A case study — Summary As part of my time at Grubhub, I was tasked by the VP of Design to redesign the existing menu. Over the years, the menu had fallen into disarray — and at the same time, competitors like Doordash and Uber had established certain patterns that users had come to expect. Collaborators …

Or is there an end game? — Figma’s recent introduction of prototyping variables has raised the question of whether the tool has gone too far. Some designers argue that using variables to create more realistic prototypes is a waste of time, while others believe that it is a valuable tool for creating more interactive and engaging experiences. …

A case for loyalty (it’s not what you think) — I recently went to a UX meetup here in Boston, MA. It’s the first in-person meetup I’ve been to since 2019, and it was pretty trippy. Somewhere along the way, in the time void of Covid, I got more experience as a product designer. …

A guide for mentors and mentees — Mentorship comes in many forms. Paid vs. free. Stranger vs. friend. Coworker vs. external. Same career vs. related career. Career vs. spiritual vs. emotional vs. financial, etc. What I’ll be talking about is mentorship within the realm of product design work. My experience with mentorship Before my career in design, I went to music…

Or is light mode the problem? — Debates around the pros and cons of dark mode have been going on for a while now. In fact, research done in the late 1980s by James L. Dannemiller and Benjamin R. Stephens indicated a preference in infants for dark content on light backgrounds. This, along with other studies outlined…

Résumés are not your chance to impress with Figma skills — A common pattern has emerged among the résumés of early-career designers. In their (understandable) desire to take every opportunity to showcase their design skills, their résumés end up looking like colorful messes. Full of brightly colored underlines and text, fonts that are unrecognizable, and iconography everywhere. The thing is, even…

Pursuing mindfulness while working in tech — I’ve been working in tech long enough to know that mindfulness and screens rarely (if ever) mix. I have tried a number of terrific apps designed to help with the practice of mindfulness. (The best two, imo, are Inner Garden and Oak.) However, I’ve had to face the reality that…

Finding problem-alignment as a designer — It’s a tale as old as time. PM (Product Manager) writes a ticket. The ticket goes something like this:

I remember learning at some point (I think in college, in the context of songwriting and music composition) that creatives are always switching between creator and editor. Oftentimes, creators in the modern economy are also their own marketers, social media managers, accountants, and more. The premise is simple — don’t…