visceraldesign

[visceraldesign]

Do something, do a little, everyday.

[visceraldesign]

Wondering where are the people like me?

I think they might be in a certain park.

Maybe I feel lonely sometimes, like the things I'm interested in, other people aren't. Or the people I want to keep up with me, can't keep up with me. So I keep it all to myself, in my head. And I'm just living in my head, wishing I could dedicate more time to the things I'm really interested in and not feel so bad about it. Or like I wish I could talk to someone about it, but no one is really interested.

Maybe it's my own fault for not speaking out more about it. But why speak out about stuff when no one really listens or asks questions about it? Then I'm just talking to myself. I do that already in my head.

[visceraldesign]

One A Day

This past week was very, packed. As I reflect on it, as I process it, I want to write something. Find some way to identify the moments.

Sunday.

I left my mountains, I flew to Zurich on a quick flight, landed and rushed to my plane — when are there so many Americans here? I do my passport switch-a-roo to go through Euro border patrol and skim past the American agents. This always makes me feel spy-ish. I sit in my seat on the plane. The lady to my right looks pretty interested in getting more gin and tonics. I work like a madwoman for 8ish hours. I sleep for maybe 30 minutes. Soon we can see the Bay under us, I start to feel really tired. I take Bart into the city, check into my hotel and then go get food with D at a Chinese spot. She's very chatty. I feel like a bad conversationalist, as I'm severely jet-lagged.

Monday.

Rise and shine at 3am. I semi-fall back asleep for a bit later, then re-wake up around 5? I think I'll go for a run. Oh wait, I have some early meetings. I rush to the office. I prep a few more things. I'm thankful I worked on the plane. I have a presentation on an internal process project I'm working on— it goes alright. I get a decent amount of feedback, I'll figure that out later, I think.

I find a brewed coffee, thank God. N and I catch up on a walk around the Salesforce Park. It's great.

I go back to the desk, I work on some stuff for the next day, I talk with D and Ar, I run into the M of MARS on the stairs and the big M. I see the A team PMs. It's a lot. I go back to the hotel. I go for a run. Then D and I go get dinner at a mediocre place, I eat some weird tofu, and hope I don't get sick.

Tuesday.

I wake up again at 3 am. I wasted some time, tried to sleep again, and eventually decided to walk to the office. I arrive early and get a brewed coffee from Blue Barrel. I decided to make a presentation for the day — what if I need it? I rush a bit, throw some designs in. All the pieces are there.

D and I request an Uber, and it's the scariest Uber of my life. I'm thankful D is talking, and I'm half distracted. We arrive alive and a little nauseous. It's 10 degrees hotter. We wait inside a very nice, quiet, glassy office. Then we meet our partner, who leads us into a meeting room. We have a little time, and then the two other partners, Seven and Swallow, arrive. They both seem really nice. They'd seen my video that I sent over before this workshop — so we're all on the same page.

They are particularly interested in the design decisions around a specific feature. We dive into it in detail. We spent 1.5 hours talking about it. Despite the feedback, they seem excited. Seven says something about "Don't get me wrong, this is a good concept" as if to say, despite all this feedback I'm giving you, the idea is good. The thread of the idea is clearly there. Eventually, I move us along to other topics — they seem less excited. It's all good. We finish up. I have a lot of feedback.

I go for a run in the evening. It's windy. We go out for Tacos with the team.

Wednesday.

I wake up again around 3 am. Since I have a lot to do, I'll arrive at the office by 5 a.m. I dive right into my work. I then have a series of meetings with people, both impromptu and planned. I managed to squeeze in a design review. I'm starting to feel behind. I eventually focus hardcore with my headphones on.

I take what was in my head and put it on paper. I had all these things floating around from my session on Tuesday, and I could finally make sense of them. It feels good. I am starting to feel stoked. "This is the coolest thing I've ever worked on," I think. I'm lost in it. Eventually, D finds me, and I think she is concerned. I've been at the office too long. We spiral on topics, then move on, and end the day.

