Ryan Tauss

Have you ever been using a website or an app and wanted to throw your phone or computer at the wall? Believe it or not... someone designed that. Whether it was designed intentionally badly or perhaps the person on the other side of the screen just lacked the skillset required to get the job done—we've all been there! But if you are interested in making websites, apps, or intricate digital experiences, then check out this article I wrote on "How To Become a UX Designer." https://lnkd.in/dFfNU3C3

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A lot of what we do as designers is clean up. Sure, we talk about story arcs and designing the experience, but the average presentation may not have the time or resources to think bigger than getting it done, even when it’s an essential pitch by the C-suite for a new initiative. That's where following the template, using it wisely to maximize variation, and keeping it simple comes into play. Much of what you need to say should be in the talk track rather than in the slide, and if you need to go into detail, use an appendix, preread existing material, or a download to let people dive deep. Designing for a screen comes with practice, like riding a bike. In my experience helping thousands of presenters, the less design YOU have to do, the better it is for you and the AUDIENCE. Focus on *design that matters.* Be *intentional with design.* #presentationdesign

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Research is a function of strategy.  "According to CB Insights, over 90% of all products fail, most commonly due to no market need." Leave yourself time to ask big questions about whether any actually needs your product or service before you decide to launch it. #UXstrategy #UXresearch #Marketresearch

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Creating a cohesive brand sets the foundation for successfully applying it to all user experiences. Shortcuts at the start can lead to costly issues later. Developing the Michaëla Corbett visual identity required understanding the client, their audience, and how they would interact with the brand. Intentional use of color, typography, and layout not only distinguishes Michaëla Corbett from the competition but also creates a unique atmosphere for the user experience. 👉 See the full preview here: https://lnkd.in/deM_gYvu

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This screenshot is the agenda for Figma's 2024 Config closeout from 7:30-8:30P. Does that last session with Jason Ballard really say what I think it says? #RewirewithAI #futureHuman #buildingHumans #buildingHumansinFigma

💡"You have to learn to transmute your love for creating through your designs to a love for creating through a design TEAM. Your creative successes will be shown through how successful your team is. This is the key to leading and managing in the creative space." https://lnkd.in/gHMwbEhT Check out my thoughts on leadership in the creative/UX space, and share your own below! What tips or struggles would you share with up-and-coming creative leaders?

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Sustainability encompasses a design and development ethos centered on environmental, social, and financial considerations frequently overlooked in traditional approaches. #uxdesign https://lnkd.in/gaE54FU6

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The One Habit Most Successful Designers Have In Common Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog: https://lnkd.in/gsx-Gqu6

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I've treated my entire career as a journey to get as many snaps as possible to make what was once unknown for me (making, doing, thinking, directing, delegating, etc.) into a highly developed muscle that situationally flexes as necessary. AND I continue to adapt to my surroundings, and sacrifice what I may have once considered to be core to my integrity as a design professional in order to meet the moment fully. It hasn't felt like a clear progression into the commodification wall that Ryan describes; more like bits and pieces, here and there, more or less in various domains. Operating today in an early stage startup within a speculative industry (tech) for a conservative problem space (pharma & healthcare) yet with intelligent leadership who are true SMEs creates a stew of interesting trade-offs and opportunities as a function leader. Generally speaking, I've experienced what Ryan describes, but as with analytics in basketball, there's a big difference between a generalized approach to manifest offensive efficiencies and the individual choices one must make in a game seven. Matchups dictate adaptive strategies.

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Ressource Medium: "The Nuances of Enterprise UX Design An 11-part series exploring the various aspects and intricacies of UX design for enterprise software." #ux #uxdesign

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📣 Design leaders and, more specifically, designers who manage. I've created an anonymous survey to learn more about your design leadership experience. Now that you've become a design leader... thoughts?? Let me know!

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As I refine my hiring process I have question. What would you guys prefer? 1) In person/remote 30min white board session 2) Challenging design assignment done over a week 3) Mock podcast recording where we have a conversation about design.

