I’m going to talk about healthcare in the United States. It has been called the most complex industry for a decade now. The complexity exists and is only growing. It’s important to look back a few years to understand why doctors and patients aren’t happy about the state of healthcare.
If you are not in the US or don’t know a lot about it, here’s some context:
- Healthcare in the US is digital,
- Healthcare is taken far more seriously,
- Most patients are insured and don’t generally pay much out of pocket (10–12% expense is out of pocket),
- It’s really expensive…
A team that’s motivated and stands up for a well-designed experience; and a mission that’s big and challenging.
Apprenticeship is the age-old way of learning the trade secrets of a job. So is true for design. As you go find designers and organizations to work with, here’s something you can look for.
People
As you begin your career, the way your first few organizations will condition you is going to stay for the remaining years. Make sure that you set the bar really really high.
A team that won’t settle for less
Excitement is contagious, but so is mediocrity. Look for teams that are excited about the problems they are working on and wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best possible. …
As Farnam Street describes it, “first-principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibility”.
On a flight I boarded from San Francisco, I was binge reading articles from fs.blog that I had already downloaded. I was accompanying one of our PMs to help him run a design workshop with a customer in Kansas City.
The team in Kansas had a lot of ideas on how they wanted the product to work. And nothing’s better than a few hours with the customer. I was planning to use a few exercises from Design Sprint 2.0 to structure our discussion so I had that going on in the back of my mind.
I was reading an article…
Two or more dots on a screen can be a design.
The ‘Aesthetic-Usability Effect’ suggests that the things which are designed to look beautiful are perceived to be more usable. Down to the first-principles of aesthetics — rhythm and proportions play a major role in making something look beautiful. And there’s a lot we can learn from nature in both areas.
Visual hierarchy
A weak visual hierarchy provides little to no guidance about what is important. The text and images in each example are blurred out so you can focus on the layout in terms of hierarchy. …
List five websites that you visit often — social networks, blogs, web applications, or something you are working on. Anything. Now imagine these sites without their text.
See how the web looks without type
Rhythm in web typography
Rhythm in typography is like rhythm in music. A text can either flow like a masterpiece symphony performed by an in-tune orchestra, or it can be a disjointed flimsy song by a one-man band wannabe. That’s why a well-tuned, rhythmic and proportional text will always triumph over a scrappy one. But, unlike in music, there are two types of rhythm in typography.
Why 1+1=3
When…
The COVID-19 lockdown is going to last longer than most people thought at the beginning of April. I’m sure you feel that too. Even if things begin to get relaxed, it is uncertain if or when we will get back to work. I mean “physical offices” work — an hour of commute, elaborate lunch and chai breaks, an abundance of distractions, and the need to waste time after work watching the next episode of whatever you are watching because the day at work was too damn trying. Well, until then, we have some time.
Varun Dhawan
Engineer by education, designer by choice. Passionate about systems, technology, sushi, and types. Head of Design at Innovaccer.
