How any company can build a visionary product strategy, using purpose as their lens. — Around 40% of products launched each year fail. Most code that is written in organizations is never used. Developer chats on forums like Stack Overflow are overflowing with threads lamenting wasted work. And even the largest companies fail to pivot when the market is moving away from their core product…

“Redesign the wheel” only when it’s truly essential to your business, and focus on finding your “Critical Behavior Change”. — Design is the science of shaping behavior. If there was no behavior that we were trying to change or influence, there wouldn’t be a need to design. But changing behavior always equals friction. And friction makes the likelihood someone takes the desired action lower. For example, getting a customer to…

The Betty Crocker phenomenon, and the difference between user feedback and user insights. — User feedback is always right. Right? Well…yes, and no. Product designers are faced with a flood of feedback each day, from direct feature requests from customers, to feature ideas from sales reps on your team, to complaints via email, rating websites, and social media, customer service tickets, and more. User…

Most companies say they are working to make the world a better place. Are they? — A lot of things in the world that are “poorly” designed are working exactly as intended: Hostile architecture that prevents unhoused people from resting; Sites with 10% content and 90% ads; Refund and cancellation processes that are so painful to complete you give up and keep paying; Business communications that…

Who you consider in your designs reveals company values. — Rather than a expository article, I wanted to share a few stories that help illustrate this point. In each of these three stories, the ‘magic’ was truly found in the details. In the un-flashy bits. In the policies and terms. In respect for learners’ privacy, personhood, and needs. Our purpose…