First of all, I think it’s incredibly important to be really intentional about how a design team operates, especially as it grows. The more you understand why things are done the way they are, the more empowered you will be to affect change when you need it. That’s why we’re very explicit about how we run our design practice at Shopify. Whether it’s the tools we use, the approaches we take to solving problems, or the way we connect with each other as designers, we’re very intentional about how and why things are the way they are. Second, focus on building habits, not just processes. There’s a fine line between the two, but understand that the purpose of the build process is simply to develop healthy habits within your team (rather than just doing something).
When a behavior becomes a habit, the process overload begins to wear off, which is what a great process should feel like. Third, successfully leading a large team is about empowering individual team members with the ability to make decisions autonomously. The key is Martinique Email List to give your colleagues all the knowledge, skills and context they need to make day-to-day decisions effectively. This also ensures that I am not a bottleneck at any given time. You may also be interested in: 4 ways to hone your approach to creative project management What is your favorite project you have worked on as a designer at Shopify? Why? One of my recent favorite projects was hosting our first internal UX Summit. Last year, some of us hosted a day-long conference event for the entire UX team at Shopify.
What do you do to stimulate creativity?
Team members submitted talks and took the stage in front of their peers to share stories, ideas, and lessons that were geared towards improving UX on Shopify. Not only was it fun to coordinate scheduling for nearly 100 team members, but it was rewarding to see how much value everyone got from listening and connecting with their teammates. This year the team has almost doubled in size and our second UX Summit promises to be bigger than ever. You have many followers on Instagram. How did you get such an audience? A little luck and a lot of perseverance. I started learning photography last year and have been using Instagram as my main sandbox. A handful of my audience came from directly contacting and interacting with people I admire from the photography community.
Most of my followers come from my brief stint last summer as a suggested user on Instagram. I guess one or two of my shots land in front of the right pair of eyes. What do you think is a design trend to watch out for in 2016? I think the trend towards small screens (eg mobile devices) as primary screens will continue to have a huge impact on the way we think about digital design. A fundamental shift is underway in the way we consume and use the web. How we think about design in an inevitably desktopless world is an intriguing and equally exciting thing to imagine. If you could go back and say one thing to your younger designer self, what would you say? Keep working hard, everything will be fine. Who is a designer you admire? Why? One of the designers that I have always admired over the years is Julie Zhuo.
What is your process like for bringing
Not only is she an incredible leader in the design community, but she’s also a fantastic writer. I can’t think of an article of hers that she’s read that she hasn’t made me want to get better at articulating the things I’m learning every day. What advice would you give to a new designer starting out in the industry? Take time and do a lot of work. See this as a way to eliminate all your bad ideas. Eventually, the good ones will emerge. Ask ‘why’ every step of the way. Be curious and inquisitive about why things work or don’t work. The more you know, the more you can adjust in the right way. Define your truths. Get really good at articulating the things that define great design for you. It is from these truths that his personal style and signature are manifested. Why is design so important on Shopify?
