience and this new role. If you have the same portfolio presentation for completely different roles, something is off somewhere. You only need to present 2-3 projects in a presentation, pick the most appropriate ones. If this sounds complicated and like a lot of work, it is. Project selection is THE foundation for how your presentation will play out.

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💥 Dropping this visual essay which is based on my talk at UX+ Conference Manila last year. It's a good way to catch up on the talk - but in written format. It covers a bunch of stories and practical lessons explaining what UX principles are and how to write them. 💪🏽 Do have a look and DM me any feedback or comments I would love to know what you think thanks so much!! #design #ux #writing #uxprinciples

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Anyone have UX/Usability research or articles on "DSV" or digital signatures best practices? This has been around for a LONG time now, and I don't want to believe that Docusign is the gold standard... is it? #UXResearch #DigitalSignatures #BestPractices #Usability

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If we're not talking about design maturity, agile process, or craft, then us designers are probably talking about ✨quality.✨ I certainly see my interviewer's eyes light up when I mention this magical word. "Design is the one that has to hold the quality bar," I tell them. But what if that didn't have to be true? For a truly high-quality product, I don't think it should be design holding the line. It has to be something baked into the organization - everyone holds the quality bar. Even though "quality" is a slippery thing to define, if we can define it and hold ourselves to it, we can reduce the tension in the org and start to think less about the mere baseline quality for the product and more about raising that bar - delighting the user. I very much enjoyed Luke Anthony Firth's take on how they folded quality into their product building process. Have a read! https://lnkd.in/g4SenmYZ #designleadership #productprocess #productdesign #productquality #designquality #opentowork

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As a designer with over 20 years of experience, three resources have profoundly impacted my career: Dan Mall's talk "Should Designers?..," Josh Clark's article "Only One Deliverable Matters," and Joshua Seiden's book "Outcomes Over Output." For years, I took immense pride in the pixel-perfect design comps I meticulously crafted. But these resources challenged me to rethink what truly matters in our field. Dan Mall posed a critical question: "Should designers?" This simple yet powerful inquiry pushed me to consider when and where my skills are most valuable, ensuring that my contributions are always intentional and aligned with the bigger picture. Dan reminded me that while developers can create a website without a designer, a designer can’t create a website without a developer. This insight helped me refocus on what truly drives value in our work. In 2018, Joshua Clark taught me that it's not about the plethora of design deliverables we produce—it's about the single, most impactful thing: the working software. My CEO doesn’t care about the dozens of Figma frames and Miro boards I create; he cares about the business outcomes our team’s software delivers. Clark emphasizes that while we often focus on creating numerous artifacts like wireframes, prototypes, and design comps, these are merely means to an end. The ultimate goal is to create a functional, user-friendly product that delivers real value to users. This lesson was a turning point, prompting me to prioritize the end product over the process. In 2021, Josh Seiden’s book continued to shift my focus from the tangible outputs of my work to the outcomes they generate. It's not just about what we create; it's about the difference our work makes in the lives of users. Over time, I've come to realize that creating design comps is only a small part of our role. Understanding the problem, validating our designs to ensure they meet the proposed outcomes, and building relationships and trust with our stakeholders are just as important—if not more—than the comps themselves. These lessons have transformed the way I perceive my craft. I'm no longer just a designer creating beautiful interfaces; I'm a strategist focused on meaningful outcomes and collaboration. My skills include user research, workshop facilitation, prototyping, usability testing, and visual design—whatever it takes to make our product owner and tech team successful in delivering positive outcomes. The partnership with the product owner and developers fosters trust and collaboration, ultimately earning a valued position within the team—not by demanding it, but through consistent contributions. If you're a fellow designer, I encourage you to think beyond the pixels and dive deeper into the impact your work can have. #ProductDesign #UX #OutcomesOverOutput #Agile #Collaboration #CareerGrowth

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