I go for a run. I get Uber Eats.

Thursday.

I wake up a bit later. I go into the office a bit later. I'm feeling slow. Wednesday took it out of me. I hope my work is good, but looking at it now, I feel apathetic. I'm not so sure. I always want things to be better. Now that I look at it, it feels kind of boring.

D and I head out. Workshop day 2. We stop by the visitor center, and it's nice. D asks if I'm okay. I'm a bit quiet, maybe my face is wrong. Is my face wrong? We meet there with Seven and two others, let's call them Dove and Loren. I take a deep breath. The pressure hits me a bit, but I feel prepared. I dive in.

I feel more in control today. I'm leading the way, but it feels natural. The updates are well-received. I get a lot of good feedback.

At one point, Loren says something about this being "iconic". I feel good about my work again, and I agree with him. I have a headache, I worry about finishing the session too early, I keep pushing on topics for us to discuss before we close up.

We're going out for Sushi later with our team. D gives me a compliment in front of my teammates about how I did today. Something about being extremely prepared and clear, and able to present on any topic related to the project.

Friday.

I wake up at a semi-normal time. I get a brewed coffee. I prep a few things, and I'm a bit rushed. We all meet up at 1pm. I could have prepped a bit more. Whatever. I'm used to this now. It's hard to read their faces and the vibe. My storytelling isn't quite as good this time around. I charge through. There are some questions throughout. Is this going well?

Towards the end, I figured it out. "This is brilliant", the big boss says.

I did it.

----

I feel surprised. Pretty happy. I'm really impressed with myself. Pretty confident. Curious. Very curious.

What else can I do?

[visceraldesign]

Greatness is often adjacent to wrongness

Bad is what challenges our assumptions. Bad is how we learn.

Bad is uncomfortable. Bad feels like I made a big mistake. But bad is how I learn. What did I learn?

key actions combined with mutable chrome is a risky combination and needs to be thoroughly tested

safe areas need to me emphasized when users are in motion

easy of tapping is not always the goal — sometimes friction to tap is needed depending on the consequence of the action

Also, test test test

[visceraldesign]

Take the emotion that you're scared of.

Now think about what that emotion makes you do.

Realize that avoiding that emotion actually makes you live in it.

You're afraid of climbing.

So you avoid climbing.

So you remain afraid of climbing.

[visceraldesign]

goal:

build my own app this year

buy a house?

run a marathon (on a trail)

something else...brewing

[visceraldesign]

There's a power in letting go

You can care so much about something, but that won't improve it. Sometimes, you have to let something go. It's easy to want to regret something and go back and rework it, or to feel like you did it wrong and be uncertain about the outcome.

There's a freedom in failure. And really, if I want to be my best, I have to fail. If I only create things that are successful, I'll never push the boundaries of what I can do. I'll never really know if any of my wild ideas are good or not. There is no such thing as perfect. And when you're creating something new, you're exposing yourself to failure. Sure, it's safer to copy, and it's probably overall more likely to be useable, but it's not going to change anything.

[visceraldesign]

There's some running documentary where the big egos of sprinters talk smack to each other but always seem resilient . It's like their fighter spirits don't let them ever self doubt even if, as an observer, you KNOW that only 1 of them will get gold and the rest will live.

At one point, a sprinter says "Why should I expect other people to believe in me, if I don't believe in myself?"

If you don't believe that you can win, that you can get approval on something, that you can climb the route without falling, that you can run a marathon, then how would you expect anyone else to believe in you?

We think about ourselves more than others think about us. Think about that. People generally take you at your word. They aren't picking you a part. They are thinking about themselves.

Your super power is your ability to believe in yourself and have that reflected in the world around you. If you believe you can, then others will too.

