Sabrina Fonseca

Great reminder on looking out for more valuable folks when it comes to UX. There are so many great UX folks that are not just talking but also walking the walk and created more meaningful methods and frameworks. Which UX pros are you following or get inspiration from? https://lnkd.in/ggwcSgrJ

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⏱ “Just in time accessibility docs” I think I’ve been doing it all wrong. As we build out our design system, we’ve been continuing to add lengthy accessibility documentation to each of our components, check. But is it actually helpful? → W3C Guidelines are verbose and many of the guidelines become redundant once the component has been built. → Text based documentation can be hard to visualize without examples or access to assistive technology. → While components may test accessible in isolation, new issues come up when components are used in context. 👏 Some folks who are doing it right that we're trying to learn from at Exygy → Carbon design system from IBM provides context specific tips for both designers and developers. The guidelines they provide act as quick implementation checklists. https://lnkd.in/gbmeJe5F → GOLD Design System by Design System AU is really unique in the way that it provides accessibility previews of components. I really dig how they simulate keyboard navigation and color blindness! https://lnkd.in/gDBgUiyN → USWDS from GSA goes above and beyond any system that I have seen by providing accessibility testing documentation that can be used when doing QA of components in the wild. ...whoa https://lnkd.in/gYP2ptrR 💎 A couple of things our team has taken away from these amazing resources that might be helpful to others: → Focus component documentation on the most "actionable" implementation details for both designers and engineers. → Reserve verbose technical setup requirements for the initial component acceptance criteria. → Experiment with ways to easily preview accessibility options and outputs. → If possible, document how someone could test issues that could come up during ongoing product feature development and QA. 🧙‍♂️ This post was in part inspired by a talk from Dan Mall at the last Figma Config when he referenced "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" to describe the "notes in the margins that help Harry improve his potion skills" as a way to describe better "just in time" design system documentation. If you do actually need the verbose stuff for component acceptance criteria you can always get it here: → W3C Authoring practices guide https://lnkd.in/g_MUENbn #accessibility #designsystems #documentation #ui #uidesign

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UX Design for Specialized Domains is something we at Boston UX know a lot about. Check out this great article from my co-worker Dorothy Shamonsky!

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I get asked pretty often what resources are out there that help people break into the UX field. Ryan's great and could offer some really good well informed insights. if you're curious about some interview prep, give this a look

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Wondering why startups should invest in UX design and why the current UX hiring market sucks? Wonder no more: https://lnkd.in/eeJzmrNH Genuinely let me know what you think, I'm trying to improve my writing constantly, as well as my understanding of why UX matters :)

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How do design system teams prove their value? Finding hard metrics around the impact of design system teams has historically been a challenge. A year ago, I met the design system team at Eventbrite who could confidently say that they saved 534 days of engineering effort with their design system. Here's their calculation: Time spent to develop a component pre-design system - time spent to install the design system component = Time saved In order to extrapolate this number, though, you need to know how many times a component has been used. And, that used to require a savvy dev on the team to build something custom. That's no longer the case. We built something at zeroheight that will allow you to track component use in a single repo or across all of your repos. This should help teams show how valuable they are, plus do things like: see which components to prioritize based on use see which product teams are adopting As an added bonus, anyone using the new feature set can also monitor design system packages, allowing them to quickly see which teams are using outdated packages. On a personal note, I'm hoping with data like this, more teams can confidently quantify their impact. And along the way, we'll get better as design system practitioners at identifying the right things to work on. This new feature set is in beta and totally free. Even if you aren't using zeroheight to document your design system, you can use it. Takes like 15 minutes and you've got rich data. Here's the sign up:

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I’m noticing a peculiar design related anti-pattern of sorts in the post ZIRP economic environment. It’s where companies have the budget to staff design talent, albeit in lower numbers, but the development budget is so limited that teams are unable to implement the work designers produce. This is the third economic downturn I’ve experienced and we always get pendulum swings. In this one, there seems to be a bias toward austerity and implementing the least expensive solution.

