The Halloween Meme Special 🎃 by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, This year, I went a little crazy with the Spirit of Halloween designer memes. I could only find three on Google, so I made nine new ones for you. 🤓 Now, you have no excuse for showing up to work without a costume. I'm sure you can steal anything you need to make these costumes from the office supplies closet. 🫢 1. UX Designer by Jeff Humble Making this one was too easy. How are there so many clichés in the UX world? 2. Service Designer...
21 days ago • 2 min read
How Miro’s New Features Help Designers Move from Ideas to Action By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, If you’re a regular, you know the drill: every year, the biggest players reveal their latest tricks and tools, aiming to change the way we work. This time, it was Miro’s turn with Canvas '24, rolling out the Innovation Workspace with many new features that promise to take our workshops, meetings, and design sessions to new heights. You might be a die-hard FigJam fan, but for those like me who live...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
The Biggest Hurdle in Strategic Projects by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Strategic projects can fall into a million difficulties, but one hurdle takes down more designers than any other, and the sooner you prepare for it, the better. What is the hurdle? It’s the possibility that your strategic deliverable will be ignored entirely. Why strategic projects fail…🦗 We often start strategic projects with too much optimism. After bumbling around for a few months trying to figure out how to align your...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Secret to Better Feedback: A Two-Way Approach By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Ever been in a feedback session that felt... one-sided? You’re sitting there, listening to a barrage of opinions, and you start wondering—Is this even useful? The truth is, feedback can feel overwhelming when it’s not treated as a dialogue. That's because feedback is a two-way street. It's not just about one person talking and the other listening; it's about exchanging ideas that help both parties grow. The best...
2 months ago • 3 min read
5 Ways to Do Strategic Research by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, You may have done some user research and thought, what does the next level of research project look like? Well, strategy research is a good example. It can help you see how advanced research can look for any project, not just strategy. Here are five activities of strategy research to give you an idea of how you can go beyond user research: 1.) Understanding Market Dynamics Are you fighting the next wave or riding it? Markets...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Essential Tools for Better Prioritization By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Picture this: You’re sitting in a conference room, surrounded by your team. The whiteboard is filled with sticky notes, each representing a different feature idea for your next product release. The room is buzzing with energy, but as the conversation unfolds, you notice a pattern—certain voices dominate the discussion. Popular ideas quickly gain momentum, while quieter team members struggle to have their suggestions heard....
3 months ago • 3 min read
Improve Any Strategy With the 4 D's by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, I teach a strategy course for designers, where one of my jobs is giving feedback on strategies. And it is NOT an easy task. After years of evaluating strategies, I've developed four checks that I use to ensure that a strategy is as effective as possible. I think they will give you some insights into strategy design in general. Check your strategy with 4 questions by Jeff Humble Differentiation: Strategy should be about doing...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Figma AI & Your New Design Title by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Last week, Figma made some big AI announcements that caused quite a controversy. Welcome to the dystopian world of design called: Figma's Big Announcement This year, AI was all over the Config conference with much-needed updates like background removal, AI-generated layer naming, and automated prototyping. However, the real game-changer was the 'Make Design' feature. Imagine being able to generate interfaces from text prompts. Sure,...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Real-Life Lessons in Co-Creation for Designers By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Have you ever faced the challenge of aligning a diverse team to create a unified vision? It's a common struggle for designers who aim to create products that resonate deeply with their users and business goals. Recently, I embarked on such a journey with the Guild of Working Designers to refresh our community approach. Today, I will provide an in-depth look at our process, challenges, and insights, showcasing how...
5 months ago • 4 min read