Tentative

107: Pixelated Persons

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 00:15:00 -0400

This week Jaclyn & Kyle catch up on streamlining UI, building landing pages in Hubspot CMS, first impressions of Tailwind, and auto-layout in Figma. Also, we reminisce as we say adieu to Kyle and his tenure on Tentative. 👋🥲

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106: Note-n-Map 'n Stuff

thoughtbot — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:15:00 -0500

This week Jaclyn & Kyle discuss neglecting your backlog, the emotions around a design sprint, and changes to the design and development team structure at thoughtbot.

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105: User Focused (Nelsy Hubb)

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:15:00 -0500

Nelsy Hubb, Product Manager at Neocova, joins Jaclyn to discuss engaging with outside partners, maintaining a design system, customer feedback, trusting your subject matter experts, design debt, and many, many allusions to The Lord of the Rings.

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104: The Phone is Back!

thoughtbot — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:15:00 -0500

To wrap up our year, this week Kyle & Jaclyn run a retro for 2020. So put on those comfy pants and join us while they reflect on their most used tools, new amenities, and favorite hobbies of the year; as well as air some behind the scenes goodness.

This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh: Enter code TENTATIVE80 to get a total of $80 off, including free shipping

Miro
Between the World and Me- Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Lord of the Rings- J.R.R. Tolkien
The Queen's Gambit

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103: If We Don't, Who Will? (Lloyd Bennett)

thoughtbot — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:15:00 -0500

Lloyd Bennett, designer at thoughtbot London, joins the show to discuss Tones & Shades, his new digital magazine, as well as designing a brand identity, prototyping early in the design process, and animating with intent.

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Tones & Shades
"The Three-Hour Brand Sprint"- Jake Knapp
"Reinvention & the Creative Journey"- an interview With Helen Cammock
Offscreen Magazine
Tones & Shades on Instagram
Lloyd on Instagram

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102: Automation is the Goal (Adekunle Oduye)

thoughtbot — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 00:15:00 -0500

Adekunle Oduye, UX Engineer at Mailchimp, discusses working on a design-system team, setting goals for 2021, storing documentation in Figma, and conducting user research for design systems.

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101: Unconsulting (Ryan Rumsey)

thoughtbot — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 00:15:00 -0500

Ryan Rumsey, founder & CEO of Second Wave Dive, discusses building programs that solve systems problems through design thinking, and struggling with critique.

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Second Wave Dive
Business Thinking for Designers- Ryan Rumsey
Ryan's Personal Site
Ryan on Twitter

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100: Who We Are as Designers (Senongo Akpem)

thoughtbot — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Senongo Akpem, author of Cross-Cultural Design, joins the show to discuss design in civic-tech, ways to include cross-cultural design thinking into short engagements, staying dedicated to long-term projects, and memories of Dreamweaver.

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Cross-Cultural Design- Senongo Akpem
A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide- Cyd Harrell
curry.cafe
Senongo on Twitter

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99: Organic Backlog Gardening (Erin May & JH Forster)

thoughtbot — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 00:15:00 -0400

From User Interviews, Erin May (VP Growth & Marketing) & JH Forster (VP Product) join the show to discuss hiring during Covid, onboarding remotely, using GitHub for documentation, backlog management, managing team morale while remote, and work on diversity & inclusion initiatives.

User Interviews
Awkward Silences- User Interviews Podcast
Being There
Remo
The UX Research Flex Stack
Rocket Emoji App
JH on Twitter
Erin on Twitter

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98: Think About the Edge Cases (Hannah Yang)

thoughtbot — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Hannah Yang, Product Manager of Provider Experience at Oscar Health Insurance, joins us to discuss feature prioritization during COVID, designing towards a KPI goal, customer relationships at small & large companies, qualitative vs quantitative data in health-tech, and the hurdles of working in a regulated industry.

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97: Park the Train-Car in Harvard Yard (Elaina Natario & Vendela Larsson)

thoughtbot — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Elaina Natario and Vendela Larsson join us to discuss the research, procedure, and findings, that went into their Glides project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

"Gliding to Success"- Design Museum Magazine
MBTA Case Study
Just Enough Research- Erika Hall
What the heck is a bomb cyclone?
Elaina on Twitter
Vendela on Twitter

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96: Updating the UX

thoughtbot — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Hey Tentative listeners, this week we're bringing you an announcement of upcoming changes to the format of Tentative. We'll be exploring more focused topics, bringing in guests from around the design community, and discussing the intersection of design and business; all while bringing our true and silly selves that make Tentative what it is today.

