Author: Raffaele Di Meo
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How to get hired as a junior designer in 2024
Strategies on how to stand out as a junior designer in a saturated design market Last week, I was asked to speak at a great meetup event from the amazing design community called The Clan. I had a great time meeting many new designers and discussing the industry. We had a great chat that covered a…
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Hiring, lip service and inclusion
I’ve spent my life not fitting into any group, and then when it comes to work, they want me to be a cultural fit, whatever that means. I am queer, working class, and a migrant. When it comes to work, I rarely find people like me in the same room, especially now that I am…
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Don’t be fooled by Figma ‘make design’ new AI feature
‘Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got I am still I am still Jenny from the block.’ That’s how the chorus of a famous J Lo song goes. I am a kid of the ’00s, but I believe this song’s message of staying true to your roots while evolving resonates with the design…
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Great design isn’t pixel perfect
I am a perfectionist, and I admit that. Is this my best or worst quality? Maybe it’s both. It’s a trait that defines a lot of who I am, not only professionally, but also personally. There’s a sense of validation that comes when you get something done to perfection that everyone enjoys. However, how far…
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If you are working in silo, you aren’t making an impact.
Just before the end of the year, I worked closer to marketing and sales teams, crafting pitch decks for potential clients. This is not the core job of a product designer in tech, but it does happen, especially when you are in a startup, and to be honest, I find it incredibly useful. As designers,…
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Ditch the design process
Have you ever been asked in a job interview, “What’s your design process?”. Let’s get straight to the point. It’s a question that shouldn’t been asked, and the reason for that is simple. Thanks for reading Some Designers! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. It’s ridiculous to think that…
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No one cares about your app, and this is why
Last week, I was having lunch IRL with some colleagues, and we ended up talking about our previous jobs. It made me remember when I worked as a Learning Designer for a large UK retailer designing staff apps. A time when I regularly visited shops to talk to staff, learn from them and observe how…
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This is why you should run field studies
At the beginning of the year, I embarked on a new challenge in my job: creating a new product from scratch. It felt a bit like a sculpture in front of a block of marble. That block can be anything. In the same way, the artist sees something in that block and, bit by bit,…
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Is UX failing us?
This week, I have been doing more IC work than usual. Yep, even though I manage a team, from time to time, I sit in a squad to get discovery and design done. That’s the world of a startup with big ambitions and a small budget! In the last couple of weeks, whilst getting my…
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Building a Customer-Centric culture
You have studied UX design, read books and blogs, taken workshops, and attended conferences. Your LinkedIn timeline is filled with content about UX processes, showing you what’s the ‘new’ way of doing UX design. The pressure in the design world is tangible, and you must ensure you are better than a machine at design. AI…
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Navigating Design Maturity
I want to talk about design maturity, as it has been a heated topic on the old good LinkedIn. I have watched the conversation unfold and learned a lot from what other people shared. It’s a topic close to my heart, as I have worked in businesses without an established UX practice. I have often…
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9 books to start and grow your UX career
Getting into the design industry can be tough, and the information on the web can be overwhelming. Where can you start? What are the best resources available? When I first started my career, I found reading extremely useful. It allowed me to build a language around design, understand the industry and learn new skills I…
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Design critiques are important for teams’ growth
There’s nothing worse than people looking over your shoulder at your work and commenting on the designs open on the screen. If you are a designer, you know the feeling and have experienced it at least once in your career. From your manager or colleagues having a sneak peek at your designs and commenting when…
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Beyond Figma: the true role of a product designer
Want to become a better designer? Close that Figma file and think about the problem you need to solve. Don’t you know the problem? Then do some discovery. I often struggle to explain my job to people outside the tech world. Can you relate? I usually say I design websites and apps, but…
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Why every UX Designer needs a mentor
We all encounter challenging situations in life, and we all have that one friend we can call for support. It’s a relief to know we have someone on our side who can offer guidance, lend an ear, or just let us vent for a bit. When it comes to work, things can get even trickier.…
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Take your design skills to the next level: learn how to facilitate
