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One of the most critical yet overlooked design leadership challenges is ensuring your team has clarity on how to grow. At Doddle, during a pivotal moment of company expansion, I developed our design career and development ladder from scratch, not as a checkbox exercise, but as a tool to retain talent, scale mindfully, …

When discussing user experience, the focus often revolves around enhancing the experience for end-users—those who interact with consumer-facing applications for shopping, entertainment, or social media. The team’s goals typically aim to reduce the number of individuals who abandon the checkout process, minimise the time it takes to reach the next weekly streak with …

Let’s make this straight. Collaboration isn’t about doing a brainstorming exercise and forgetting that it has even happened. I know workshops sometimes feel like a never-ending episode of a typical reality show (my go-to is RuPaul's Drag Race). We are all in there to make a good show, but at the same time, …

How many of you remember the Spices Girls or Backstreet Boys? The late '90s and early 2000s were dominated by iconic girl and boy bands. We couldn't get enough of them. I remember those teenage years, locked in my bedroom, belting out their tunes and perfecting their dance moves (or at least trying …

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 …

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 …

‘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 …

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, …

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. …

  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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

  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. …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …