Newsletter 2.0 (now with links, quotes, memes, videos, and events)


Dear Reader,

Jeff here...Today, we're trying something different with the newsletter.

For the last two years, Hannah and I have been writing this weekly advice column for you and over 5,000 designers.

It's been a wild ride...from late-night cramming to early-morning writing sessions to beautiful feedback and encouragement that makes it all worth it.

This advice letter has been a weekly reminder for us to keep innovating, but the Fountain Institute is becoming more than just Hannah and I...

The community of designers around the Fountain Institute is our real value so we thought--it's time for our newsletter to grow with the community.

Introducing the newsletter2.0...(final_final_but_not_really)

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🦾 AI-powered post-its
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Today, Miro launched an AI version of its popular white-boarding tool (shared by Jerome Bertrand)
​Learn more​

πŸŒ… Non-managerial career path
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Staff Design explores how individual contributors are exploring careers at the highest level and has some great resources
(shared by Anja Lena)
​Learn more​

πŸ’° Paid Figma plugins
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Figma just launched a section in their resources page with paid items
​Learn more​

🧠 How to be a facilitator
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Hannah Baker just published an article on how and why you should build skills as a design facilitator
​Learn more​

Apply to join the Guild of Working Designers here.

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from Henry Mintzberg, an excellent source for design strategy
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Share this quote on Instagram​

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​Source, shared by Rana Fathi in the Guild​

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Learn to create a winning strategy in UX

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Learn how to initiate systemic change within an organization, whether a small team or a large city.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

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Learn how to build a winning UX or product strategy that aligns design with business.

April 17-May 8, 2023

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Until next week!

Jeff Humble
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Designer & Co-Founder
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The Fountain Institute

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P.S. We'd love some feedback on the new newsletter. Hit reply and let us know what you think!

The Fountain Institute

The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.

Read more from The Fountain Institute

Does the Double Diamond make sense for AI-enabled teams? by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, For twenty years, the Double Diamond has been our north star. Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. It's elegant. It's teachable. It's in every junior's UX case study. And it made sense…when it was created. All that upfront research made economic sense when coding was the most expensive part of the process. Better to get it right before handoff because it's expensive for engineering to make changes later. But...

People surrounded by bright question and exclamation marks, representing uncertainty and judgment.

When Frameworks Fail and Gut Feelings Take Over By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, You know that moment when the data looks clear, the framework is airtight, and yet something in your stomach says, don’t do it? That’s judgment, the quiet, inconvenient voice that shows up when the evidence has already spoken. It’s also the thing most of us struggle to explain, even though our careers depend on it. Businesses love reasoning. We build frameworks to make decisions look rational, dashboards to make them...

Last-Minute Halloween Costumes for Designers πŸŽƒ by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, It's time to expose your designer trauma to the whole world. It’s that time of year again, when we’re forced to stop nudging rectangles long enough to remember Halloween exists, and suddenly we need a costume tonight. But fear not! While normal humans panic-buy cat ears from a drugstore, we designers do what we do best: turn our professional pain into content. Here are 9 last-minute costumes for brave designers. 1. UX...