Adham Dannaway

Will I ever stop talking about the business value of design? NEVER. Designers are under selling themselves if they don't know how to connect the dots. It only took me first half of my career working directly with founders to build business through different stages, plus 7 years to build my own side hustle from nearly drain out my life savings to turning over multi six figures to figured out:👇 Designers absolutely need to know more than design to succeed in the business eco system. so where do you even start? All will be revealed in this session. Warning: this talk will be filled with relationship analogies. come for a laugh 😂 ✌️🌈🚀 #businessdesign #designcareer #productdesign #uxdesign

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Next week. I'm talking about disconnection of business and design Atlassian Sydney. Looking forward to share few nuggets about getting these two to talk to each other. Thank you for the crew behind the scene Kevin Wilkins, Lydia Bradshaw, Sylvia Luk, Ashlee King, Sarah Stokes, Tim Dixon, PhD, Timothy Parker for organising. Reminder for everyone, I also run a half day in bootcamp on 21st JUNE in Sydney on - Mastering Business Acumen for Designers. Link in comment. 💬🔗 #businessdesigner #productdesigner #productstrategy

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"1) When hard decisions need to be made, have bias towards the customer, 2) Customer discovery should not only ask questions from the customer but how you innovate on behalf of the customer, 3) Observe and find that emotionally held customer pain point even when the customer cannot see it, 4) Leverage techniques from other industry leaders and finally, 5) Commitment to measuring customer's love for the product and iterate until you get it right" https://lnkd.in/g6zu7NAH

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Half of the survey data you see on LinkedIn is probably wrong. That’s because saying something like “27% of young Aussie’s think chocolate milk is the best flavour”, is quantitative data that is basically impossible for anybody to prove wrong. In fact - it’s so easy to arrive at flawed data in surveys that in many cases it may as well be made up. I mean case in point. I have no idea if 27% or 50% of young Aussies really do like choco milk. But it’s mighty compelling hey? As Erika Hall says: “That is why surveys are so dangerous. They are so easy to create and so easy to distribute, and the results are so easy to tally. And our poor human brains are such that information that is easier for us to process and comprehend feels more true.” So at Backpocket we’re trying something a little different. We’re releasing our latest qualitative research data, for free, in our latest insights report - GenZ money, mates and music. Yes less stats, but far more real words and thoughts from genuine young Aussies. Want to know what GenZ are thinking about ticket prices, payment plans and music festivals? Comment or DM me for a copy!

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Hulsbosch – case study: repositioning and rebranding Australian business bank, Tyro Payments - https://lnkd.in/gRz-mvtf #brandstrategy  #brandidentity #brandpositioning  #logo  #logodesign #visualidentity  #visualidentitydesign

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💥 Dropping this visual essay which is based on my talk at UX+ Conference Manila last year. It's a good way to catch up on the talk - but in written format. It covers a bunch of stories and practical lessons explaining what UX principles are and how to write them. 💪🏽 Do have a look and DM me any feedback or comments I would love to know what you think thanks so much!! #design #ux #writing #uxprinciples

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Albatros Care & Support Project Deliverables: Design Strategy, Brand Identity, Visual Language, Website Proposition. Albatross is a disability health and support brand that prioritise individualised experiences over day-today- living. Brand Challenges The healthcare and support industry in NSW is sadly plagued by visual systems that are unorganised and visually unappealing. In an industry that requires optimal delivery of service information, a visually calm and inviting identity was the goal. Brand Solutions An identity was meticulously crafted to ensure Albatross was differentiated in an already crammed industry. Their understanding that individuals are not defined by their limitations, was the catalyst for a visually beautiful and functional system with its own visual language. Full Case Study Below #brandidentity #designstrategy

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🥁 Not ONE, but TWO design accelerator courses (by yours truly) are happening in the next two months: 🤩 (📍SYD)First-ever In person bootcamp for the topic: Mastering Business Acumen in Design Half-day business acumen bootcamp to build business confidence, and learn to connect design ideas to business outcomes. First in. Best dressed. 20 student limit per class. Date: 21st JUNE Fri 10.30-3pm https://lnkd.in/gfGhBA_x 🚀 If you’re after an intensive end to end Product Career Boost. From 1st July, My Maven Product Design Accelerator Course will kick start. This 4 weeks course is totally transformational.(Already has some awesome designers in the cohort.) Outcome 👇🏼 ⭐️Develop business acumen and become a savvy strategic designer ⭐️Influence design in the business by facilitation and lead ⭐️Measure your impact and plan your career ⭐️Effective storytelling skills to gain buy-in. ⏳20 students limit per class. Access to unlimited 1-1 support Only join if you are ready to commit and spend some time for weekly assignments. p.s. This cohort may be the last of this type. 🥹 Register links for both are in the comment👇🏼 PM to book a call with me if you’re unsure. #productdesign #designcareer #businessdesign #uxdesign

