DESIGN

Caught in the rat-race: We’ve all been there, caught in the hamster wheel of production design.

You’re churning out comps without so much as a side-eye toward the persona you crafted months ago.

In the moments between frantic mouse clicks and sipping coffee, you spot the personas slouching on the wall. In all of their abandon, they are hanging on with a thread of tape and are slowly fading with sun damage. Not even the researcher has looked at them in weeks.

Indeed, all too often, production design sits under the thinly veiled title, “user experience design”. Orders are disguised…

INTERIOR DESIGN

The artwork, the furniture, and the items you accumulate over the years speak volumes about who you are, your character, and your style. A home should be packed with pieces you cherish, it should tell the story of your life.

An eclectic home is timeless by nature. I am constantly swapping out items and finding new things I love. My home is always changing. I’m not too strict with decorating rules, I actually rather enjoy breaking them. But, one thing I hold true to is the blending of elements, from styles to textures, color and pattern.

Here are my top…

Collaboration

It takes a lot of time and effort to build a collaborative team culture. The most essential step in developing a supportive and engaged team is to connect team members with one another. This usually sets a domino effect in motion— because if you don’t know your peers, how can you feel invested in their success?

Below, I explore ways team leaders can invest in those peer-to-peer connections in their teams–– particularly while working in a remote setting. I concentrated on ways we can repurpose tools we already have access to, with the goal of making these types of activities…

Life

Twenty-twenty was the year of DIY. At-home chefs emerged from all corners of the interwebs (mostly surfacing on my Instagram feed).
Team meetings segued and became a place to divulge intricate details about cutting one’s hair at home — without it being lopsided. Home Depot stood as a beacon of hope as parents, employees, people old and young, flocked to the store to briefly escape their homes. The DIY crafter/designer/interior stylist reigned supreme.

And now, halfway through 2021, it is safe to assume the DIY movement is not going anywhere. Pinterest only needs to give me a glimpse of an…

Design Systems

Design systems have become a standard among many product teams as they detail best practices and demonstrate the value of human-centered design. Whatsmore, design systems are a wonderful starting point for students seeking to learn, explore, discuss and master design theory.

In this article, I will cover the fundamentals of design systems at a high level. Whether you are new to design systems, you are interested in learning how they are built, or you want to determine whether one could help your team, this resource is a great place to get started.

This is not an in-depth explanation of each…

Design Leadership

A year and a half ago, I joined a team that was renowned for its collaborative process. The office buzzed with creative energy. The walls were covered in diagrams, sketch notes, and illustrations. In one area there was a large printed graphic that stretched floor to ceiling. It was neatly pinned to the wall and scattered with sticky notes. There were whiteboards in each room– many marked with flow diagrams and parking lots full of questions.

It was clear the minute you entered the office that our team loved to scribble on whiteboards, throw sticky notes around and honor the…

INTERIOR DESIGN

I used to be proud of how little I used Instagram — too focused, too busy, too content in my own little world to be looking out at others. But since I started working from home, I have found so much more time for Instagram and Pinterest.

It isn’t something I am proud of. If anything, I have less time to be productive. But it also leaves me envious of all of the perfectly manicured spaces my virtual network gets to work out of. I’ll sit in meetings and wonder, Who are these humans who manage to keep their homes…

CAREER

There is no such thing as a flawless employee. And there is certainly always space for development. But that doesn’t make performance reviews any easier. I’ve agonized over performance reviews for hours. I have had sleepless nights and delayed completing them until the last minute. In my career, I have also experienced periods of stagnation.

As a result, I’ve become a person who helps others navigate the mental blockers they have around performance reviews — so they can get the visibility they deserve.

I can’t tell you how many of these conversations start out with people telling me they are…