So come join us on the ride, and tell a friend!

Also, conference call fatigue, an internet outage during a remote design sprint, and embracing async communication.

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95: My Clipboard-History History

thoughtbot — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week, Kyle updates case studies in our CMS and Jaclyn returns from PTO. Also, tips & tricks for Alfred, working in non-traditional design tools, and a design-team book club.

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94: Livin' in Google Docs

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week, Jaclyn volunteers on a design sprint and prepares for PTO, while Kyle preps for a website redesign workshop. Also, collaboration vs customization in presentations, preparing a 2 day Pre-MVP workshop, approaches to editing, and balancing experimentation with expertise.

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93: Janice and the Vampires

thoughtbot — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week, Kyle works on documentation and updating pages in our CMS, while Jackie hosts an internal trivia game as well as troubleshoots her terminal setup. Also, avoiding burnout, extending Covid protections, and Zoom fatigue.

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92: Pay Attention to the Shade

thoughtbot — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week, Jaclyn conducted a remote design sprint and Kyle utilizes "no Slack" communication on a project. Also, cutting scope, the importance of the human element in product validation, and the varied usage of "It depends".

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91: Design Your Way Out of a Box

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week Kyle discusses his iterative approach to everything, and Jaclyn discusses take-aways from her Lightning Design Jam. Also, a design-thinking escape room, life lessons learned from previous jobs, and human corn.

Lightning Design Jam

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90: Seeking Strengths (Gareth Burrowes)

thoughtbot — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 00:15:00 -0400

We are pushing back our normally scheduled podcast in support of the protests this week and the Black community as a whole. To give space for their words, their actions, and all of the grieving caused by the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Too many members of the Black community have lost their lives through racial injustice.

For those that are mourning and those that are fighting for equality: we see you, we love you, and we support you. Black culture matters. Black communities matter. Black lives matter.

The systemic racism that plagues our nation NEEDS to come to an end. We've included a short list of resources in the show notes of ways each of us can take action. We ask everyone to research ways to get involved in a way they feel they can have the biggest impact.

What follows is an episode from our sister podcast, Giant Robots Smashing into Other Giant Robots with Gareth Burrowes, focusing on removing unconscious bias from the hiring flow and the importance of diversity at every level of a company.

Fighting for equality falls on each of us, regardless of race or position, to work together to fight racism and unequal treatment.

Original Notes from Giant Robots Episode 312

Gareth Burrowes, Co-Founder & Head of Product and Marketing at The Tech Connection, discusses employment screening focused on candidate strengths, removing unconscious bias from the hiring flow, and the importance of diversity at every level of a company.

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89: Learning T-Rex Arms (the hard way)

thoughtbot — Fri, 22 May 2020 00:15:00 -0400

This week we contemplate how people see their time, posture tips to reduce physical stress while working from home, and conducting a 'consulting skills' workshop.

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88: A Very Brady Standup

thoughtbot — Fri, 08 May 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Kyle serves as interim Design Director for London while Jaclyn prepares for a design workshop. Also, shifting locations to improve focus, the importance of ergonomics, content audits, and an impromptu live-feedback session.

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87: An Homage to Mean Girls

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Kyle gets stressed out by grocery shopping, and prepares for a workshop. Jaclyn finishes a draft on a case study and benefits from the value of time-boxing. Also, tricking Zoom, staying productive, the importance of routine, and little things to break up your days.

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86: Just a Square on a Screen

thoughtbot — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 00:15:00 -0400

As thoughtbot transitions to working remotely, we discuss the tools and tips we use when conducting remote design sprints.

Enroll in our free online-workshop on going remote Being Human in the Absence of Humans: A Live Q&A for Product Teams

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85: People Like Vegetables

thoughtbot — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 00:15:00 -0400

Kyle kicks off a new project, and Jaclyn plans a design sprint workshop. Also, remote camera etiquette, the labels of 'designer' & 'developer', and creating professional bios.

