Design Archives – Sarah Doody
Accelerate Failure & Get More Insights In To Your Work
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 28, Nov 2017 | One Comment | In Design, Everyday UX | By 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?
Is Trying To Perfect The Tech Stopping You From Launching Your Product?
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 06, Nov 2017 | One Comment | In Career, Design, Everyday UX, Product Development | By Sarah Doody
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.
The art of compromise in product development
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 02, Oct 2017 | No Comments | In Design, Everyday UX | By Sarah Doody
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. Keep Reading >
Launch Your Own Product: My Lessons Learned
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 18, Sep 2017 | No Comments | In Business, Design, Everyday UX, Product Development | By Sarah Doody
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.
Why you must validate your product idea & not build too fast
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 31, Jul 2017 | No Comments | In Design, Everyday UX, User Experience | By Sarah Doody
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”.
There Are No Shortcuts In UX. But Things Do Get Easier.
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 26, Jul 2017 | No Comments | In Design, Everyday UX, Getting Started In UX, User Experience | By Sarah Doody
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.
Do You Have Evidence That People Want What You’re Building?
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 20, Jul 2017 | No Comments | In Design, Everyday UX, User Experience | By Sarah Doody
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.
Why You Need To Think About Marketing Before You Launch
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 12, Jul 2017 | No Comments | In Business, Design, Everyday UX, Marketing | By Sarah Doody
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.
Why You Shouldn’t Build Until You Validate Your Idea
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 06, Jul 2017 | No Comments | In Design, Everyday UX | By Sarah Doody
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.
UX: Avoid Staying In A State Of Unknown For Too Long
By: Sarah Doody // Get my weekly UX newsletter
On 20, Jun 2017 | No Comments | In Career, Design, Everyday UX | By Sarah Doody
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.
I'm Sarah, user experience designer & product strategist. I'm based in NYC but work with clients worldwide.