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Let’s talk ticketing queues. I was chatting to a research participant last week that said, “Who even knows how the Ticketek Australia queue works”? ”Like do I get a number? Is it random?” ”I was sitting in there for like 3 hours”. ”Some of my friends got in way before me”… And it goes on. And she’s not alone. We hear LOTS of this when talking to fans. Let’s just say it’s often not the ideal “User Experience”. But why is that? Well because for one, as Lou Downe reminds us; “A good service sets the expectations a user has of it”. And most of the time, ticketing queues just ain’t doin that. Secondly - and this is some recent research backed conjecture on my behalf - users aren’t all in a queue for the same reason. Sure they all want to get tickets - but they’re often motivated by quite different things: 💡I’m the only one in my group who is free at this time (common) 💡I’m the only one that has the money 💡I want to earn the credit card points 💡I’m the only organised one in my crew 💡I’m gonna try my luck too, to increase our odds (significant waste of energy). It’s worth stepping back and thinking about all of these drivers. Especially in a cost of living crunch. How might this be a better process for everyone involved? #ticketing #events #festivals #livemusic #design #innovation #product Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

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This article from Vision Australia shares five simple tips for designing accessible web forms. #Accessibility

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Decoding user behaviour: leveraging cognitive biases in app development https://lnkd.in/gyHTYpAk #DigitalProductStrategy #BusinessPartnership

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So, what’s next after Xero? 🗺 I'll be recharging for a big 2024 with a career break! Inspired by the likes of Stefan Sagmeister (https://lnkd.in/gMUSRpsK), every 7-9 years I find myself hungry for some kind of circuit breaker. Something to disrupt my day-to-day so I can have a refreshed perspective on my approach to life, work, creativity, impact, intentions, priorities, boundaries, etc. I last did this in 2016, when I took 6 months off to live in Denmark for the summer, studied Danish, volunteered in set design on a film, climbed Malaysia’s tallest mountain, and learned how to make my grandmother’s noodles. I came back to Australia a more grounded, energised and fulfilled human, which personally I think set me up for another 7 marvellous years of work and life. This time, I’ll be taking another 6 months off, with the loose plan being: 💃 From May to July, I’ll be travelling around Latin America. A big dream I have put on hold for 12 years, since I completed my Diploma in Spanish at university. I plan to be less active on LinkedIn and totally engrossed in dancing salsa, practising my Spanish and eating local delicacies. 👩🏻‍💻 From August to October, I’ll start job hunting with the goal of moving overseas for work! This is another dream I have made excuses for and delayed for almost 12 years. In terms of where I’d like to work, the shortlist at the moment is: The Netherlands, Dubai, and London. I’m also not entirely sure if I’ll stick to Product Design - keen to try something different and challenge myself. I tend to thrive better in conceptual, strategic spaces, and less so in Figma. Many folks have encouraged me to explore other fields like service design, design ops or even product management! 🏁 Throughout the break, I’ll be dedicating time to reset my approach to life and work. I’m in the mood to consume ideas, research and proposals - no matter how radical or provocative - about how we can work smarter and live better. Asking myself how do I define success? What is ‘enough’? How can I reimagine the way I want to work? What experiments can I test to see what works and what doesn’t? Only two nights ago I saw Tim Duggan speak about his new book ‘Work Backwards’ (https://lnkd.in/gCR8_TXn) - a profound book that explores how we can reset our life-work balance, because life > work. If you’re reading the book, hit me up and we can do a bookclub sesh together 🙋‍♀️ My asks of you, my LinkedIn community: 🙏 If you have any solid connections in the tech/design industry in The Netherlands, Dubai or London, I’d love to connect and e-meet them over the next few months. Feel free to tag their name below or DM me. 📚 If you have any recommendations about how to tackle life-work better, send them my way! I’ve already been told to look into Cal Newport and Oliver Burkeman. Thanks for reading and catch you on the flip side! 👋

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Are you a designer wanting up to £80k for a people-centred and/or systemic project? One of the biggest barriers we have found to designers to design for planet is project funding and budgets. So here is a way to fund some of your self-created briefs!

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The One Habit Most Successful Designers Have In Common Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog: https://lnkd.in/gsx-Gqu6

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Content standards in design systems support a holistically consistent user experience. They also build collaboration between writers, designers and engineers. https://lnkd.in/gVRepdfi Nielsen Norman Group #contentdesign #designsystems #contentstrategy

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So I'm seeing alot of UX/UI Design/Research/Lead positions being advertised (and sent to me by recruiters) around Australia. Something that I'm a little puzzled by, is the blurb and skillset tags in every single advert, omits any mention of accessibility. While I certainly wouldn't consider it the biggest part of my job, given that I have been working in the higher ed/govt space for a long time now, it's kinda essential to at least have SOME knowledge - or at least some grasp of the legislation around it. Because UX without accessibility just becomes "some user experience" - which SUX (see what I did there?). So, out of curiosity - hirers and recruiters - why is there no conversation around accessibility in the UX/UI space in the recruitment/talent attraction space? Genuinely interested to hear your thoughts! Would love to find a way to get it more spoken about in the recruitment space. As a reward (and maybe as a bit of a lure), here's a photo of my new pup, Henry - devoid of any context. You're welcome 😉

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Highlighting my article on some of the Lessons I've learnt from working in Product Design across a variety of industries. https://lnkd.in/gSxD6nCe #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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