Ian Armstrong
Jul 28, 2017 · 1 min read

The thing about these types of skills is that we learn them over time, through practice. While Malcom Gladwell’s books are a bit poppy, they accurately describe a lot of what it takes to get there.

Idean’s Design Leadership Academy (IDLA) is a great course for developing a greater awareness of a lot of this stuff but it isn’t cheap. There are some free ebooks here: http://academy.idean.com

You’re likely to find the materials by Ideo on Human Centered Design instructive as well: http://www.designkit.org

Really though, the biggest thing someone can do in the pursuit of career development is to work on their articulation skills. The more eloquent the description of your approach, the better the feedback you get becomes. That loop forms a basis for increasingly accurate self-assessment and more rapid personal and professional growth.

When polishing my own process articulation I found it useful to talk about it in design communities then take the feedback to the office (or to private clients) and experiment with my approach.

    Ian Armstrong

    Written by

    Principal UX Designer, Dell Technologies, San Francisco