Chris Becker, MFA

As a design leader, you work for your team—not the other way around. Learn how to keep your #UXteam happy, creative, and always on schedule. https://lnkd.in/eksZbUXM #DesignLeadership #TeamManagement #UXDesign #Productivity

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For an organization committed to the practice of user experience design, the Interaction Design Foundation doesn’t seem to value their own ideology. I’ve been a member for years and recently served as a local leader (of which I resigned a year ago and they have yet to remove me from the role). I’m finding their billing processes to be on the verge of questionable UX practices: ·     My membership increased 31% with no notification before billing. I was told that a single notification had been sent a year ago buried in an email with a subject line of “We have updated our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Pricing Structure.” Do they not realize that subject lines such as this are white noise in people’s inboxes and begs to be deleted without reading? ·     To prevent the upcoming charge, the user must contact the main office and have them remove the store payment details. There is no ability for the user to do this themselves. ·     There is also no option to opt out of recurring charges. This is akin the dark practice of subscription services that lure users with trial period in hopes the user will forget to cancel before the period expires.   ·     The user can cancel their membership. However, the user loses access to all materials, content, and account details even though the user has prepaid for the upcoming year. This entices the user to delay cancelling only to encounter the same pain points the following year. ·     User is sent an invoice AFTER the charge has been applied. No notification of upcoming billings. ·     When asked to refund the membership charge, the admin basically responded with “The reason we’re unable to offer a refund guarantee on the renewal of memberships is that we already have a money-back guarantee after sign-up . . . we’d have to charge higher prices if we offered unlimited refunds and that’s why we make our policies crystal-clear, doing everything in our power to ensure members understand our fair terms.” This statement basically has the overtone of: It’s not that our communication and user experience is insufficient, it’s the user’s fault. IDF needs to reassess their membership and billing practices if they want to maintain any integrity in the field. As a hiring manager, I do not look at organizational memberships as having any influence in hiring decisions.  My advice for those wanting to increase their knowledge and break into design, rather than pay a yearly $264 membership fee, there are many free resources, podcasts, and articles that will help you achieve the same results. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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As a UX researchers, we often talk with clients about the nuanced differences and distinctions between UX research and market research, and help them determine which suits their needs best. While there are important differences in approach and outcomes between these two broad types of research, they aren't mutually exclusive. When done well, by collaborative pros, they complement each other. We explored some of nuances between UX and market research in this recent blog post. Take a look and let us know what your experiences have been with this distinction! https://buff.ly/3VWJK5Z

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Federated design systems are great. In theory. But reality is a little more complicated. There are challenges associated with quality, consistency and follow through. In our latest episode, Davy Fung and I discuss the highs and lows of federated design systems. What's worked, what hasn't and how to come out the other side in one piece. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/g4W3SYqR #designsystems #podcast

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This d.MBA episode shares a ton of great nuggets on advocating for design functions and how to have more impact as a designer? #UX #ProductDesign https://buff.ly/47VixoZ

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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 greatest impediment to continued career growth for mid-and-senior-level designers often isn’t their design skills. It's their business acumen. More than ever, organizations want designers who can align their work to the overall strategy and drive impact. And in order for designers to do that, they need to understand how businesses work. In this new, 4-week course, participants will learn the business foundations and strategic frameworks required to more effectively influence strategy, align design work with organizational goals, and become a trusted strategic partner to stakeholders. Intrigued? Go here for more info and to enroll: https://lnkd.in/gyH6kN2X

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Despite years of developing user-centric design methods, there's still a solution-first mentality in senior management. Senior stakeholders, typically won't come from a background in design, sociology or anthropology. They are more likely to have a business degree. Business thinking is all about KPIs, risk management, return on investment, efficiency, etc. They tend to want to deliver something tangible to shareholders, show progress and have something to measure, as their professional career is pegged to these types of achievements. Linear models give them a feeling the universe is deterministic and they are reducing risk. How can organisations become customer-centric? I worked on a couple of projects at Intuit, where they changed their 8,000-person organisation by embedding a Design-for-delight (D4D) culture. They used 'catalysts' to spread the knowledge. Intuit customers visited the office and were on first-name terms with the employees. The story is fascinating about how they changed from a product-led organisation to a customer-centric community. It's an old video, but back in 2011 they were going through a big change that included leadership training in UCD. (26 mins) https://lnkd.in/eV4dqcnn