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As a design leader, I've always been driven by a company's vision and mission. It's deeply meaningful to me, and I've found joy in igniting that same passion in others by sharing our North Star. Over the years, I've come to realise that nothing is more fundamental than the essence of a brand itself. Inspiring others stems from a shared understanding of who we are and why we do what we do throughout the entire organisation. But how do we achieve this alignment? Sometimes, big changes don't require massive efforts. Investing just three hours in the right discussion with the right people can lead to transformative outcomes. The Brand Sprint: a concise three-hour brainstorming session aimed at making tangible what "our brand" truly represents. Surprisingly, there's a lack of accessible templates for this process. So, I created one myself. In my latest video, I walk you through it and share some valuable insights. Feel free to utilise it and share your feedback.

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Someone has to say it! Tobias saying it makes it even more legit. Meet and work with a lot of young folks who are looking for mentors at workplace thinking they would be hand held at every step. While guides are there, one needs to walk the path and grind towards a path set by the mentor. Things don’t happen on their own. Blaming is another aspect of design folks where stakeholders are held responsible for what’s happening around them without introspecting why is it happening and what one can do to change that behaviour around by using design frameworks and improving the craft on a daily basis. So much of entitlement will never get us anywhere. #designlife

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Like sellouts, many unemployable UX "thought leaders" prioritize telling businesses what they want to hear over what is best for the business, the product/service or customers. There's a significant shift away from focusing on quality in design and user experience, favoring quick production and fake testing instead. I argue that prioritizing profit over ethical considerations has led to serious societal harms, like; Boeing, Teflon scandal, Tesla and OxyContin. Individuals who challenge harmful business practices risk being marginalized or labeled as troublemakers, especially during periods of corporate restructuring or in a downturn. "If you stand in the gap between a business doing harm to the customer, you're going to be labeled as someone who's a problem and you're going to be on your way out. Especially when there's multiple rounds of layoffs. They identify the potential whistleblowers and they're like, okay, we got a boy scout over here on team X. We need to get rid of this guy. He's talking about people's feelings and, doing right by them 'n stuff. I don't know what all this empathy shit is, but we need to get rid of it post-haste because THAT doesn't sound like profit." —Me With Jennifer Blatz. #UXLeaders #Ethics #UserExperience #CX https://lnkd.in/gMFJxnaK

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Most designers are trained to present work to our peers, but as your career matures, your audience expands to include many other departments who don’t speak “design”. This article resonated with me and offers some sage advice about the use of storytelling and a “business lens” to craft more compelling presentations. #ProductDesign #Storytelling #UserResearch #BusinessObjectives

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I'm a firm believer that in UX, you can transform all plain and boring "must-haves" of an app into fun and engaging experiences. For example, let’s look at error messages. By error messages, I refer to those often red messages we see when we incorrectly fill out a form field. For the longest time, apps and websites used robotic messages like “invalid input” to communicate any type of error. Lately, companies have been doing a better job at making them sound more human-like. However, we can enhance the experience a bit more. Let's say a user tries to log into a section of an app to which they have no access rights. A plain robotic message would say something like "Unauthorized access." A more human-like message would say something like, "It appears you may not have access to this area. Please check your permissions or contact support.” A more fun approach would be: "Ahoy! It seems you've stumbled into uncharted waters. Maybe check your map, or get the right clearance to sail these seas!” Of course, a funny tone might not work for all kinds of apps. My point is that it's okay to break the "rules" a bit and give users that extra something that will make them feel like you are talking to them, not just everybody 😉

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Really annoyed at Figma's price gouging here. There is no reason other than greed: https://lnkd.in/gfdrEiWH Oh, and I emailed them about it and this line from their reply was particularly poignant: "Additionally the minimum for enterprise is a $5k invoice minimum. 6 enterprise seats or made up with other products." To put that in context... our monthly Adobe bill (for 8 CC, 7 PS, 6 Acrobat licenses) is ~NZ$2k... Amazing how quickly enshittification sets in... #Figma #Design #SoftwareLicensing