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You don’t need a formal UX title to showcase your content design chops. Emily Wachowiak shares tips on how to put together a standout portfolio. Read more on the Button blog: https://lnkd.in/gdmvUcRD #UX #ContentDesign #UXPortfolio #UserExperience #UXWriting

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After reading Kara Swisher's "Burn Book," (which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone working in tech), I started thinking more about how digital designers can actualize responsible design techniques in their day-to-day practice. John Payne's lecture, "How to Work Responsibly with Emerging Technologies" (on EPIC People's website) is really an outstanding and inspiring resource. He reminds us of the unintended consequences of launching MVPs at scale, and how we might shift our thinking and practices to mitigate unintended effects. One method, creating a Narrative Map, was an especially fun exercise that John shared. My team and I thought about that in relation to transportation -- the Jetsons and Mad Max as examples of fictional utopian and dystopian vehicles. Both the vehicles and their environments tell very different stories about humanity. Designers -- how are you thinking differently about your practice than you did 5 years ago? What methods and tools are you using to practice responsible design?

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#MeasuringU: How both the #mean and a #topbox #score can #help in #UXresearch https://buff.ly/4aWHcta

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Everyone wants a fabulous logo. It takes a great design process to get there. And that's exactly what we are covering in this series of posts. Yesterday, I covered the preliminary, "discovery phase" or, as some people like to call it, "onboarding." If you haven't read that post and the one before it, I recommend reading both to get full context. I'm breaking out the full brand design process so you know what to do if you are trying to do it yourself, or know what to expect of a really great designer if you are hiring someone. Here we go! The Brand Design Process: Phase 1 - Research This is THE MOST IMPORTANT PHASE. The better the research, the better the strategy. The better the strategy, the better the execution. The research phase is mainly comprised of audits. Compiling lists and comparing data. These are the audits and the data within each that we want to examine if it exists: • Brand - name, messaging, taglines, trademarks, brand manuals • Business - stationary, forms, invoices, business cards • Internal - memos, employee swag, holiday greetings • Retail - packaging, promos, bags, merch • Sales - sales/product literature, decks, investor relations, campaigns • Electronic - social/web, video, apps • Environment - interiors, exteriors, signage, trade show booths I use a checklist and a corresponding file structure to gather and organize all of this data from each client. This can take days, weeks or even months, depending on the size and history of the brand. (DM me if you would like the checklist and file structure) It should be noted that you can use the checklist to also reverse engineer the deliverables that will be created for the brand in phase 4 of this process. Corresponding with this data gathering is the interview. I interview the team that is responsible for branding decisions. The owner, founder, CEO, whoever it may be that is on the team. The interview is comprised of 16 questions that elicit the values, purpose, mission, vision, culture, goals and more. It is recorded, and transcribed and annotated and delivered for the team's digestion. This interview usually goes for several hours and a byproduct is a business/life coaching session where the answers that the team comes up with are revelatory for those being interviewed. I have found that time and again, that interview ends up being one of the most valuable parts of the branding process. The value comes from the clarity that arises for the leadership of the company. Even if the company had plenty of clarity in their business, it's amazing what happens when you get a whole lot more. Once the audits and interview are finished and all of the data is in our hands, the research phase is complete. The next phase is strategy, which is distilling this data down to two one page briefs. The Brand Brief defines the brand personality and the Creative Brief defines where we are going and why. And I have hit the character limit! See you tomorrow!

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“I’m a UX designer - I don’t do slides.” I can’t tell you how many designers I’ve known through the years who have this mentality. What a missed opportunity! Most UX issues can’t be fixed simply with good design. There are underlying rules and KPI drivers and business realities that shape *how* we can design. An invitation by an executive or partner to help “make this deck look good” is really a chance for you to understand and influence those realities. It’s a chance to empathize with stakeholders and learn how they think about the world, their motivations, fears, etc. Plus, it’s great for building relationship - when someone asks for help and you help them, that’s a good thing. Stop thinking you’re too good to design presentations! It’s one of the best career moves you can make - as long as you don’t stop at making them pretty. View it as an chance to participate in crafting the story that gets told. #ux #uxdesign #presentations

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If you are a UX Researcher (or just in UX) and curious about how to put together a good portfolio, this article sheds some light on the topic and has some great examples to use as inspiration.

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