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84: Feedback, and Insight, and Learnings, Oh My!

thoughtbot — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:15:00 -0500

Jaclyn shares insights from running a large design-thinking workshop, Kyle discusses the methodology of the new thoughtbot.com redesign, and the highs & lows of the Frosty™.

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83: The Future is Beige

thoughtbot — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:15:00 -0500

Jaclyn plans an intimate design sprint exercise for developers as well as a large design-thinking workshop, discusses why you can't just start ideating, and getting a large group to converge on a problem-statement.

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82: Fruit by the Foot, Twix by the Yard, Jerky by the Inch

thoughtbot — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0500

Happy new year! We welcome back Jaclyn, refreshed after her break, and discuss burn-out, task prioritization, MVP-ing your mental load, and setting goals & themes for the new year.

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81: Selling Design (Miles Johnson)

thoughtbot — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Miles Johnson, designer at thoughtbot London, joins Kyle to discuss leveling-up sales skills, when to introduce clients to your process, maintaining the focus of development & design as a cohesive unit, and the joy of being a 'generalist'.

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80: Sparkle Makes Everything Magical (Elaina Natario)

thoughtbot — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Elaina Natario enlightens Kyle on all things jazz hands, as well as discusses Storybook, documenting design, working effectively alongside development, and how to use emoji.

Storybook
The Hot Potato Process
There are many ways to spell ~~tszuj ~~👨‍🍳✨
Sobbing Heart Eyes
Elaina on Twitter
Elaina on Instagram

79: The User, the Code, and Me (Chris Schnaars)

thoughtbot — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 14:00:00 -0500

Chris Schnaars joins Kyle to discuss computational design, creative control, design vs art, and the nature of design tooling.

Sol Lewitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective
Bret Victor - Inventing on Principle
Things for macOS & iOS
Chris on Instagram

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78: Everyone Can Draw (Skipper Chong Warson)

thoughtbot — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Skipper Chong Warson, Design Director of thoughtbot San Francisco, joins Kyle to discuss the psychology of podcast recording, overcoming awkwardness in communication & public speaking, and avoiding proxies when engaging with clients.

77: A Hop of Faith (Keiran King & Tyson Gach)

thoughtbot — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Live from New York, it's Keiran King & Tyson Gach! They join Kyle to discuss designing apples, comparing and contrasting jobs-to-be-done to other frameworks, and defining 'customer success'.

Jobs-to-be-done Workshop Replay
Solving Real Problems With Design- Keiran King
When Coffee and Kale Compete- Alan Klement
Competing Against Luck- Clayton M. Christensen
Shape Up- Ryan Singer
Keiran on Twitter
Tyson on Twitter

76: I Can Wait!

thoughtbot — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn is taking a break for a little bit and Kyle sets a course for happiness. We talk about embracing change as an opportunity to define yourself, and having a similar mindset to build good habits between projects. Also, experimenting with and evolving process, and reflecting on the importance of collaboration.

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75: Make It Pretty

thoughtbot — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 11:00:00 -0400

Kyle has fun with a hiring-promo read, while Jaclyn dislikes the polling system in Slack. Also, presenting visual design to clients for feedback, frameworks for critique, and fostering creativity through constraints.

This episode of Tentative is sponsored by Indeed Prime

Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light: A Design Exercise for Getting Feedback From the Team

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74: Commute to the Basement

thoughtbot — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

While Jaclyn gives interview tips (both user and hiring), Kyle does his best Michael Keaton impression. Also, active listening, pizza facts, trying to keep a work / home balance when working remotely, and interview horror stories.

This episode of Tentative is sponsored by Indeed Prime

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73: 11:15 is a Time, Too

thoughtbot — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn puts together a role-playing workshop for consulting your way through difficult conversations, and building empathy for the other parties. Kyle discusses conducting team 1<>1's all on one day vs spreading them throughout the week. Plus, some techniques for dealing with context switching, blocking off time, and calendar hacks.

This episode of Tentative is sponsored by Indeed Prime

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72: Good Crafternoon

thoughtbot — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn designs wristbands for a 5k, fiddles around with CSS Grid, and kicks off a new project. Meanwhile, Kyle attends many serious meetings. We discuss up-front user-research, timeline interviews, and pacing interviews for sustainability.

