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
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Why Your Portfolio Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It) By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, Let’s talk about a harsh truth: Your UX portfolio might be the least important thing in your job search. Yep, I said it. You spent hours making sure it showcases your best work. You structured your case studies just right. You ensured your problem statements, research insights, and solutions flowed together. And yet… hiring managers are ghosting you like a bad Hinge date. Well, the problem isn’t your...

slack growth graph dau paid users

Chasing Competitors Instead of User Needs by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Have you ever had a CEO who was overly obsessed with beating the competition? I know I have. You may not have realized exactly how this can be toxic. So, I'd like to help you out with two case studies. Here is a tale of two companies and how they handled the competition. The first took a company-first approach while the second took a user-first approach. It goes like this... Company-First: The Rise & Fall of Google+ Google+...