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Designing design systems: Supporting implementation and adoption https://buff.ly/3Y2OBTi Since every design system is in a “living” state of constant iteration, understanding the best ways to help others implement it takes time and experience. From documentation and communicating updates to encouraging collaboration and triaging feedback, we’ve built practices for supporting ongoing usage across design teams and navigating the inevitable challenges that arise from real-world use cases.Source: Designing design systems: Supporting implementation and adoption | by Adobe Design | Thinking Design | Sep, 2024 | Medium (https://buff.ly/4eZ8O32)

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What power structures are inherent in your design system, and how does it perpetuate these structures? One of my favourite things is having theory (of any kind) applied to something you weren't expecting - here's a great example that properly made my brain fizz (in a good way!)

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This is a great post for designers moving into management/leadership roles. The nature of your job changes dramatically and it's important to figure out the most effective ways to help your team and the company. As noted in the article, it's very easy to have your time consumed by managerial tasks (operational work). Being deliberate about how you want to spend your time, focusing on the change you want to bring about and working consistently towards that end are critical skills to learn. #UX #Design #DesignLeadership https://lnkd.in/e_g4TRJx

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“Free-range” design work where practitioners can use their perceived authority to propose futures and ignore unintended consequences is no longer possible when designers engage in complex situations. A new breed of designers is needed to take responsibility for longer-term future making.

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Fact: Diverse design teams are faster, more efficient, and produce more innovative products.  Why?  Because diverse teams (teams that consist of people with different skillsets, educational backgrounds, and lived experiences) are simply smarter and more creative than homogenous teams. The diversity of skills and expertise in a multidisciplinary team encourages trial and error and challenging the status quo. This stimulates new kinds of learning and thinking, potentially resulting in breakthrough design solutions that would not have been possible with a single-discipline team. Ready to delve deeper? Read our full article, “Why Multidisciplinary Teams Create Design Better Products”: https://hubs.la/Q02xKCyt0  ---- Hello. We're Delve, a product innovation firm. We help companies bring bold ideas to market through human-centered expertise—strategy, design, engineering. Learn more about product design and development services at Delve: https://hubs.la/Q02xKt8T0 #DEI #diversityday #productdesign

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Dark patterns have been a subject of academic and industry scrutiny for over a decade. Initial studies focused on identifying and categorizing these patterns, with Brignull's taxonomy of dark patterns being one of the most cited frameworks. His taxonomy includes categories such as "Sneak into Basket," "Roach Motel," and "Forced Continuity," each describing different manipulative tactics used in digital interfaces (Brignull, 2010). A report by Gray et al. (2018) emphasized that dark patterns are not limited to isolated cases but are prevalent across various sectors, including e-commerce, social media, and subscription services. The study further identified how these patterns exploit cognitive biases, making it difficult for users to make informed decisions. In 2020, Mathur et al. conducted a large-scale analysis of 11,000 shopping websites, revealing that over 1,800 of them employed dark patterns. This study highlighted the pervasiveness of these practices and their impact on consumer trust (Mathur et al., 2020). Recent studies have expanded on this research, focusing on the ethical implications of dark patterns. A 2022 report by Luguri and Strahilevitz demonstrated how dark patterns could lead to significant financial losses for consumers, particularly those who are less tech-savvy or vulnerable to manipulation (Luguri & Strahilevitz, 2022). The period from 2018 to 2024 saw a significant evolution in the types of dark patterns used in UI/UX design. Early dark patterns were relatively straightforward, such as hidden costs during checkout or pre-ticked boxes for subscriptions. However, as users became more aware of these tactics, designers began employing more sophisticated techniques. #Darkpattern #UIUX #IntercationDesign

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🎉 As Usability Sciences celebrates its 35th anniversary, we’ve been thinking about all the things we’ve learned over the decades of usability testing and user research. To mark the milestone, we thought it would be fitting to compile 35 key lessons that encompass our most salient learnings and best practices. Check out part 1 and discover how our journey can inspire and elevate your UX practice today. Blog linked here: https://bit.ly/3WEXu4J.

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Whether you know it or not, bias is often incorporated into the digital products we create. Here's how to avoid “the dark side” of design and create inclusive experiences: https://bit.ly/3UpeCKy #BiasInDesign #ProductDesign #UXDesign #UIDesign

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