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71: Get Back Up Again

thoughtbot — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 00:00:00 -0400

This week Kyle follows his calendar, while Jaclyn wraps up a research project and celebrates a fruitful sales-call, and we discuss trying to focus on positive reinforcement, the importance of being able to communicate your design work, and 'clicking' with the sales process.

Designers Who Code Meetup

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70: Down the Doughnut Hole

thoughtbot — Wed, 08 May 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn is frustrated with calendars, and Kyle continues work on the thoughtbot.com redesign. Also skills evaluations, and lots of interviews.

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69: Stand in Your Emotion

thoughtbot — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Kyle deals with a "dentist situation" and writes a blog post, while both he & Jaclyn return to IC design work. Also, manager training, partnering with an offshore development team while on a tight deadline, and the "good problems" of a large design sprint.

68: iPod + a Case of Beer

thoughtbot — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 12:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn goes on a ski trip, Kyle eats cake on the microphone (sorry). Also, de-stressing techniques, Austin weather (surprise), daylight savings time, the UI of car clocks, making the most of small gaps in your schedule, enriching collaboration with developers, clarifying the title of "designer", and iterating on podcast recording. Plus, the introduction of a new segment "good, bad, and ugly".

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67: In This Kitchen, We Iterate

thoughtbot — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:30:00 -0400

Jaclyn hosts a cooking show while Kyle does what his calendar tells him to. Also, being excited by invalidating ideas, devoting more time to synthesizing, taking TL;DR level sprint-notes, how switch interviews can influence your design sprint, and end of week recuperation strategies.

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66: Drink Punctuations

thoughtbot — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn starts a new Meetup and wonders about ice-breaking activities & community building. Kyle tries his hand at video editing after filming a skill interview, and starts work planning a thoughtbot.com redesign. Also, stress around social media email / notifications and why we should design them more humanely.

65: No Tangents Friday

thoughtbot — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 11:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn and Kyle discuss remote interview methodology, skillset tracking, Design Sprint 101™️, and Kyle's skills as a Beer Ninja.

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64: I Know, That You Know, That I Know What a Progress Bar Is

thoughtbot — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 15:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn & Kyle wish you a (very belated) Happy New Year, and discuss the shortcomings of video-chat during interviews, using GitHub as a project management tool for company policy, the weirdnesses of user-interviews, and de-jargoning the term "prototype".

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63: Solutionland™️

thoughtbot — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn sells some art, kicks off a giant design sprint, and prepares a presentation on how to co-facilitate a design sprint. Kyle deals with new-office echoes & internet woes. We share the projects that we worked on for this year's Ralphapalooza; plus, reactions on designing for React Native.

62: Down With Portfolios

thoughtbot — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn & Kyle discuss the value of in-person meetings, the philosophy of Trello backgrounds, nostalgia for antiquated recording mediums, refining thoughtbot's designer hiring process, and design implementation.

See open positions at thoughtbot!

61: Zebras Drinking Mint Juleps

thoughtbot — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn & Kyle chat about the new thoughtbot Austin office, designing for Android, feelings on maintaining Sketch file tidiness, trying to make tabular data exciting to present, and commiserate over call-center software workflows.

Material Design for Android
Abstract- Sketch Version Control

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60: Mimosas on a Tuesday

thoughtbot — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn wraps up a project to hand off to a client's design team, Kyle looses his voice after giving a design sprint presentation, plus personal habits to pursue before speaking engagements or while in Product Design Sprints, design patterns in children's apps, and screen-time controls in iOS.

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59: WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT BEARS, KYLE?!?!

thoughtbot — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 14:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn & Kyle discuss prototyping with a different tool, providing feedback for teammates, and practice spooky voices for Halloween / team 1-on-1 purposes.

Medieval Times
An Everyone Culture- Robert Kegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey
Creativity, Inc.- Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace
15Five

58: I Love Little Notebooks

thoughtbot — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 12:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn & Kyle discuss disrupting a good flow state, quitting coffee, balancing support & client work, and negotiating a healthy work/life balance.

