Let Go and Haul: “Good design gives more than it takes”
Week 32, 2018 – Brooklyn
Announcement! If you’ve played with the app and are willing to hop on the phone to talk to us (or know someone who is), hit reply! $20 for 20 mins of your time :)
Journey: where we’re at
This week’s focus was feedback and community. How we start getting it, building one, and as a first step, teaching everyone how to do user research.
This is probably a controversial opinion, but I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as the job title of “UX designer”. UX is everybody’s job. Do you care about the user experience? Congratulations, UX is your job. Do you not care about the user experience? Okay, then... what are you doing here? I kinda think that calling someone a “UX designer” is like saying “PIN number”.
*waits for designers to come after me with pitchforks*
Of course, some people are more specialized at product than others, and someone needs to be held accountable for the whole experience, but good ideas can and should come from anywhere, and the only way they can manifest is with a culture that supports this.
We’ve also been playing with some new camera and fx stuff and getting ready to push out a lil update, stay tuned!
Journal: what I learned
The other week I wrote about how much more intense the transition from “fundraising self” to “product & design self” is than anyone makes it out to be. Knowing the work stacked, I tried to force this to go faster than it was willing to go, and discovered this is not possible. Like making ice cubes, they are going to freeze at the rate they freeze and you can’t do anything to snap them out of the tray into a glass any sooner.
Reflecting on why this transition is so hard, I think it comes down to the fact that the two modes of being a founder are not only insanely different, they feel diametrically opposed. Sales requires a certain level of disconnection to sell what you are making. On the other hand, creativity and invention requires connection. You need to connect with yourself to make good work. If you tell your story, people will relate. To tell your story, you need to know who you are.
I think I’m finally through this transition though. The last part of it was realizing how important it is to reach out for mentorship in areas people expect me to be an expert in. I’d always thought of mentors being critical for areas I’m weak in, but am now realizing they are just as important for areas I’m “strong” in. Especially if I haven’t been in that headspace for a minute.
I was lucky one of my good friends and excellent designer Eric Hu was in town this weekend, and he was willing to offer some critique on the design and branding we need to do this month. During the conversation he shared his anecdote on what good design is, a line borrowed from Laurenz Brunner
“Good design gives more than it takes”
I think that's probably the best definition of design I’ve heard, so much so that I’m willing to toss out my previous line for what good design was. It applies to so many more creative things too – this email for instance is an attempt to give back more than I’m taking from the community. 🎁
Jams: what I’m into
Eric also gave me Hito Steyerl’s collection of essays The Wretched of The Screen. Her essay “In Defense of the Poor Image” is extremely applicable to what we’re making, and a super worthwhile (quick) read. It was my beach reading today.
The team ended up hanging out watching videos on Friday after our demo/retro so we’re going to do this “for real” and invite folks from the community. Friends in NYC if we haven’t see you in a while, hit reply and I’ll send you deets for the first video night! 💌
We’re pretty excited about this A$AP Rocky / Skepta video
Also, um, this video of kids trying to use a VCR. 😬😂