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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UX maturity is a useful concept, but it rarely reflects reality. This makes sense when you consider many of the companies pushing the concept of UX Maturity (NN/g, HFI, etc.) are consulting companies that sell UX services and training. It’s basicallly a gamification of their services. UX maturity, if taken at face value, is more of a change management concept, than a design concept. As such it requires a different a skill set many designers rarely acquire.
The books that heavily influence the product development processes at early stage startups are understandably written by their investors; VCs like Peter Thiel (Zero To One) and Reid Hoffman (Blitzscaling). The way designers are hired and leveraged in startups make considerably more sense in these frameworks, where speed of delivery trumps UX processes, and risk mitigation through research is an afterthought. Many designers slot these environments under the “low design maturity” category when it’s virtually impossible for startups to hit NN/g's and Invision's definitions of maturity. Why have these levels if they can't be achieved? Perhaps, designers are over emphasizing the role PMs, engineering and even the C-level have on design maturity when the pressure and directions put forth by investors are the real culprit for the current ennui amongst designers.
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“If an agent is able to master 10,000 simulations, then it may very well just generalize to the real physical world, which is simply the 10,001 reality.”
NVIDIA Senior Research Manager & Lead of Embodied AI (GEAR Group). Stanford Ph.D. Building Humanoid robot and gaming foundation models. OpenAI's first intern. Sharing insights on the bleeding edge of AI.
My TED talk is finally live!! I proposed the recipe for the "Foundation Agent": a single model that learns how to act in different worlds. LLM scales across lots and lots of texts. Foundation Agent scales across lots and lots of realities. If it is able to master 10,000 diverse simulated realities, it may well generalize to our physical world, which is simply the 10,001st reality. TED talks do not have teleprompters!! All I have is a "confidence monitor" at my foot, showing only the current slide and timer. That means I need to memorize the whole speech. It sounds intimidating at first, but turns out to be the best way to connect with the audience and deliver the ideas right to heart. The video is only 10 min. I promise it's well worth your time! I am also sharing my slides with all of you in the reply section. https://lnkd.in/gSUi-B7c
Jim Fan: The next grand challenge for AI
https://www.ted.com
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The best UX is no UI. I think the idea of designing for agents instead of humans is compelling, but it’s more likely the split will be between complex and simple tasks. I ordered an Rabbit r1. I don’t think r1 will “cross the chasm,” but I think it is a step in the right direction. At least for consumers. Most tech workers are in a bubble so big they don’t ever see it. Professionals and knowledge workers care about an efficient display of data, most consumers just want to get whatever their doing done as simply as possible. Many would prefer to do it on the phone instead of an application. If Apple or Google ever got their act together, they’d be able to create an AI agent that would replace 90% of the UIs. But that would go against their business models. The real future will be sharing data between agents with very few GUIs.
🎤 Bringing UX & Product Designers together with Hatch Conference + Berlin Product Designers Meetup
New A.I. devices seem amazing and silly at the same time. But they are announcing the death of interfaces as we know them. We've all seen the news, a few weeks ago Humane announced their AI-projecting pin, and two days ago rabbit inc. had his own spin at how A.I. / UI integrations might look like. Beyond the hype and the backlash (after all they share key elements on why Spectacles and things like Siri didn 't reach adoption), they are the first iteration of ideas that work "outside" of the smartphone paradigm. However, what few missed on the Rabbit R1 launch were the repercusions of their new AI model which would interact with existing app interfaces (you know, those rectangles we make). And this is a big shift in the paradigm where we might one day not be designing for humans anymore, but for models that are designed for humans, as complex at this sounds. I'm not getting any of these, but if it helps any smartphone company reconsider only making GIANT phones now, I am listening. #ai #design #hardware #ux
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I released a UX Mentor custom GPT. If you have a ChatGTP Plus subscription, you can give it a try here: https://lnkd.in/gizvZpE7 I used this as an experiment to learn about custom GPT's abilities and limitations. The goal is not to replace Mentors, but I'm curious if this could fulfill a need that is not currently being met. This is a great tool to prototype and test an idea you have before investing resources into it. I have a handful of custom GTPs I'm refining at the moment that will eventually help me become more efficient in my day-to-day work. The process of creating a custom GTP is simple. I provided it with context, specific instructions, and additional data from my past writing. It generated an avatar/logo and most of the default information by itself. You can edit all that information directly or have a conversation with Chat GPT to update it. All in all, it was a fun experiment, and I suggest everyone give it a try. #AI #UX #mentorship #customgpt #chatgpt #openai
ChatGPT - UX Mentor
chat.openai.com