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57: Summit Shenanigans

thoughtbot — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn & Kyle record in person (for the first time ever!) as thoughtbot gathers for our annual Summer Summit, and discuss the language around design / development, switch interviews, opinions about post-it notes, and the point of design sprints.

Wanna Go on a Segway Tour?
Rocketship.fm Bob Moesta Interviews: part 1, part 2
Mastering Jobs-To-Be-Done Interviews Workshop
Kyle & His Clapper

56: From Entomology to Etymology

thoughtbot — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 13:30:00 -0400

Dawn & Sam take the reigns this week and discuss designing filter systems, World Emoji Day, a11y in Emoji, and how 'design goals' should merge with 'business goals'.

55: Hired to Help (Robert Indries)

thoughtbot — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 16:00:00 -0400

Jaclyn and Kyle are joined by Robert Indries of DG Studio to discuss applying design principles to other industries, deadlines (and procrastination), as well as the importance and difficulty of communication.

54: Solutionize: Test the App, Not the User

thoughtbot — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Sameera Kapila, a designer from thoughtbot Austin, joins Kyle to talk about prototype user testing, being wary of leading questions, challenging assumptions, and ways to take action on your findings.

53: BAM! Here's Your App!

thoughtbot — Wed, 23 May 2018 00:00:00 -0400

This week we discuss the importance of keeping a tight feedback loop on communication, and allowing time for experimentation & validation. Also, are retro notes helpful?

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52: Kyle's Think Hut™

thoughtbot — Wed, 02 May 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Dealing with React Native, designing email templates for Outlook, "Designer News", and combating distraction.

51: Batman's Fanny Pack

thoughtbot — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 00:00:00 -0400

This week, we discuss approaches to prototypes in User Testing, Sharpie preferences, how Batman arrived at the final design of his utility belt, and defining thoughtbot's design values.

50: Immersed in Chaos

thoughtbot — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 00:00:00 -0400

While recovering from SxSW Kyle & Jaclyn discuss design experiences in day-to-day life, and surviving conferences / networking events.

49: Food for Thought

thoughtbot — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Kyle & Jaclyn discuss weather apps, maintaining focus in User Interviews, tips for managing frequent contexting switching, and documentation during a design sprint.

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48: Remove Thy Bias

thoughtbot — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn & Kyle catch up and chat about user testing, and empathizing with user-problems you haven't personally experienced.

Other tangents include: sleep, traveling to NYC, the weather, spelling & pluralization techniques, the annoyance of advertisements, Netflix confessions, misadventures with torrenting, Kyle's new voice-acting career, and motivational speaking.

47: Cubital Fossa

thoughtbot — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 00:00:00 -0500

We're a bit giddy this rare pre-coffee morning recording, before Segway-ing into naming conventions in CSS, as well as communicating about the design process and decisions.

46: The Danger Zone

thoughtbot — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn and Kyle ponder their past lives and spirit animals, and manage to squeeze in some design talk about condensed sprints, tips for managing remote user testing, reinforcing best-practices, and time management.

Danger Zone

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45: Happy Mistakes

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:00:00 -0500

Kyle & Jaclyn are back for 2018! This week they discuss Die Hard, designing on an iPad, the importance of community to creation, and embracing the flaws in your art.

44: Helvetica Wasn’t Designed Yet

thoughtbot — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Kyle & Jaclyn chat about Stranger Things, design approaches to personal sites, using improv to build better trust & communication on a team, & the importance of naming and language.

Keep Ruby Weird
Kyle on thoughtbot Blog
Rocket Surgery Made Easy- Steve Krug
Just Enough Research- Erika Hall
A Script To Kickstart Your Jobs To Be Done Interviews
JTBD Mattress Interview
Mixed Methods Podcast
Design Systems- Alla Kholmatova

43: I Don't Know What NeoPets are Either

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Brenda and Dawn talk about early experiences with tech, CSS DevConf, code review, performance considerations around the world, and refactoring legacy sketch files.

42: Start Building, Start Meeting

thoughtbot — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Jaclyn and Kyle talk about ways to start a design career, as well as what happens when you're deep in the trenches building products.

41: Happy Birthday Kyle

thoughtbot — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Reda & Kyle discuss color consistency across tools and devices, as well as the inefficiencies of design workflows.

