Skip to main content

Every Wednesday I plan to send out some articles on a variety of UX, Development, and Technology topics to my UX Development team at FlightSafety.com. The goal is to raise some conversation between my team there, as well as encourage others to share interesting articles from their own reading. I decided to cross post here for my own benefit and memory.

*******

In an effort to raise the conversation level between our team, I am starting a UXD weekly inspired reads email. Some of these will be short, some will not. The idea here is to help foster better conversations about design, technology, pop culture, and their intersection(s). I take no credit nor blame for the content of the articles, nor endorse any underlying message, aside from finding them thought provoking and worthy of sharing. The authors have a unique point of view and I believe something valuable may be learned.

M

1. NASA’s Graphic Design Manuals
For those inclined, this manual showcases how timeless well thought out design can be.
Guide: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_graphics_manual_nhb_1430-2_jan_1976.pdf
Story: http://www.wired.com/2016/04/now-anyone-can-nasas-fabled-1970s-graphics-manual/?mbid=nl_41816

2. Sam Hinkie’s Resignation Letter
A frank and honest assessment of skills, teams, and organizations. A long, but great read from a very intelligent thinker. This letter is not about resigning, it is about looking at a problem from many different points of view. As well as looking to other great thinkers for inspiration.
Letter: http://espn.go.com/pdf/2016/0406/nba_hinkie_redact.pdf
Story: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15150185/sam-hinkie-steps-philadelphia-76ers-general-manager-president-basketball-operations

3. Dave Cancel on Hiring
Dave is a great writer and has some wonderful points about hiring people, not skills.
https://medium.com/@dcancel/why-i-hire-people-not-skills-771fbea67ad8#.fv0fnmoot

4. NO DICKHEADS! A Guide To Building Happy, Healthy, and Creative Teams.
Nearly a year old, but very, very relevant. While we are a distributed teams, there are some great lessons here how we can learn more about each other and work better together. To that end I am going to plan a night of baseball. Mark your calendar for May 21st 2016. Yankee vs
https://medium.com/@rhysys/no-dickheads-a-guide-to-building-happy-healthy-and-creative-teams-7e9b049fc57d#.kizgoze47

5. InVision Gems
Lastly, some great gems from InVision.

Improving Conversion Rates With Better A/B Tests
The best way to find out why and where people are struggling with your product, pinpoint problems within your checkout flow, and systematically increase your conversion rates: A/B testing.
http://blog.invisionapp.com/improving-conversion-rates-ab-tests/

7 Ways To Improve Teamwork With Design
Building a product is a lot like putting together a puzzle with a group: lots of pieces that all need to come together, and the more hands involved, the trickier it is to make everything fit just right.
http://blog.invisionapp.com/7-ways-to-improve-teamwork-with-design/

Inside The Design Team At Pivotal Labs
Pivotal Labs began at the beginning of the agile movement with just a handful of people. Today, they have 11 locations across the world. We chatted with Jonathan Berger, Associate Director of Design at Pivotal Labs. We chatted to Jonathan about agile processes, demystifying design, and the importance of community.
http://blog.invisionapp.com/inside-design-team-pivotal-labs/

5 Ways To Bridge The Designer-Developer Gap On Responsive Web Projects
Great web projects don’t succeed through good design or development chops alone—they also need communication and collaboration between designers and developers.
http://blog.invisionapp.com/5-ways-to-bridge-the-designer-developer-gap-on-responsive-web-projects/