Based on my observations, most junior-senior designers tend to be finishers, while most senior-lead designers tend to be starters — regardless of their job titles. — A friend of mine (and talented Software engineer), John Kueh, once asked me, “Are you a starter or a finisher?” His powerful question made me pause and reflect on myself. Here is my perspective. 1. The Starter As the name suggested, starters are strategic thinkers who take initiative and ensure that the pre-works…

Five decision-making guidelines that will help you create a meaningful impact — Communicating our ideas effectively in the fast-paced design and development era can be challenging. We can easily get lost in a sea of interpretations when we lack clear values to guide our decisions. In this blog, I’ll share the product design principles that have helped me create a consistent framework…

It matters to work in small batches size to prevent large mistakes, reduce waste, and increase velocity. — We had a design team lunch at Five Guys Burger twice. On our first visit, we enjoyed the burgers but wasted the chips; the rumour that Five Guys will load extra chips to fill your bag is real. Perhaps, five large chips were too much for five designers — mistake…

31 days of a good manager and a bad manager — Good managers create space for trial and error. Bad managers ensure everyone is doing things in the right way (their way). Good managers have accumulated experience (e.g. 10 years of experience). Bad managers have only accumulated time (e.g. 1 year of experience but 10 times). Good managers prioritise their direct…

How to win people to your way of thinking — One of the things I find fascinating about Chris Do is how he debates. While most people make their arguments by answering the questions, Chris simplifies his answers and then formulates the questions instead. TL;DR: How Chris Do make his argument: Start with something we all can agree with Use metaphors Paint pictures in people’s minds Explore…

They peacefully accept things they can’t change. They are brave enough to make a bold move on things they can change. They are wise enough to differentiate between the two above.

Output: The product team shipped the Fitness app. Outcomes: People use the app and get better workout results. Impact: So they live healthier (physically and mentally), consequently improving overall social well-being. Output is not always create outcomes. Outcomes are what people pay for the product/business. Impact is the reason why…

Brand is what people feel before they use the product. UX is what people feel after they use the product. I reckon someone who designs brand and UX very well is truly a unicorn – they create an end-to-end experience.

I.D.E.A.S — the five stages design process — I believe the best design process is to learn, do and repeat; it’s hard to define the process upfront as the design is a non-linear activity. However, some basic guidelines will prevent us from inventing the wheel and spending too much time on the wrong things. Here is the five…