Making Sense Of Color Management- Craig Hockenberry
React Sketch.app
"Inventing on Principle"- Brett Victor Talk
Abstract

40: CoolGraphics.com

thoughtbot — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Kyle & Reda discuss search engines, documentation searches, reminisce about Photoshop Slices in Dreamweaver, and question Reda's Google-Fu.

39: Too Much Fiddling

thoughtbot — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Kyle & Dawn discuss end-of-project planning / organization, jobs vs user stories, and the merits of Austin TX.

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38: Grid Locked

thoughtbot — Fri, 26 May 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Brenda joins Reda to discuss CSS Grid Layout, the reasons they don't use grid frameworks as much anymore, iPad design, and the pros/cons of client vs product work.

37: That Sounds Very Obvious Coming Out of My Mouth

thoughtbot — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Dawn and Kyle talk about Dawn’s recent experience running usability tests, and what learned from running them. Kyle discusses how he's using Jobs-to-be-done theory to build a marketing landing page. Finally, how they approach which resolution screen to design for first.

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36: Floating in Space

thoughtbot — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Reda and Jack talk about design from the perspective of a developer, why CSS sucks for layout, retro game making, and App Store things.

35: Design Debt

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0400

We talk about the dichotomy of perfection in design, versus shipping something that is 'good enough'. Reda discusses how he is keeping track of the places in the app that he wants to improve while trying to hit deadlines. Also, recent experience jumping on print design and branding projects, and the different tools used when tackling them.

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34: Big Human Aspect

thoughtbot — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0500

We discuss whether it is better to have a bunch of work waiting for you or none when getting back from a vacation, what it’s like being the only designer on a project, documenting design, and trends / style specifically for iOS (and how it relates to the web).

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33: Design Speak

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Kyle is joined by Jaclyn Perrone to talk about designing with seed data, and how to make a new interface not look empty. They discuss using jobs-to-be-done to influence a product through interviews and job statements, as well as how they approach designing with users in mind, and the value of real users' reactions when testing interfaces.

32: Sprinting Remotely

thoughtbot — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Kyle is joined by Dawn Delatte to discuss the different tools and methodology employed in tackling a remote design sprint. They cover some of the success and failures of a recent sprint and how they split up work afterwards.

Dawn talks about diving into JavaScript which leads to a discussion on how they learn new technology and design techniques. Kyle is back on a rails app and is enjoying planning out the product.

Trello Board For Design Sprints
Trello App
Miro - Whiteboard App (formerly Realtimeboard)
Fullstory
JavaScript For Web Designers
Jobs Stories
Sketch
Invision
Lulu Miller Tedx Talk
Kyle Recording Under a Coat
Dawn on Twitter
Dawn's Website

31: A Whiff of a Story

thoughtbot — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0500

They're back! Reda and Kyle team up for a new season of Tentative. In this episode we discuss the thought process, tools, and execution plan for goals and resolutions in the new year. Plus, books for Reda to read over the coming year, and the importance of reading not only as a designer but also as a person.

Gina Bolton’s V2MOM
Getting Things Done
Moonwalking with Einstein
Kindle
Competing Against Luck- Clayton Christiansen
Kale and Coffee Compete- Alan Klement
Making Sense of Color Management- Craig Hockenberry
Creativity Inc.
Thinking Fast and Slow

30: 50 Shades of Blue

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Using Instagram’s redesign as an example, we discuss the new wave of apps that are starting a trend of black and white UI. This leads to a debate on having concrete style trends, and why it doesn’t always make sense to follow them (but why it might make sense for Instagram).

29: A Midsummer Night's Podcast

thoughtbot — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Reda and Kyle talk about how Kyle is tackling a branding project for a fantasy sports app. They then dig into how both are planning for upcoming design sprints, and the methodology behind their different approaches.

28: A Big Blob of Happiness

thoughtbot — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 13:00:00 -0400

This episode Reda and Kyle talk about WWDC. They review new features for both iOS and the Apple Watch before discussing Apple's public attitude towards design, and speculate about the process Apple follows building software.