Facilitation is the most underrated skill in the design world. Being able to facilitate conversations in meetings and workshops is one of the core skills of a Product Designer. You can apply facilitation techniques to conducting user research and/or user interviews to structure the conversation to understand your users’ problems and needs. The same…
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Redefining convenience: a closer look at what customers value most
Consumers don’t want a convenient shopping experience. They want more than that. Convenience is the typical word used to describe what customers seek in their shopping experience. This is often combined with ‘easy to use’ or ‘simplicity’ in the digital world. What does it even mean that consumers want a convenient experience? Nothing. These descriptions…
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Design as a communication tool: why keeping design files up to date is vital for teams
Designs are a great visual representation of how we can solve user problems. We create screens that illustrate what and how technology needs to work to allow users to perform specific tasks as seamlessly as possible. Most importantly, designs are the best way to communicate with teams, ensure we are all on the same page…
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How to give feedback to your team without ‘sandwiching’ it
Creating a culture based on feedback is incredibly valuable for businesses, but it doesn’t happen overnight. We all know that feedback is essential. Whether you are a manager or working in a team, giving constructive feedback is a core factor to working together effectively, and it’s the foundation for building solid relationships. In addition, good…
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Making an impact as a design leader
Design leaders have asked me how I measure the impact of my job, which prompted me to reflect on my work as Head of Design. Every leader strives to make an impact, and I’m no exception. We often equate results with what we ship, but the concept of “done” as a leader isn’t as simple…
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Hey designers, talk business
Most designers start their career in design because they have a strong passion and enthusiasm for the craft, and they have a natural aptitude for creating beautiful, functional designs. Designers are driven by the desire to create something that will bring joy and utility to people’s lives, and this fuels them to create innovative, meaningful…
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What I have learned from 100 hours of mentoring
I have been mentoring and coaching for years because I love helping designers get into the industry or progress in their careers. It’s rewarding and I learn a lot from every single conversation. Helping designers with mock interviews and case studies, I noticed some patterns and started to note them down and categorise them. Here…
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UX Brighton write-up
Last week I attended the UX Brighton conference for the first time. It was the perfect opportunity to meet the design community in Brighton, and being at the Brighton Dome made the event even more special. The overall message of the conference was loud and clear. The design industry has evolved in the past years, and…
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What I have learned from running Design Sprints remotely
If you have landed on this article, I believe you already know what a Design Sprint is. In case you don’t, I’ll cover the basics for you. The Design Sprint is a design process that helps answer critical business questions in 5 days. This was created by Jake Knapp when he worked at Google Ventures…
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Story of a UX Approach
* This is inspired by Stan Reimgen great article
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What makes you a Senior UX Designer?
There’s a lot of talk about titles within the design industry and a lot of confusion about roles and responsibilities. I summarised the comments from a few practitioners on LinkedIn to identify what skills a Senior UX Designer should have. Craft Know how to produce compelling experiences that are usable and delightful for users and…
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Sell your design to clients in 4 steps
I have been in a lot of meetings to present designs to clients or stakeholders and I have realised how important it is to present designs effectively. It doesn’t matter how good or bad your designs are, if you do not engage with the people in the room and you do not talk about the…
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Are personas such a bad thing?
We all have love-hate relationships with people, places, activities and things. I absolutely love London! The million and one cultures, arts, fashion and nightlife. That’s what makes me fall in love with this city over and over again. At the same time, I deeply hate London! The commute when I get crushed on the…
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Should we change the way we recruit participants for Usability Testing?
Today, on my bus journey, I came across a very interesting article from Fabricio Teixeira (founder of UX Collective) on how relevant it is to split participants by gender when conducting user testing. In this article, Fabricio questions if gender affects the results of usability testing and raises doubts around some of the assumptions that…
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How do you challenge a business to achieve best UX decisions?
Has it ever happened to you that a company gives you a problem and tells you how to solve it? This could be fine (I guess) if the business can provide you with previous research that helps you make the right design choices. However, what do you do if the business hasn’t done any research…