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The first image was generated by DALL-E in October 2022. The second image was generated by DALL-E in January 2024 The prompt: "Create a landscape scene with blue mountains and a purple sky with a shark flying through orange clouds" I forgot about the first image. This was my first interaction with generative AI, and honestly, I was mocking it with my ridiculous prompt. Now, I realize the speed at which it improves, and it's hard to mock. You can still mock the ridiculous prompt, though. 😆
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I’m equally intrigued and annoyed by this:
📈 225 Million Views/Year I 📊Fractional CMO I 🧪Marketing Data Scientist I 💼 AI- Marketing Automation I 📊 21000 + Mktg. Tests I 🎯B2B Digital Strategy I 🧪GTM Strategy I🚀AI-Martech I 💡eCommerce I 🧪Edtech I 💼
"📝 Walking Meetings Boost Creativity 📊💡Thx Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg "Discover the Creative Benefits of Walking Meetings" 🔥Important Highlights You Can't Afford to Miss Today 💪💼 🚶♂️ Walking meetings have a rich history: The concept of walking to generate ideas has been embraced for centuries, even by renowned philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche. 💼 Tech leaders endorse walking meetings: Visionaries like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have been avid supporters of walking meetings as a means to foster creativity and productivity. 🧠 Boost creativity by up to 60%: Research suggests that walking can significantly enhance creative thinking, with some studies reporting an increase of up to 60% in creative output during walking. 📚 "Give Your Ideas Some Legs": A research report titled "Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking" delves into the scientific evidence behind the connection between walking and creative thinking. 🚶♀️ Implement walking meetings in your work routine: Consider incorporating walking meetings into your daily work routine to experience the potential benefits of heightened creativity and innovative thinking. 🌿 Nature's inspiration: Walking in natural environments, such as parks or scenic routes, can provide an additional layer of inspiration and tranquility during your creative endeavors.
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Solid take on designer growth and pushing past the pixel pusher stereotype. One thing I would add is the designer’s work environment. Some environments can help you grow and others will limit you. Learning to change your environment requires a huge investment in time and skill development. Sometimes moving teams or moving companies is necessary to achieve your goals. Part of growth is knowing which path to take.
The pixel pusher, the perfectionist, low business acumen, "the artist who's not really good at product and business so they only get pulled in when it's time to make visuals" are common stereotypes designers often face. The truth is these aren't wrong 🙊🙈, these stereotypes do exist, but are just a few flavors of designer. Reality is there are designers who are antithetical to these stereotypes—they've moved past solely thinking of design (which all designers should do) and can hold multiple functional viewpoints. These designers are business thinkers, great communicators, can design exceptional experiences (at a great level of quality), walk & talk like PMs, can go deep with engineering, & unlock new realms of product innovation through creative thinking. The truth is the making part is the easiest part of the puzzle & is done with low effort. Let's call these folks "high-value designers". Here are a few principles to contextualize deeply to become a high-value designer, & not fall into the cliché stereotypes: 🟢 1. Good is better than perfect. Strive for progress over perfection by starting with "good enough", shipping it, & then refining things over time based on feedback & real-world learnings. Spending too much time on niceties too early has diminishing returns & delays true progress. Plus paints you as the perfectionist. 🛠️ 2. Tools are just that—tools. It's important to remember that operating a tool doesn't equate to mastering a skill. The real magic is in thinking beyond the tool, in critical and creative problem-solving. “No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you.” — Rick Rubin. Note: executing quality design work is a pre-requisite to being a "designer", it's table stakes. You're expected to be good at your craft. 🌟 3. In business, design's true value is making strategy and tactics visible and tangible. What does this mean? It means a picture is worth a 1000 words, & a prototype is worth a 1000 meetings. Design is about turning abstract plans into something concrete that people can see, understand, & rally around. Run show & tell's often. Do a lot more showing than telling. 🎤 4. Master storytelling. Storytelling is crucial for designers. If you can't make people see & believe in the future you're designing, it's as good as non-existent. Paint the picture in a way that turns your ideas into a compelling story people can get behind. ✍️ 5. Document your thinking. Writing's essential for clear thinking, buy-in, articulation, & thought distribution. Escaping the "pixel pusher" stereotype requires stepping out of tools like Figma & shifting to articulating broader strategies and tactics before diving into craft. Taking a moment to write before, during, & after you make something provides insight into your logic & positions you as a thinker & planner, not just a designer. Master these, and watch your "value" & impact as a designer increase.
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UX is a black box to the vast majority of people. As a result, UX becomes defined by whatever designers do at their company. This realization is a huge opportunity that more designers should take advantage of. As designers, our actions can shape how companies perceive UX. Let's reposition UX's role by increasing our competence, exceeding expectations, and growing our leadership abilities. By becoming skilled advocates for UX, we can elevate its value and influence within our organizations. #ux #uxdesign #design #influence