27: Rollercoaster of Feelings

thoughtbot — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 08:00:00 -0400

This episode Reda and Kyle start off by talking about podcasting competition and Reda's childhood psychology. Then they talk about how both are tackling SVG and walk away with different feelings about it. Reda wraps up by bashing HAML while Kyle tries to defend its pros.

26: Vector of a Tack

thoughtbot — Fri, 27 May 2016 00:00:00 -0400

This week Reda and Kyle talk about content and typography, how both apply to the web, and why they try to use real content as much as possible. Also, the problems that they run into when designing forms and the trade offs between usability and style.

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25: Everything's a Nail

thoughtbot — Fri, 13 May 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Reda and Kyle talk about the new thoughtbot.com. Kyle explains some of the reasons why they redesigned instead of iterating over the existing design. They talk about parts of their process and how tools like code and graphical editors fit in. They discuss the balance between shipping and getting pixel perfection. They wrap up talking about how they balance multiple projects and multiple tasks.

24: Hunky Dory All the Time

thoughtbot — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 15:00:00 -0400

On this episode Reda and Kyle rehash their conversation about Should designers code. They talk about teams and how design should fit in. They discuss design and design thinking at a high level in the company and design leadership in our community.

23: Darkish-Gray Patterns

thoughtbot — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Cheerful Reda and Kyle talk about ethics in their work. Discussion hovers around dark patterns in design. They talk about dark patterns with cable companies, airlines, and domain registrars. And how dark patterns can effect the long term sustainability of the business. Kyle talks about the technology he's been using on parental leave and his purchase of an Apple Watch.

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22: Best of Both Words

thoughtbot — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 09:00:00 -0400

Reda and Kyle talk about writing as a designer. What their process is for writing, what the process is like writing for thoughtbot, and how they differentiate posts on thoughtbot’s blog and their personal blog. Plus Reda goes on a rant against Medium.

21: Snapchat For Design Feedback

thoughtbot — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:00:00 -0500

This week Reda and Kyle talk about tools for collaborative design feedback. They talk about how they’ve used tools at thoughtbot and what are the pros and cons of each of the tools. They also talk about how they use these tools to get feedback from other designers in different thoughtbot offices for more varied design feedback.

20: Minimal Viable Design

thoughtbot — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0500

In this episode Red-A and Kyle talk about product design and development at thoughtbot. They go over how they use tools like Trello and Slack to communicate with their teams and their clients and how design fits into that process. They talk about how they validate design decisions and argue about the proper pronunciation of GIF.

19: Death to GUIs

thoughtbot — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 10:00:00 -0500

During this episode, Reda and Kyle talk about conversational user interfaces. They talk about popular implementations of conversational UIs, how they use these tools and what effect it has on the future of graphical user interface.

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18: It's Not Satisfying Unless You Blow Into the Cartridge

thoughtbot — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

In this episode Reda and Kyle talk about the homogenization in web design. How styles have evolved in the pas and how they see style trends in graphic design evolving in the future. They discuss the issues and problems facing archiving application design. What they use Dribbble for and what kind of a tool it is now.

17: Let's Talk About CSS Baby (Lets Talk About You and Me)

thoughtbot — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 00:00:00 -0500

During this episode, Reda and Kyle talk about their qualms with CSS. They talk about CSS naming conventions, how they tackle layout and the wonderful world of flexbox. Kyle tries to educate Reda on some early 90’s pop music and fails.

16: Master of IE

thoughtbot — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 00:00:00 -0500

In this episode Reda and Kyle talk about browser testing. They discuss how they approach testing each browser and operating system and devices. They talk about the differences in type rendering, browser user interface, and layout. Reda talks about how he approaches a simple fluid layout, Kyle talks about his most recent project and some layout challenges and they talk about using CSS for layout.

15: X is bad for Y

thoughtbot — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 00:00:00 -0500

In this episode Reda and Kyle discuss iteration and design process. They talk about the differences between how a junior designer takes on a project and how a senior designer takes on a project. Kyle talks about how jobs to be done fits into his design process. They also go on a few tangents of tracking personal data and posting articles on medium.

14: Photoskop and Other Tools

thoughtbot — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This week Reda and Kyle talk about the tools that they use during their design process. They touch on everything from graphical editors, color pickers and task list applications.