[visceraldesign]

I always hated those sayings like "Accept that you are responsible for {insert some outcome you feel victimized about}" because it never felt like it considered the bigger picture.

Now I find myself saying "Accept that you are responsible for {some outcome}". Why? Well, I have found that when I accept this responsibility, I take greater control over whatever scenario it is I'm facing, and the outcome is either: A) better B) something I can learn from

When I don't accept that I'm responsible, the outcome could be anything and the variables that resulted in the outcome are too many. I don't have a framework to improve upon. I'm stuck with my audience, some group of people or situation that's too complicated to resolve. I think the core of this statement to accept responsibility is really to just accept that the only person you can control is yourself.

If that's true then, waiting, relying or hoping that other people align to what needs to get done or the best outcome is futile. You don't know that they will. They might. They might also be having a bad day. They might also care more about themselves than you. Who knows.

The core of this statement to accept responsibility is really to just prepare and think. If you can only control yourself and you can't control others, how can you influence an outcome?

You can be a strategist. A tactician. An experimenter. You can out-anticipate people. You can guide them. You can do all of this ONLY if you first accept that you are in control of you. And you are responsible for what you do, and you are responsible for the outcome. And anyone who comes into your circle is joining in on your extreme sense of self-ownership, and they are participating in what you invited them into.

[visceraldesign]

Grow

How can I grow if I remain the same? If I do not push myself?

[visceraldesign]

Holding my own key

I hold the key to my limitations. I can unlock my limitations. I can sit with my emotions. My emotions are messengers that help me. Other people who push me and trigger an emotional response in me help me. They help me to learn more about myself. It's a hard lesson when I experience an emotional response as a result of someone else. My instinct is to be defensive. But I know I should not be defensive. Defensiveness is weakness. It's the inability to consider another. It's the inability to challenge yourself. It's the inability to see the big picture. Curiousity might be the cure to defensiveness. When I feel defensive, I should remain curious. When I feel these emotional responses, I am afraid. I have fear. Fear is my teacher.

[visceraldesign]

In 2021, I worked for a small start-up where I was the only designer and female. I had been interviewing at a few other companies, feeling that my 3 years at the start-up had helped me grow, but I was seeking a more significant challenge.

My partner jokingly (or not jokingly) sent me a job post for a company based in the Alps. Why not, I thought. I applied and heard back a few weeks later: "Designer, we loved your cover letter, but we are specifically looking for someone with extensive mobile UI/UX experience, and this did not come through from the information you sent." I wrote back, "I have some highly mobile-focused UI/UX projects I will be adding to my portfolio soon that I think you all will enjoy." 5 interviews later, and the rest is history, I had a job offer in hand. Except for one problem. I had signed a very thorough, legally binding non-compete at my small start-up in the state of X before non-compete became illegal. How would this shake out?

I got scared. After giving my notice and receiving a bad reaction from my bosses when they heard where I was going, I hired a lawyer to help me figure it out. I started taking notes about all conversations. I stayed tight-lipped. I removed any proprietary documents from my computers. I had a few meetings in my last week of said start-up where I felt really terrible, was threatened legally, and was even told that my new CEO "knew the start-up and was poaching me to get at my current start-up CEO". Maybe I was just a pawn in some greater game.

There were offers to keep me to stay.

Well F it. I left anyway. After I saw that side of them, I couldn't stay. Then my partner and I moved across the world to a town we had never even visited to start a new life.

[visceraldesign]

Always leave things better than you found them

Make every idea your very best, even if it's your absolute worst idea

No one owns ideas. Share them freely

Helping other people succeed helps you succeed

If something takes you less than 15 minutes, do it now instead of waiting to do it later

Set your future self up for success. Anticipate tomorrow

The simplest solution is often the most correct

Have strong opinions. Hold them loosely

Every interaction with another person is an opportunity to learn more about them and more about yourself

Iterate on yourself and your processes

How you do anything is how you do everything

Work smarter, not harder

Small steps lead to big change. Focus on the challenge in front of you.

