My Home Video Conferencing Set-up
A lot of folks have been asking about the video conferencing set-up I've been using for LDFest, as apparently it looks like I'm on TV. So I thought I'd write a quick teardown of the tech. Here goes...
Writing
Clear(Left)
After 15 years growing Clearleft, today is my last day at this wonderful company. I’ve spent the past few years working on my succession plan. First by putting a new leadership team in place, and then by transitioning the company to employee ownership. As such, I’m leaving Clearleft on an excellent footing, and with a bright future ahead.
Using your status as a speaker to promote others
Being invited to speak at an event confers some benefits. For newer speakers, the most obvious benefit of speaking is to advance your career. Speaking at an event confers a certain amount of legitimacy and status. The fact that you’re on stage and other people are listening to you implies that you’re somebody who deserves to be listened to; that your ideas hold value that the other people in the audience will benefit from them. This is a great thing to have in your back pocket at interviews, and is sure to impress the person doing the interviewing.
Transitioning to Design Management is Hard, Risky and Requires a Lot of Luck
There are three common paths into Design Management. Either you start at the bottom and work your way up, you take on a stretch project that elevates you above your peers, or you hit a glass ceiling and are forced to jump ship.
Ghosting Candidates, Marathon Interviews and Zero Feedback: The Modern Recruitment Experience
The digital sector is a talent led industry, and as much as I dislike the idea of the 10X developer, the difference a great hire can make to your business is huge. So I’m always amazed when I hear about the shady, sloppy or downright atrocious recruitment practices we inflict on prospective candidates.
Personas aren't bad, and you're not a bad designer for using them
With disturbing regularity, my Twitter stream seems to explode with posts demonising commonly used, yet seemingly harmless design tools. These posts take great pains to document all the ways these tools have failed people in the past (while downplaying or ignoring situation where they may have helped).