13: Designing For Human Emotion

thoughtbot — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This week Reda and Kyle talk about empathy in design and keeping in mind a users state of mind while designing. They give examples when when humor and playfulness are good to add into user experience and some cases when it isn't.

12: How Many Questions Do You Ask?

thoughtbot — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This episode Reda and Kyle talk about the thoughtbot hiring process for designers. They talk about what they look for in designers, what they look for in a portfolio, and details about each step in the hiring process.

11: Your Favicon is Ugly

thoughtbot — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0400

Reda and Kyle follow up on SVGs, talk about differences between Chrome and new Safari's pinned tabs. They discuss some of the ways of allowing users control over design and themes of the app they are designing. Lastly they talk about how they design with real content or as close to as real as possible. BONUS: Kyle sings a line of Aerosmith.

10: Doing Things the Hard Way (Brenda Storer)

thoughtbot — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Brenda Storer stands in for the vacationing Reda. Brenda and Kyle talk about Brenda's recent talk on SVG's. The in's and out's of her process of learning about them and talking about them. They also talk about giving talks.

This episode of The Bike Shed is sponsored by:

Code School: Entertaining online learning for existing and aspiring developers. Leave a review on our iTunes page to be entered to win a free month of Code School.

Links and Show Notes

Slides from the talk
Brenda's codepen account with a bunch of simple examples of SVGs to play with
SVGO
Sara Soueidan's 2014 CSSConf talk
Jacob Jenkov's SVG Book online
Chris Coyier's technique for using symbols as icons in svgs
Jake Archibald's article on animating a stroke
Iconic Icon Responsive Icons
ManhattanJS website with animated clouds
Brenda on Twitter

9: Should Designers Code?

thoughtbot — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle and Reda tackle the 'should designers code' debate. They talk about the differences between designing vs implementing, what to look for in a good designer and if developers should know how to design.

This episode of Tentative is sponsored by:

Code School: Entertaining online learning for existing and aspiring developers. Leave a review on our iTunes page to be entered to win a free month of Code School.

Links & Show Notes

Between Screens with Kyle

8: Padding Rocks & Kerning Waves

thoughtbot — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle and Reda talk about vacation as a designer, some of the signs that they are burning out and how they deal with burnout.

This episode of Tentative is sponsored by:

Code School: Entertaining online learning for existing and aspiring developers. Leave a review on our iTunes page to be entered to win a free month of Code School.

Links & Show Notes

Between Screens Podcast with Kyle

7: Hamburgers Are an Abomination

thoughtbot — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle talks about his current project, Reda talks a lot about accessibility and how he designs for it, and Kyle trolls Reda into a rant about the Hamburger icon.

World Accessibility Day
Color Oracle is free Mac app to help you view your designs through the eyes of someone with color Blindness
Xscope has a bunch of utilities one of which can view colors from different types of color blindness.
Obvious always wins by Luke W
Not mentioned but we recommend watching Web Accessibility Wilderness Guide

6: Peeling Potatoes With Scissors

thoughtbot — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle & Reda finally talk about design sprints, they discuss the process at thoughtbot, argue about prototyping and how they pick the right tool for the right job.

5: It's Pronounced Al-u-minney-um

thoughtbot — Fri, 22 May 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle & Reda follow up about product focus, then move on to talk about designer job titles and experimentation in UI design.

4: Leggo' My Ego

thoughtbot — Fri, 08 May 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle & Reda talk about giving design feedback to peers, and receiving feedback from clients and users.

On Design Feedback
Sassquatch- Use coupon code TENTATIVE for 25% off!

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3: A Fridge with Key Bindings

thoughtbot — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Kyle & Reda talks about text editors, Sassquatch, and Sass.

Macvim
Sublime 3
Sassquatch- Use coupon code TENTATIVE for 25% off!

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2: Game-changing UX

thoughtbot — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Reda & Kyle—mostly Reda—talk about game design versus app design, juggling between projects, and creativity.

Rototo

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1: Don't Say UX

thoughtbot — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 15:00:00 -0400

In our inaugural episode, Reda & Kyle discuss the latest browser announcements, React Native, and buzzword pet-peeves.

Microsoft Announces "Project Spartan"
Vivaldi
React.js Conf 2015 Keynote- Introducing React Native

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