Follow the work. Take every opportunity. Be grateful.

If you want to make something out of something that already exists, you must first take it completely apart to fully understand it and attempt to make it again

[visceraldesign]

Storytelling

There are frameworks for telling a story.

SOAR - Scenario, Obstacle, Action, Result

Narative arc:

Beginning

why are we doing this, how does this fit into the product story / defining the product strategy, context

Middle

what went through your design, what you did to approach it, various solutions, designed many different solutions

Climax

What you shared with users, what you learned, what you changed, why

End

The design

Hero story

Leadership calls, user have needs,

Refusal of the project - should we do this?

Consult the data, are you committing?

Commit

Constraints, user testing

Design and ship

Increased metrics

Better products better you

Undeniable story Start from the solution —

SEEING — start with the vision

FEELING — what are the obstacles between you and that vision

Make them feel how they can help you remove those obstacles

BELIEVING

Share the data, shape the opportunity, how much money, etc

[visceraldesign]

"How to Format a Strong Design Review"

It will come as no surprise that Design Leadership thoroughly enjoys and praises the Live team's Design Reviews, mostly because of your epic data-driven work, story-telling and presentation skills, Marcea.

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First all, what are you struggling with? What's the problem we need to solve?

I feel nervous, I get scared, I don't execute how I want to

people focus on the wrongs things

we're not getting designs through / approved

I can't manage the feedback that I get

THEM

What do you know about who will be there? What are their anxieties? What are their motivations?

Think of a design review as an experiment

YOU

You can't control other peoples feelings, emotions or how their day is going, but you can control yourself.

Practice, run through it, re-watch it. Critique yourself. Does your story make sense? Can you make it simpler?

Watch your old design reviews. Where did things fall apart?

Anticipate reactions based on what you know about THEM — pull those anticipations into your design review. Will someone dump feedback on you about everything because they are worried this is their last chance? Let them know they have another chance.

Think of a design review as an experiment - this is not a critique of you. This is a moment to see how people react to something they see visually, and you're in control. This a moment to test your own hypothesis (your design) and find out if you have any gaps. This is a moment to grow and discover what you can do better.

Close the gaps. My motto for design reviews is that they should never be the same as the last time I did one. Always aim to make your next design review better than your last one. Iterate like you iterate on designs.

Blaze

0 notes

[visceraldesign]

is design

just social engineering?

[visceraldesign]

I don't feel immortal. And I don't feel perminant. I don't care about legacy, not really. There is no such thing as a legacy. We are all little fireflies. We have our moment to shine and then we burn away.

Maybe this is sad. Sometimes it feels sad to me too. I know other people feel it's sad. But it's not that sad to me.

To me, it feels right. It feels natural. It feels like an inclination I've had my whole life. Like I want to disappear. Like I'm drawn to disappearing. Like I try to disappear now, while I'm still alive.

How I feel the best when I'm completely alone and completely focused.

How I think about death at the end...how I want to be put into the earth and decompose. How I want all traces of me to disappear. Nothing digital to remember me by. Not even a pixel. Maybe I will be forgotten. Maybe I won't have many friends by then and no one will know who I am. But that's okay. I don't die for other people, I will die for me. I will die brave. I will die knowing I did not make anyone else die. I will die knowing I'm dying like all the people who went before me.

Have you ever been fascinated by the contents of a pimple? Or something really nasty about yourself and your body? Apparently that's called a death complex. It's a fascination with something about decay. It's the more socially acceptable form of it.

There's something about society that feels like, we all just don't want to die. And we're all trying to constantly avoid it. And socially, it's not acceptable to say you're okay with it.

But what if we changed that. And what if dying wasn't so scary. What if it was like the old days, this tradition that we all took part of, not a sad thing, but a time to celebrate, celebrate someones life and then move on, and the only thing that remains are your memories with them.