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Worth reading through this article on the ever important topic of Accessibility. https://lnkd.in/e8JamZSS #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

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🎨 Attention Design Leaders in Transition! 🎨 Recently, several design leaders have reached out to me seeking coaching but found 1-to-1 sessions hard to justify while between jobs. This sparked an idea: why not offer small group coaching sessions tailored specifically for design leaders on the job hunt? These sessions would provide: - Affordable Expertise: Access to high-quality coaching without the full cost of individual sessions. - Community Support: Connect with peers in similar situations, sharing insights and encouragement. - Focused Growth: Develop your leadership skills and prepare for your next opportunity. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Would you be interested in joining a group like this? #DesignLeadership #GroupCoaching #CareerTransition #ProfessionalDevelopment #JobHunt #DesignCommunity

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My top 3 project selection tips for design leaders doing portfolio presentations: 1. Pick projects that have a good mix of what you did directly plus what the team did. Very rarely is anyone looking for a pure people manager while hiring a design leader. Your personal contributions need to stand out in your work. It doesn’t have to be IC work (but if you do that, show it). It could be a doc you wrote, an insight you uncovered, a strategy you formulated etc. Differentiate between what you did yourself, what you directed the team to do, and things the team might have driven independently. Make this distinction clear as you present your portfolio. People want to see you can do smart stuff yourself, can direct a team well, but will also build a high functioning team that does good work. Also, if you would like I can do a separate post in these 3 modes of operation for any design leader. 2. Pick projects based on the role you’re applying for. It doesn’t have to be and most certainly won’t be a 100% match. But for example, if what the team needs is scaling a successful product, pick examples where you enabled scale. This needs to be deeper than “I’m applying for fintech so here’s another fintech project”. Your project selection should show you understand the challenges for the company and have transferrable skills. 3. Pick projects where you can show both macro and micro user insights. Scale the macro according to your seniority and level. For example, if you’re applying for a Director role, you better have projects that show you driving user insights at Director scale (for instance something that drove resourcing decisions). At the same time, the project should also show micro insights appropriate to role. For example, key interaction design flows redone by your team for the goal. Or even things like font/color selection and how that drove impact. Use these guidelines and apply the filter for what fits with your past experience and this new role. If you have the same portfolio presentation for completely different roles, something is off somewhere. You only need to present 2-3 projects in a presentation, pick the most appropriate ones. If this sounds complicated and like a lot of work, it is. Project selection is THE foundation for how your presentation will play out.

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Join me and my guest, Sarah Doody, for Episode 137 of the #DesignThinking 101 #Podcast: Designing Your Career + UX for Small Business. Listen to it here: https://bit.ly/45lUCgN #CareerPlanning #UX #UserExperience

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The second part of my article on the value of explicit design rules is here. In it I dive head first into example in layout, position, ordering padding and margins with examples from various design tools. In the end of this part there's also a treasure trove of links to other insightful people writing on adjacent subjects. Hope you find it interesting and be swayed to try tools that allow for more expressive explicit design rules. https://lnkd.in/dmGpUHU6

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In my 20+ years of design experience the term "pain points" has been consistently used and understood by designers, strategists, PMs, and developers on functional and collaboratives teams. It has NOT stood for the narrow definition that is described below. When someone didn't understand or mis-defined the term, the team would educate them and we would be aligned again. In my opinion, the statement below is another example of folks outside of our process co-opting design language, misunderstanding, and mis-using it. Why is the first response not to correct, educate, and take back ownership of our terminology? Why must we always be told we need to change our language because others corrupt and degrade it. I'm so frustrated by this trend. It is telling stakeholders that they have no obligation to try to educate themselves on design - a practice they want/need to be involved. It's sending a message that design is not a serious discipline, we are not experts, and that we can/should be pushed around.

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