Sarah Doody
Accelerate failure. It’s a bit opposite from what we’re used to.
Normally, we like to run from failure. We like to do everything we can do to avoid it.
As designers, researchers, product managers, etc. we like to think through everything. We like to take our time, explore our options, and tinker with our ideas.
But what if instead you … accelerated failure?
I did another experiment last week…
I launched something that wasn’t perfect. But I knew I needed to launch it so I could gather feedback. It was a series of emails. Because I wanted to give the user control, I had a link that people could click if they didn’t want to get those emails any more.
In any project, it’s inevitable that you’ll need to compromise.
You may need to compromise on your timeline, scope of work, or what you do versus what you delegate to others.
But … compromise is really hard! Why? Because we often have a grand vision of what we want something to be. And the longer we’re working on it, the more vivid that vision becomes.Continue reading
Want to put your design skills to the test? I highly recommend that you launch your own product. It’s a great way to put to practice things like project management, feature prioritization, identifying and validating a problem, market research, marketing, and more.
I promise, it will be the hardest thing you do. But you will also have a lot of fun, because it’s yours.
The re-design of my product, The UX Notebook website is going well. And yes, I’m trying to practice what I preach and not be my own worst client!
One thing that’s been helpful is that I have a few people working with me on the project, so I’m avoiding the situation of designing this in a silo.
How do you validate your idea? What happens when you don’t validate your idea?
A friend of mine works in sales and has been watching me slowly venture into the world of online courses. While at lunch a few days ago he said that he wants to start doing online courses as well. I immediately blurted out, “you have no idea how much work it is”.
Newsflash … nothing is an overnight success.
A lot of people ask me for shortcuts in UX. People want to know tricks and the paint by number way to do something. One thing I know for sure is that there are no shortcuts.
Recently I’ve been telling you a bit more about the behind the scenes of my business so that you can follow along and see how I put into practice what I tell you to do when it comes to product development and design.
In June some of my friends were in NYC for a conference. They’re entrepreneurs. You may have seen them on SharkTank … they created the product Nerdwax, an organic beeswax that stops your glasses from sliding off your nose.
Last week I had an idea. I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I stopped what I was doing and took action. The idea had to do with UX portfolios. Instead of working on content, brainstorming cute domain names to buy, and all the other things I was tempted to do, I held back, and didn’t “build” too soon.
At the start of June, I spent 8.5 hours trapped in a toilet room, overnight, with a cat, in Paris. Very long story and I’m sure you have so many questions. So I published the story on Medium in case you want to hear what actually happened.