Intro to B2B design: How to educate users about difficult or complex concepts — It’s possible to design things that test well but don’t teach users what they need to know. It’s a scenario that some of you may have encountered while user testing onboarding. …

Three simple steps to get started using analytics with user research — Analytics are a powerful tool that designers often overlook, but it can be an excellent source for understanding user's long-term usage, motivation, and goals. In fact, it recently played a significant role in user research for a recent project. The application's usability wasn't the primary research question but about long-term…

Designing to scale can be a critical skill to learn in specific fields — I realized designing for scale was an issue when a user told me they wouldn’t buy our product because of scaling issues during a user test. Since transitioning into the Business-to-business (B2B) product space, I've learned ways to connect with an entirely new audience and domain. Designing for scale is…

Three tips for speeding up user research in small organizations — One of the most complex challenges I had when I moved to designing for startups was adapting user research to the fast-paced environment. User research is often crucial here: when you only have limited resources, you must create products your users want or need. But getting access to users, not…

Understand what job roles care about through ChatGPT — “Let’s talk about that with Bill. He’s the VP of product, so he should be able to help us with that.” My manager said, leading me to yet another unproductive meeting. Whether it’s questions around the design, escalating design ideas, or sharing user research insights, sometimes you’ll find yourself introduced…

Design communication is a soft skill that can drive progress — Design communication, especially around actionable insights, is one of those soft skills that has become important to advancing my design career. I never noticed its impact until I started to be invited to very high-level meetings. …

Startups offer tons of value to designers if you know how to handle the extra work — In this economy, mid-size startups (50–350 people) are the best environments for Junior Designers to accelerate their career growth. After making the switch half a decade ago, I’ve experienced tremendous career growth and helped mentor Junior Designers to do the same. …

Post-user testing questions are often a treasure trove of insights for product strategy. — “What’s the unique selling point of your product?” A Lead Product Designer asked me, and my weak answer made me realize the value of post-user-testing questions. Designing for Business-to-Business (B2B) companies has taught me to dabble in a number of fields beyond my job description. When trying to motivate users…

The power of deep work and how to use it as a designer — The ‘good’ news came at 1 PM on a Friday: A design mockup I created, paired with a proposal, was well-loved in a pitch meeting. Starting Monday, I’d be working on two major projects simultaneously with a deadline of two months. That meant working on two teams, with two product…