Tech Tips and General Advice for Your First Tech Fleet Project

Table of contents

My windy path

Tips for FigJam if you haven’t used it before

Keycuts for popular Tech Fleet tools

General Advice

What I learned

Closing

My Windy Path

Currently, I am coming to the end of Phase 1 on a Tech Fleet project as Co-Lead on the Content Design/UX Writing team. This is my first Tech Fleet project. I value being part of something that has a positive social impact. I also enjoy the opportunity to mentor and support others on their journey.

I had the good fortune of coming across a webinar by Andy Welfle (Co-Author of Writing is Designing) in 2021 and started my pivot to UX. I took a few IxDF courses to explore specializations within UX. Then, I completed the UXWriting Academy (UXWA) certification. UXWA offers the option to connect you with a volunteer project, so I did. First time with UX Writer as my title! I volunteered on a second project before the one I am currently working on.

Before I pivoted, I was a school psychologist at a large public high school and then worked with students with disabilities at a large university.

Image created using Canva’s AI art generator

FigJam tips if you haven’t used it before

I used Figma for about 6 months before starting my most recent two projects. I didn’t use FigJam before that though and it’s a little bit different than a Figma File. If that’s you, or, Figma is totally new to you, hopefully this helps.

FigJam is used for team collaboration. You can post ideas on digital sticky notes, create sections to organize ideas, or make tables.

Some teams use a Figma file for more organized work and FigJam for working sessions, async brainstorming, and for Retro (short for retrospective). If you haven’t been on a project like this before, Retro is a time everyone on the team can share their thoughts and experiences. It could be specific to that week, that sprint, or open to the project as a whole.

Common Retro prompts are things like:

• what went well
• what you learned
• what could be better
• questions
• concerns
• ideas

If you are in Retro live time, they will likely set a timer for a few minutes and put on music. If the music is distracting to you, you can mute it by clicking the speaker icon (top left corner) on the digital record player.

After everyone has the opportunity to share their thoughts on digital sticky notes, you can “vote” on what has been shared by using the stamper.

I think it’s great when the FigJam link is shared before the meeting so you can have more time to process your thoughts and to allow anyone that can’t attend live time the opportunity to contribute async.

If you are using FigJam for project work outside of Retro -> Bonus key cut: click a component, press shift, click another component and it will group them together temporarily so you can move them together to reorganize.

Image created using Canva’s AI art generator

3 helpful key cuts for tools Tech Fleet uses:

Vowel

• Camera = v
• Mic = m
• Toggle view = g

These ^ are just that one key, not CMD/CTRL +

A few tips for navigating if you are using Vowel for the first time. On the right, there is a notes section that anyone can add to during the meeting. It’s helpful to paste your FigJam link there if that is what your team will be working on or any other link referenced during the meeting.

If you are recording, the button to start/stop recording is on the bottom left. If you record, Vowel will generate a transcript of your meeting. There is a button on the bottom navigation that looks like a speech bubble. You can use that to make a comment that will cover your name in your “square” with what you just typed. A way to communicate without interrupting.

Additional features are similar to other platforms, you can raise your hand for a comment/question or give a reaction to what someone just said (bonus key cut: raise your hand = h).

Slack

• Shift + return to add a line if you are working on a desktop (otherwise hitting return posts right away)
• Cmd/CTRL + n = start a new message
• Cmd/CTRL + 8 = bulleted list (for selected content)
• Link to more

Notion

• /e = add emoji
• Common CMD/CTRL for editing text works (Ex: + b = bold, + c = cut, + v = paste)
• /c = add a “callout” (creates a background color fill and an emoji to emphasize important content)

Additional Notion tip: if you have content you want to reformat, select the content then click what looks like 6 tiny circles on the left. That opens a menu. Select “turn into” to change to a bulleted list, toggle heading, page, and more.

FigJam

• e = opens the stamper
• s = creates a new sticky
• Shift + s = generates the cursor to create a new section

These ^ are just that one key, not CMD/CTRL +

Lost on the Figjam board?

Here are three tips to help you find your way:

• Type CMD/CTRL + f and then type a keyword in the search field that pops up. This will take you directly to that word on the board.
• Live time? Click on the teammate's circle that is facilitating.
• On the top right of your screen, everyone in the current session is represented with a circle. It can be an image they selected or the first letter of their first name.
• Hover over the circle and it will display their name. Click on the circle that belongs to the person who is facilitating and you will jump to where they are on the board.
• Shift + 1 zooms the board out a bit

CMD/CTRL + z to undo across platforms is everything ✨

Image created using Canva’s AI art generator

General Advice

Read the Tech Fleet User Guide, if you haven’t already. It contains a wealth of helpful information. Attend as many live-time team meetings as you can. Try something new, for example, a tool you haven’t tried. Communicate quickly if you have a change in schedule/availability. Ask questions. They are valuable. Even if it seems like you should know the answer, questions can point out:

• a communication gap
• a place where things can improve
• inform others of another way to do things

Be flexible and open-minded so you can pivot and re-prioritize with new insights. Participate in the community! You can volunteer for a project in the personal-projects-help channel if you meet the qualifications or join a conversation in the community-ideas-feedback-and-discussion channel.

Specific to Demo

• Avoid using UX jargon
• Works best if Tech Fleet team expectations are aligned:
• Dos and Don’ts for slides
• Is there a hard deadline for the deck or can adjustments be made to the deck the same day as Demo?
• Should content focus on the current sprint and/or the project as a whole?

What I learned

Document your process so you don’t have to rely on memory when you are creating case studies or presenting during an interview. Plan for tasks to take longer than you initially thought they might take. Make a few checklists to make sure you don’t forget anything. Customize it to your role, the project, and the sprint timeframe.

All about Kanban boards! If this is new to you here is some general info. The process begins by creating tickets and assigning them to whoever is responsible for completing them. Tickets are analyzed to determine an updated status: done, move to next sprint, paused, backlog, or blocked.

Closing

Even as a wordsmith, it is difficult to fully yet succinctly summarize these incredible 9 weeks. I am tremendously grateful for this experience. I was fortunate to work with a welcoming, productive team and an engaged client. I learned a tremendous amount and connected with some people equally passionate about working towards positive social impact.

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” -Jane Goodall

Thank you for reading!

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